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Winter Training

Winter training gets underway from Oct 3rd 2020 and runs until March 20th 2021.

Parents, out of common courtesy, should advise managers immediately they know their child will be unable to attend either training or matches and avoid leaving it to the very last minute as this throws the session or matchday preparation into disarray

Refereeing

On refereeing, it has ALWAYS been standard practice at the youngest ages that we do not have official referees allocated to those games by the league. It is expected, as it always has been in Junior Football, that home clubs will put coaches, assistants or willing parents, with a knowledge of the basic rules of the game on these.

Just as an example we pay out almost £4K in ref fees each season, without the youngest teams attracting referee costs, and we have budgeted for the same again. So please avoid organising PAID refs on these games, you can of course still organise volunteer refs, which is what we have always encouraged.

We also need ALL managers to discuss with all their parents the need for appropriate behaviour on the touchline.

Please refer to the code of conduct and acceptable behaviour material we issued to all Managers and Parents in the Summer to everyone as they registered.

The league have indicated already that there are numerous examples across ALL clubs in the league where incidents of unacceptable behaviour from Adults on the touchlines is being reported, we, as a club, are not exempt from this criticism.

•  Can ALL team managers and assistants/coaches at Bridge get ALL their parents together, at Training, and spell out what we expect and if any parents are missing then an email or text to them from you as manager explaining precisely what is acceptable and more importantly what is not.
• The impact of a referee report being submitted to the FA stating that he/she has had problems with an abusive parent results in the CLUB and the Adult in question being asked to explain that behaviour and respond. It is a serious issue, that takes up a significant amount of time to investigate and resolve (and there is always a tight deadline to respond by) that means that a fine and a ban on that ADULT can , and usually is, issued by the Lancashire FA to the offending Parent/Adult and can be as much as £150.
• Just reiterate to ADULTS that their behaviour reflects on the club, influences the way children behave, bad behaviour on the touchline can and often does, lead to bad behaviour on the pitch. It also gives a poor impression of who we are as a team, and as a Club and if you as a Manager/Coach or Assistant don't challenge poor behaviour or curb your own then we as a club get a reputation which is one we don't want of being unable to control errant Adults.

If you need help dealing with ‘difficult' parents, then let us know.

Bridgeability

Training has started again, see the teams and training tab on the club website, Garry Smith is the Coach. You can contact him on 07918 176 917. Kids can just turn up and play, regardless of their level of ability. We will accommodate everyone who attends the session. See Bridgeability page for more information

Girls Football

All girls interested in playing, are welcome to come to the club to train, receive coaching, develop and hopefully join the teams. Just get your parents to send an email to the club email. We will NOT though directly communicate with enquiries from children.

Key Diary Dates 2020/21

FA Level 1 Training Courses

Awaiting new course dates and planning in the post Covid timetables for those coaches needing to secure, or renew, their qualifications.

October 2020 to March 2021 Winter Training

Winter Training for all 24 squads at the club due to start with effect from week commencing; Sat 2nd Oct 2020 for 6 months to March 20th 2021

Club Presentation

Club Presentation Day at Bridge Saturday June 12th 2021

Player Registrations

Player Registration timetable starts post the presentation date All registrations for 20/21 to be in place by 31/8/20, players can be added throughout the season

Drawbridge Update!

Club Fundraising Scheme

The top prize can be as much as £10,000 if won, as it accumulates week on week, and if there is no holder of the randomly selected batch of numbers which are issued to you as you join the scheme in any week, then the prize rolls over and increases by £500 a week until it gets to the maximum jackpot of £10,000.

This though is just one prize There are also weekly draws with prizes ranging from as much as £1,000 to £10 each week. The prizes are;

• £1,000 weekly
• £250 weekly
• £125 weekly
• £10 weekly x 50 prizes
• Sponsors spot prizes weekly such as meals at local restaurants, etc.

You get a chance to win all these every week There are around 60 prizes available to be won every week, all for just a £1 entry fee per week.

The total return in prizemoney to Bridge members in the scheme now stands at over £1,500 since the club entered the partnership scheme 4 seasons ago, this has also been duplicated with grants to the club of over £2000 in partnership grants from Hornets.

This is a fantastic way to take a chance on a lucrative lottery scheme and help Bridge generate much needed partnership grant funding by joining for just £1 per week.

You need to be in it to win it! Just ask our winners whether they think it's worth their £1 per week entry into the 60 draws (which can range from £10 to a maximum of £10,000 in any single week).

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