Hi all,

Ahead of Christmas break, from 15th December, the committee wanted to give you an update on the club.

The diagram above shows the names of the people who are currently serving on the committee and their positions. All committee members are currently either coaching teams or have children actively involved in the club.

As part of the Club Mark that the club achieved in the last few months, the structures, policies, and governance of the club were all reviewed. This allowed the committee to benchmark the governance and child protection policies and structures to best in class, which was achieved to receive the award. This also includes having a Parent Representative on the committee which serves to ensure that the decisions made by the committee are always in the best interests of the players, parents and all stakeholders involved in SFC.

You will have noticed that the committee secured significant additional playing space this year including match facilities in Fernhill and Ballyogan and additional time on floodlit Astro turf pitches to allow the teams to have more space to train. Although space is always at a premium this does allow for some growth in the future as the teams move into older age groups requiring larger pitches and more space for training.

Our coaches hold FAI coaching certificates and are trained in child welfare and safeguarding. Both the Chairperson and the Child Liaison Officer have taken all the additional training that is recommended by the FAI. To contact anybody in the club this can be done by emailing stepasidefootballclub@gmail.com. To contact the Chairperson about any issues around child welfare this can be done directly at 087 2205082.

Please note, that as part of our efforts to encourage best practice when it comes to Child Welfare, we will soon issue ‘Contracts’ to be signed by all Parents/Guardians, Coaches and the players. We hope these contracts, to be signed annually, will provide clarity on the standards the Club expects from everyone involved with Stepaside FC.

As always this is a volunteer club that has a relatively small number of people helping on a regular basis. We hope to relaunch our club shop for this Christmas but please bear with us as we are all trying to grow this club as much as we can. If anybody wishes to offer join the administration side of the club, please use the contact details above.

On the playing side the club has gone from strength to strength. There is so much positivity that happened in the last year from our first mini-World Cup; to our new U10 and U11 girls’ teams; and to be one of less than a handful of clubs in DLR to host Disney Playmakers. Thank you to all who have contributed to this success.

The Committee wishes all of our players, coaches, and parents a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year as we look to continue the remarkable journey of SFC into 2023.