Becoming a helper

"Helpers" fall into a number of groups:

• Club officials

Club officials include the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Child Protection & Equalities Officer and Fixtures Secretary. Individuals are elected to these positions by the Club Management Committee, and are generally experienced in club or team management. Generally speaking, you don't become a Club official until you have acquired some experience as a committee member.

If you are interested in becoming a Club official, please contact the Chairman or Secretary of the Club (for contact details refer to the Club's home page).

• Committee members

Committee members include team managers and coaches. Team managers and coaches do not have to have any previous experience, but they do have to be willing to sign up and adhere to the CMFC Code (see the Club Documents section) and undertake any other familiarisation and training that may be required of them by the Club or by the FA. In general, the team manager looks after the administration involved in managing a team of anything up to 20 children, and the coach looks after the training and practice side of things. Both manager and coach are expected to attend monthly committee meetings on a regular basis, and to submit reports on their squad's performance and welfare.

Quite a few of our coaches have gained their FA Coach Level 1 qualification, an achievement of which we are quite proud!

All coaches and managers are expected to submit to a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check, as required by the FA.

If you are interested in becoming a team manager or coach (or assistant coach), please talk to your team manager or coach (see the individual team pages for contact details) or, if you would like to set up a new squad, to the Chairman or Secretary of the Club (contact details on the Club's home page).

• Referees

The role of referees is steadily becoming more formal as more and more children join football teams. The FA runs coaching courses for referees, and local leagues are hoping that by 2006, each squad will boast at least one qualified referee. To become a referee, it helps to have some (ideally, considerable) experience of football and mini-soccer, and you should be willing to undertake any training courses that may be required by the Club.

Referees are also expected to submit to a CRB check, as required by the FA.

If you are interested in becoming a referee, please talk to your team manager or coach (see the individual team pages for contact details).

• Other assistance

There are many other ways you can help! Each team needs help with everyday issues like mowing the pitches (grass on football pitches needs to be kept very short), putting up (and taking down) goal nets, marking up pitches, serving refreshments (often a valuable source of funds for teams) and tidying the changing rooms. The best way of getting involved in team activities is to talk to your team's manager or coach.

The Club as a whole also needs the support of enthusiastic volunteers, doing things like organising the regular events on which the Club depends for its income, providing assistance with everything from web design to negotiations with the local council.

If you are interested in becoming a helper, please contact the Chairman or Secretary (see the Club's home page for contact details) for an informal chat. Energetic volunteers are always very welcome!

Joining a team

If you would like to join one of the Cumnor Minors FC squads, there are a number of things you can do:

• Check your age

Teams are divided up by age, so for example U8 stands for "Under-8 squad". If you are 8 years old, for example, you may be able to play for the U8 team or the U9 team, depending on exactly where your date of birth (birthday) falls in the year. So the first thing to do is note your birthday and take a look at the team pages (so if you are 7 or 8 years old, check the U8 and U9 pages; if you are 8 or 9 years old, check the U9 and U10 pages). To check out the team pages, go to the Club's home page and click on one of the team page links on the left).

• Talk to a manager

Once you have decided which team you would like to join, ring up or e-mail the team's manager and talk to him. The first thing you should mention is your date of birth, because the manager will be able to advise you whether you should be playing for his team, or whether you would do better in a younger or older team.

• Come along and see

Usually the manager will suggest that you come along and watch the team in a training session. If you like what you see, the manager will suggest that you join in a few sessions before making up your mind. The manager may even suggest that you play in a friendly match so you can find out what competitive football is like.

• Pay your subscription

Once you've decided you'd like to join the team, you must pay your subscription. This covers you for the season, and is important because it also provides you with Club insurance in case you are injured. This means that you can play in League matches, which position your team in the League tables for your age group. If your team does really well, it may reach the top of your local League table and be invited to play at regional or even national level.

Cumnor Kit Exchange

The Cumnor Kit Exchange is an informal forum for exchanging and buying used football kit, including shirts, shorts, socks and other gear such as boots, shin guards, goalkeeping gloves and so on. Kids grow very quickly, and the cost of buying brand new kit soon mounts up. By giving parents an opportunity to donate outgrown kit to the Exchange, and to buy used kit at very low prices, the Cumnor Kit Exchange makes an important contribution to increasing the enjoyment of football locally.