INTRODUCTION

In June 2006 we as a Club were granted permission from Livingston FC to create an affiliation and utilise the Club name and official logo and become Livingston FC Boys Club.  Whilst we are named "Boys Club". we are able to offer girls the opportunity to develop their skills as well. The Club's philosophy is aimed at long term football development and not the quick fix, win at all costs.

We hope that Livingston FC Boys Club becomes an established organisation within the West Lothian footballing circles, to the benefit and good name of Livingston FC.

AIMS

As touched on previously the Club has a long term philosophy on the way football coaching should be delivered and young football players developed.

BALL CONTROL

Getting the ball under control quickly and becoming comfortable with a ball at their feet that allows the players to get their head up quickly, this confidence will allow proper techniques.

PASSING:

Short passing with both feet and with various surfaces of both feet, to encourage instantaneous passing through instinct rather then very deliberate, stopping, controlling and then head up for a look then passing, this time consuming passing method results in incomplete and intercepted passes and loss of possession.

MOVEMENT:

Through playing and developing together, we believe that players become aware of the other players intentions and aniticipate these moves. The coaching of that moovement and correct runs, escaping markers, etc., creates fantastic football to watch and one of our key aims is that the childen enjoy their football.

DRIBBLING: (I V I)

The majority of these players are already confident that they can dribble round an opponent; this dribbling skill and confidence will be channelled as to when it is appropriate and correct release of the pass.

The other techniques of shooting, heading, etc., will be delivered as coaching drills within the above.

ASPIRATIONS:

The key to ensuing the future of any football club is the creation of a constitution and within this a code of conduct for the protection of officials and players. It is the aspiration of the officials that the Club exists for the long term and to this end a Committee with liaisons with Livingston FC has been established.

Part of the affiliation with Livingston FC involves some coach education, through coaching evenings at Almondvale, with particular focus on what is expected in terms of development, thus the affiliation is not only in name but in aspirations to how football should be played.

We subscribe wholeheartedly to the West Lothian Soccer Sevens Code of Conduct and Constitution, encouraging development rather than the "win at all costs" mentioned earlier.

For the second half of 2006/2007 season, we have in place, 2 U8s teams for children born in 1999 or 2000, 2 U9s (98) and an U10s (97), which gives us a presence in 3 out of the 5 age levels playing soccer sevens in West Lothian. The long term goal is to have 2 teams at each of the 5 age levels, the other 2 being U11s and U12s and to see the Club mature into all age groups progressing to West Lothian Association of Youth Football, the 11 a-side game.  The idea being that we have enough sevens players to progress to the 11 a-side game and that they will know each other, the way the Club runs and hopefully make a smooth transition. We hope by this stage that some of the players are involved with Livingston FC initiative programme and further their careers as young footballers.

STRUCTURE - PERSONNEL/TEAMS:

Coach Training: SFA Level 1 (Early Touches) minimum requirements of WLSS. We require at least Level 2 (Coaching Young Footballers) for our Coaches.

Coach Education from Livingston FC in correct football philosophies.

FIRST-AID: 

In order to comply with insurance issues with regard injuries, each team must have at least one person present who has a current First-Aid Certificate.

CHILD PROTECTION: 

Every adult named on the SYFA application form as being a member of staff for that team ie. coaches, secretary, etc., are required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure Check.

CHILD/ADULT RATIO

12:2  - Each team can have a maximum of 12 players registered with the WLSS (in practice we try to work with 10).  A requirement for Livingston FC Boys Club is that each team requires 2 qualified SFA/SYFA coaches.  Additional personnel such as secretaries and first-aiders are also involved and this will only lower the ratio in a positive regard.

WLSS:

West Lothian Soccer Sevens Development Association  -  WLSS is an affiliated Association to the Scottish Youth Football Association  -  SYFA.

The primary functions of the WLSS are to develop young children in development football, within a non-competitive environment. Child Protection and correct coaching are the main drivers within this set-up.

WLSS has over 105 soccer sevens teams playing scheduled games every week throughout West Lothian and as is explained already Livingston FC BC have teams entered in the U9s, U10s and U11s of the WLSS, with the abilities of the teams dictating which league they play in.

Example:  Livingston FC BC U9s play in the U9s set-up but in the more technically competitive "Bruce" League and Livingston FC BC U9s Lions play in the league for developing players  -  "Wallace" League.  Both these Leagues are non-competitive in that no points or scores are recorded in any formal league format, no trophies are awarded.  Each team is required to complete monitor forms that record the score for use by by WLSS only to ensure fair play eg. If a team in the Wallace game are winning games by large margins they will be elevated into the Bruce League and likewise if a team is being beaten regularly they are placed in the Wallace League.  Each team is also required to score the behaviour of opposing teams, coaches, players and parents to discourage parents and coaches applying undue pressure to the players and basking in reflected glory.  Each team within the WLSS is also a member of the SYFA and is required to register for both associations every year.  Thus they are subject to the constitution of both associations and must subscribe to the codes of conduct contained therein.  Please go to the links for full information about both these associations.

FACILITIES:

We are at present playing our home games on the grass pitch at Howden St. Andrews Primary School in Livingston. We have a shipping container sited here for storage of equipment.  Through our affiliation with Livingston FC we have occasional use of the Field turf facility at Almondvale, times permitting to avoid missing games due to adverse weather.

We have recently established training facilities at Inveralmond Community High Schools new Synthetic Turf Area and are in the process of establishing a partnership with the school to utilise more of their facilities in the near future, until we eventually base the Club at the school for both training and games.

FINANCES:

Livingston FC Boys Club are an entirely self-funding operation. The current teams already have sponsors and we see no reason to suggest that sponsorship wouldn't be forthcoming for new teams re: kit and equipment. This can also be supplemented by fundraising.

Each playing member is charged £24 a month or £6 a week for Club fees for which they are given the following:

• 2 Training sessions of 1 and a half hours a week (we only stop for 2 weeks at Christmas).
• At least 1 game per week during regular season, weather permitting (Aug-Dec) - (Feb-May)
• Kit-Bag 
• Tracksuit
• Home Strip
• Away Strip

IMAGE RIGHTS:

Due to the nature of Child Protection legislation we are required to seek permission from all players and parents in order to take photographs. The filming of matches is frowned upon in WLSS unless both teams have given written permission.  We have our own internal documentation seeking such permission at the start of each season with a view to providing Livingston FC with suitable material and media for public relations.

HOW TO JOIN:

Anybody interested in joining the Club or wanting to find out more, should in the first instance contact the Club by email (link is on website), at which point an official will reply and explain how to go forward. We are particularly keen to hear from anyone who is interested in joining one of our existing age-groups or especially for the Soccer School ages 3-6yrs to provide the Club with it's future stars.

We are also looking for anyone wishing to help coach.