Supporting Grass Root Sports In The Community

Meridian have been supporting Whitewebbs FC for a number of years and its great to hear positive feedback from Lee Street their Coach.

Whitewebbs U9’s entered their first ever season in the Mid Herts League, exciting times for a newly formed team, made up entirely of novice players. It had been a number of years since I coached younger players and I’d forgotten just how much fun and how rewarding the challenge was.

Our weekly training sessions got underway and the boys and girls worked their way through the drills, each week they improved their skills and formed their friendships. The improvement was immense, but it was quite apparent we had a lot to do, before we could compete in a league.

With the incredible support of our club Sponsors, Meridian Building Plastics, we were able to put on extra training sessions, beyond just those that the parents could afford to fund. Whitewebbs Fc is run entirely by volunteers, who give up hours of their time to run the teams, organise the fixtures etc. However, pitch hire is not cheap, an hour on an all weather surface can cost on average £45, that’s £2250 per year !! So two sessions per week and a pitch booked for matches on Saturdays would take the costs beyond the finances of some parents, particularly in these challenging times.

Not every child is born to be a footballer and some are blessed with additional challenges, be it physical or behavioural, but with the support of Meridian we were able to give these children a football experience. Extra training sessions, funding towards the team kit and even a new pair of football boots for one player, all made possible by their funding.

Did it make a difference? Well, Winning isn’t everything − but it is the aim of the game. The players had to endure hours of me repeating the

mantra’s − “You can’t always be the best − but you can always try your best” and ” hard work will always beat skill, when skill isn’t working hard”