Frome Town FC | Community Background

Friday 23rd September 2011 Tickets: £10.00 each In 2008 Frome Town Football Club made a decision to move towards gaining FA Charter Standard Community Club status and Gary Collinson was appointed as Community Development Officer. In essence the Club wants to develop stronger links with the wider community both in football and beyond - placing the football Club at the very heart of Frome & the surrounding areas. Community Clubs, the pinnacle of the club development pathway, are those that have a high quality, multi-team (minimum of 10 teams) set up with excellent social, training and playing opportunities for all. In 2006 the Robins joined forces with Frome Town Ladies and Frome Town Sports to form the 'Frome Football Partnership' and by now bringing all three teams under one banner (Frome Town) the town can make rapid progress towards this achievement. In the summer of 2010 the Club moved even further towards their goal when they created their own youth section which provides children from under 5’s with football right through to the first team squad. The Club launched a series of meetings with the three existing youth set-ups in Frome with a view to everybody coming together to form one Club but only Frome Town Sports opted for the move and transferred their players and coaches across to FTFC where the section has gone from strength to strength as has the relationship with Frome Town Ladies. Frome were delighted to learn in the summer of 2011 that they had achieved one of their main goals when the award was confirmed by the Football Association and the Somerset FA that they had achived the FA Community Club award. More information on this can be found by clicking HERE. Gary is keen to develop links with all the schools and other Clubs in the area, particularly in junior football and has ambitious long term plans which would see Frome Town as the place children want to play. Rather than several clubs often in conflict it would be great to have two or three teams representing the Club at each age group. This also helps the kids have an opportunity to enjoy the game at their appropriate level. Ultimately we would like to see the development of a Frome Town Academy along the lines of those being developed at Bath City and the like whereby talented players can combine quality football coaching with their education between the ages of 16 and 18. This would give them a chance to develop their game to a semi-professional level and perhaps even beyond whilst appropriate study will also allow them to pursue a career in the game outside of actually playing. Training for coaches and referee's are also on the agenda, along with the possibility of specialist coaching days and soccer schools during the holidays. On 22nd December 2008 the first community event was organised when a group of local children were provided with an afternoon of coaching from Yeovil Town in reward for cleaning up their housing estates. This was very well received and similar activities will be arranged in the future. The social club and facilities are also being used by a diverse range of interests and throughout the year as the Club continue to move from strength to strength. Throughout the season club coaches will be working with local schools, clubs and other organisations to offer football coaching in a fun and safe environment. FROME IS YOUR TOWN, YOUR TEAM, YOUR COMMUNITY!