Our sports club is for whole community

Firstly we are in no way trying to shut our selves off from the village or local community. Stockton Football and Cricket Club is a small private sports club that is run entirely by volunteers, the small group of individuals who run and maintain the club give up in excess of 100 hours every week to keep the club alive. The club has an annual running cost in excess of £25,000 which is funded by the club members and the generous sponsorship of a number of local individuals and business’s. We currently have four adult football teams, junior football from the age of eight up, junior cricket and adult and junior netball all of which are made up of local village players and some from other villages and towns in the area.

We also have thriving pool and darts teams, and also host many events throughout the year for groups and organisations that make use of our facilities, including this year alone five local league cup finals, the Rugby Asian Volleyball Association fun day and most recently the Simon Adams MNDA memorial cricket match. So far from cutting ourselves off we are a thriving and important part both of the local community and wider area as a whole.

However in the past two years the club have suffered at the hands of both vandals and problems stemming from dog fouling on the pitches, both of which have been very costly to the club. This has forced us to take the decision in partnership with the parish council who have provided kissing gates at either end of the public footpath that runs around the two fields we occupy to take measures to stop local people who use the facilities to exercise their dogs. The author of the letter was quite correct in that in the main dog owners are responsible and clean up after their dogs, however there are also a number that do not clean up after their dogs and this has caused problems for the committee. The club is affiliated to the Birmingham FA and if we are reported for having dog fouling on the pitch then we are subjected to fines that in the current climate we can not afford. Secondly we have children from the age of eight playing sports at the club and I am sure everyone will agree having children falling over into dog faeces is something we simply can not tolerate.

The letter mentioned a large amount of litter left on the pitches. All teams have re-useable sports bottles in racks which are collected in by the teams at the end of each match, the volunteers that look after the grounds also go around the site at the end of each match and ensure all litter is collected.

Unfortunately we have a large number of local youths using the club whilst we are closed utilising the goals and nets on site that leave masses of litter and bottles behind, and general litter strewn in the hedge. There is also a large number of bags of dog faeces thrown in to the hedges that have been picked up by the responsible dog owners, despite their being a dog waste bin at the gate.

We have had instances of youths found running around in the roof of the club house and various structures have been damaged whilst there has been nobody on site including a new wooden shelter that was generously donated that has been so badly damaged that we now need to remove and dispose of it.

Finally on the subject of playing football on the pitches, as a holder of a public liability insurance anyone who plays sport on the facilities must be a member in order to be covered by the insurance, the field is after all private property and it is not unreasonable to expect people to join the club and pay membership fees to use the facilities as other members do.

If any one would like to talk to the club’s committee, join the club or even volunteer to help us in some way please feel free to call in to the club during opening hours our contact us via the details on the website. - James Neal, George Street, Stockton.