Dear U8 Parent,

At the time of writing, Newton Town have 16 players currently registered for the Under 8s team, with the extra under 9's and another large group of under 7's players (and younger) that aren't registered, and it is our wish to give as many children as possible the opportunity to play a "competitive" game each week should they wish. We have therefore been using a "squad rotation" system to try and give every registered player some opportunities to play for the league team, while arranging additional friendly matches where possible to give other children a match opportunity.

From a coaching point of view there are several things that we wish to achieve from match situations, firstly and most importantly that the children enjoy their football, develop both as footballers and people, and have the opportunity to play with their friendship groups; secondly that the children have the opportunity to enjoy success on the pitch (but not to create a "win at all costs" mentality); and thirdly that we remember that our philosophy as a club is equal opportunity for all.

There are several options available to us as to how we can try and accommodate all of these players within competitive football, and we would welcome any views or comments around this difficult subject. Some questions to consider include:

* How important do you feel winning matches is to you (and your child)?

* How important do you feel that improving playing skills is to you (and your child)?

* How important do you (and your child) feel it is to play at their own

age level?

* Would you (and your child) be willing to play an age group higher if it meant more opportunity to play games, or would you prefer to play fewer games just within the childs age group?

* Do you feel that league games are more important to you (and your child) than friendlies?

* Are you (and your child) happy to play at different age groups as part of a squad rotation for different matches (league or friendly) as fixtures dictate?

The club are examining options for the second half of next season. We are considering entering a league team into the bottom division of the U9 league set up. This would commit us to regular U9 league games with the team made up of the U9s but supplemented by U8s. The remaining U8s would be complemented by the U7s as required to fulfil the U8 league games.

Would you (and your child) prefer this arrangement to the current ad-hoc friendlies at U7 and U9 level with the regular U8 league games. We would welcome your views and suggestions.

Your responses to these questions, and your general comments and feedback, will help us to make sure we accommodate as many views as possible within the structure of the rest of this current season, and position our teams and players accordingly.

As with any subject, we are sure there will be a variety of responses, but we can only take your views into account if you can reply to this e-mail. We hope you may be able to respond in as much or little detail as you feel necessary, and we will let you know the outcomes as soon as we have them.

Best wishes

Ian and Chris

De Management

Please e mail your response to, either:

Ian Tomlinson: tomlini@blueyonder.co.uk

Chris Partridge: chrispartridge@bulldoghome.com or

Gary Thomas: gtmotors@blueyonder.co.uk