Wednesday 21 September 2011

L.C.F.L. Continues...






League Event: L.C.F.L. Award Ceremony for Season 1!


We had the L.C.F.L.'s first Awards Ceremony. Two balls, a certificate for participation, and a whistle were passed out to each club that participated last season. The winner of each age group received a trophy. The referees who participated received certificates and the top two referees (decided by the committee) received whistles as well. Leaders of the community were invited and reporters as well. We had a very big crowd and many coaches, including myself, spoke about the importance of the league and the future…Everything went very smoothly and at the end of the day I sat back, took a deep breath and thought about how far we have made it in such a short time


The League:

The L.C.F.L. has made it far in such a short time and recently the coaches and I have been working to perfect the League so it will be able to run efficiently for years and years to come. Currently, we are working out the two main issues of last season: the age of players and payment for referees.


Age:

A committee has been put in place for "vetting" each club for each age group. Vetting means the coaches look at each player and decide, based on the players appearance, whether he can play in that particular age group. (I don't like this procedure however this is the only way to solve the problem of Age in Likoni…many kids in Likoni do not have any documentation to prove their age.) To tell you the truth, this process has been very smooth and so far we have about 54 teams vetted and ready to play.


Problem:

This is a new procedure in Likoni and the coaches and players do not know how important this is. We need to be able to take a picture of the full team and have the name of each player. (Each team will have their team roster and attached will be a picture of the full team. The referee will be able to go to each game and call each kid's name out while the player points to his face in the picture.) Not all teams have showed up and sometimes teams come with only eight of their players because their other players could not make it….The League Committee is still trying to figure out exactly how we should solve this. The season may start later than we expected or the season for certain zones will start on time while other zones who have not showed up with all their teams may be delayed. We are expecting to start the season on September 25th.


Payment of Referees:

We have solved this problem by asking each U-16 teams to register by paying for the first five games of the season (500 shillings each). Each team will pay for the next five games by the midpoint of the season. The League Committee feels like this can easily be accomplished by each U-16 team. As for the U-14 and U-12 games the referees will be volunteer U-16 players. These volunteer referees will be awarded a point for officiating a match and another point if each coach decides he officiated fairly. At the end of the season the top volunteer in each zone will receive a pair of football cleats. (1000 shillings for one pair)


Now, that these issues have been solved we have also set up the "Leadership Structure of the L.C.F.L." This was designed by coaches and myself:


The L.C.F.L. will be composed of a Management Board, a League Committee, and a Zone Committee.


1. The Management Board shall have no more than seven members.

a. The Management Board shall have two Departments with two leaders in each department: Resource Mobilization Department: Proposals and Budget and Technical Department: Website and Publicity

b. The Management Board shall vote once a year for positions in each Department

c. There shall always include a Management Board member in charge of Community Development and Leadership

d. The Management Board shall have monthly meetings.


2. The League Committee consists of two Zone Leaders from each of the four L.C.F.L. Zones and one Staff member

a. The League Committee shall vote once a year for positions on the Management Board.

b. The League Commitee shall have monthly meetings.


3. The Zone Commitee consists of every coach in each Zone.

a. The Zone Commitee shall vote once a year for their Zone leaders.

b. The Zone Commitee shall have monthly meetings.


If you have any questions about this you can email me at: blevey88@gmail.com :). As well as creating this structure the League is working on strengthening the community. If you read the L.C.F.L. Report below there is information about what we are planning.




The L.C.F.L.: LEAGUE REPORT

The Likoni Community Football League is a youth registered community based organization in Likoni, Mombasa. It is registered with the aim of providing a competition base that will expose young people to the sport of football while also looking to find youth leaders. The League Committee believes these leaders will develop by participating through sport and in future L.C.F.L. volunteer events like clean-ups and HIV/AIDS instruction.

Its activities cover many areas in Likoni with room for expansion. Currently the football league includes Under-12, Under-14 and Under-16 years old. The league is organized so that there are three seasons per year i:e from January to March, May to July, and September to November with possible league tournaments running April, August and December holidays. The L.C.F.L has over 600 members who participate in its activities and by September 2011 hopes to increase its numbers to 1400 members.

As the L.C.F.L. expands there are more goal posts to set up in each of the four different zones across Likoni. Each L.C.F.L. Zone will have two large fields for Under-14 and Under-16 years old and one small field for Under-12 years old. The four zones are: Shelley Beach Zone, Dimbwini Zone, Approved Zone, and Mtongwe Zone. Currently, each zone has the capacity to hold six teams in each of the three age groups, 18 teams for each zone, meaning a total number of 72 teams in the league and about 1400 kids. Along with setting up goal posts and the expansion of the league, the L.C.F.L. is affiliated with Hatua Likoni, a well respected organization based in Likoni. The L.C.F.L. hopes to create a strong, endless relationship with Hatua and combine the importance of education and sports to get children off the streets.

The future goals of the L.C.F.L. are endless. The League has created Bylaws and a Constitution that will strictly be followed. The League hopes to bring in official instructors for future coaches and referees in the area. The League hopes to be able to distribute balls, bibs, and cones to each club every year. The League hopes to create a Senior League and hopefully one day a Girls League as well. Last, the L.C.F.L. hopes to expand to allow thousands and thousands of kids throughout Likoni to be able to participate.

Although this is a football league, the League will make sure it strengthens the community not only through sport, but also by contributing to the community in different ways. Whether it is through clean up or HIV/AIDS instruction, the League has already started writing proposals. Each year the L.C.F.L. hopes to hold at least three main events that are not sport, but community related.

The L.C.F.L. Committee's goal is for each kid in the league to be a good citizen. We believe, " that in football you need to give, you need to receive, you need team spirit, discipline, sportsmanship. But, its not all about soccer, it is about life."


BEXLEY NATIVE and GOOD FRIEND:

Last and definitely not least, my good friend Josh Appelbaum showed up in Mombasa five days ago. Josh and I grew up together in Bexley and he has come to help with the League as well as volunteer his time here in any other way that he can. Personally, I am extremely excited to bring Josh into the equation. His expertise is in Graphic Design which means he will be able to contribute to L.C.F.L.'s publicity as well as work on the website we are currently setting up. (If you received the wonderful L.C.F.L. brochure…he is the one that put that together. ) Josh has adjusted very quickly and has already come up with some great ideas and I look forward to working with him the next couple months!