JANUARY 2023 UPDATE!!

** IMPORTANT!! PLEASE READ!! **

Hi all,

First off, this is a long post, so if you at any point are unsure of something, PLEASE send me a message and I will do my best to help!!

COURSES

We have been offered more training courses for referee level 1, table official level 1 and also some coaching level 1 courses. As a club, we NEED volunteers to step forward to take these courses and aid us in our fixtures. Without referee's and table officials, there will not be any games. You will get PAID to officiate fixtures in any capacity so you do get something out of doing the courses. Any fee's relating to courses we can cover as a club in some form, but we will talk about this on an individual basis.

As for coaches, we DEFINATELY need more!! As it stands, we have ONE coach per age group, which is not enough. As soon as one coach goes down with an illness/personal issue, it becomes really tough to complete the weeks obligations. With the club constantly expanding, we also need to expand the staff at the club, so WE NEED YOU!! Please send me a message if you are interested in doing any of these courses. Even if its a slight interest and you decide it isn't for you, at least have the conversation first!!

WOMENS SESSIONS

We now have womens sessions every Tuesday evening from 7.30pm held at CHS. These sessions cost £2 per session (BARGAIN) and are for ages 16 and over. All abilities and background and ages are welcome, and we will do our best to make it a fun, inclusive and safe environment for all who attend as we aim to do for all of our sessions.

CLUB SHOP

We have received an email from HoopFreakz, our merchandise and kit provider, about changes to how they operate. Due to current economic issues as well as capacity issues due to their rapid expansion, they can no longer support single purchases via club shops directly from the public. This means that we will have to return to the previous method of you all placing an order with the club, paying the club first before I then send out a mass order once a month to get all the items. This also means they are all delivered to myself before I then distribute these out. I am not happy with this, but I understand their reasons for the change. I am currently researching again and trying to find the best way to provide this service for you all as I know how much the merch and kits have been loved this season.

MEMBERSHIPS

We have had a number of new members join the club, so as with any month I will be trawling through the memberships list and highlighting any new members who are required to pay their membership fee. Due to being halfway through the season, this fee is now £10 instead of £20 as a 6 month membership to cover insurance for your child.

AGM AND AWARDS NIGHT

We are currently in the process of organising our second AGM since the clubs rebrand and it's awards night. Any suggestions would be appreciated as we move through our planning phase, and we hope you will all attend to show support to all at the club.

VENUES

I have had a LOT of questions about our venues recently. As it stands, we still only operate out of CHS Sports Centre and Eaton Bank Academy. I am aware of an issue at EBA and have been chasing this for the last 8 months and have on many occasions spoken to people in charge of the venue to produce a fix. This is in the pipeline now, but a final date is still yet to be issued. The leisure centre at the moment is not an option as we still do not have an opening date or any way to book the venue, and no information on costs involved to then work out how much the fee's would be per session to host there. As always, I will work my hardest to keep costs as low as possible to aid you all in the current climate, but I must also do what is best for the club long term, so please understand the position.

ONLINE UPDATES

The website is undergoing constant updates at the moment to make this more user friendly. Our social pages also are having an assessment to see how to improve these and we are also aiming at improving our communication methods so we can speak to you guys easier. As it stands, please use emails as the first point of contact, as all the club staff have access to this. Facebook and Instagram is the second point of contact, as only myself and Harry have access to these, which is why sometimes these messages get missed. We are not ignoring you, I just have a huge to-do list right now!

Thank you for all the support so far, and we look forward to 2023 and what the future holds for the club!

LETS GO GRIZZLIES!!

Ryan