Award ceremonies

[fenman]

As we now have your rain up here in Norfolk and I'm stuck with nothing to do  , a subject to debate .

I recently went to an FA  awards ceremony . Every year I go I say that this will be the last one but every year I get roped into going on behalf of my league . The reason I don't enjoy them is because I suffer from the " seeing the Emperor with no clothes on " syndrome , alternatively it could be that I'm just a misery . Every year you see the same group of people , particularly the youth league people scratching each others backs and nominating each other for awards . I could probably tolerate this grudgingly if , occasionally someone who really deserved an award got one . I know of people who have served a club for 30 to 40 years as a player then as a secretary . I've seen them trudging around a pitch in a bitterly cold wind coming straight down from the North Pole , marking a pitch out  and hanging nets . I know that these people have paid players fines out of their own pockets and spent  time and money transporting players to away games with any thanks or recompense .One secretary I know even has to buy his own beer in the clubroom afterwards , but he accepts it all seemingly cheerfully . The  sad , one might almost say tragic , thing is  that very , very rarely do these people get any sort of nomination for an  FA award from the players or other members of their club when the nomination requests come out . I often feel for these people and wonder if they feel upset about it , perhaps they are but are too proud to comment on it . I have on occasion suggested to odd players that such a person might be pleased to be nominated but sadly nothing has become of . The other odd thing  is that   many people have never been awarded a long service medal  for being with a club for 20 + years . I understand that the FA  do not keep records of club officials  time at clubs so rely on members of that club to suggest it .

Strange post to put up but one for Older to read while the rain and wind howl across the South West , prior to the sunshine and warmth that will arrive in the middle of next week ready for my visit to see Plymouth play Bradford  and the rest of the week in Mawgan Porth .

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

In our club everyone pays!

Officers with 50+ service still pay to come into the game, buy their beer and pay the membership. 

I do the bar and cook the food on a Saturday but still pay to watch the game.

Injured players, those with no game also pay to watch the game!

The theory being...if I do the gate and I have paid so will you, don't care if your son is playing...you pay!

League officers, county officials and referee's, whether they have their free pass or not will not get in without a go at the 50/50 either.

I love it....lol

[fenman]

I think you've misinterpreted what I meant regarding payment Older .  What I meant was none of the players , who's fines had been paid or who had been carted round the county  were decent enough to by the secretary a pint  as a gesture of thanks .

[Martin Eddy]

Way of the world I’m afraid fenman

 

[baldy]

Totally against all awards. Gongs, oscars anything. Often just the opinion of a group of “experts”. Do it because you enjoy it. 

[Darin Morse]

Well said baldy! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks awards are unnecessary and frankly embarrassing. 

[Paul Collings]

I'm sure the people who come up with the awards ideas genuinely believe they are doing a good thing but sadly they mostly don't seem to have any idea how things really are at the (true) grassroots and the thousands of long-serving good club men (and women) will always go largely unnoticed - i'm  sure most of us are not particularly bothered about recognition although it is nice to be bought a pint now and then accompanied by a few words of appreciation.

I  broadly agree with 'baldy' & Darin but it is quite nice for documented long service to be marked by a simple certificate or badge from the FA (no need for a ceremony) - something to pass to the grand kids.

If I remember correctly (doubtful) Cornwall FA circulated all clubs maybe 15/20 years ago to get details of members who had served for a long time but i'm not sure if they kept a record or have repeated the exercise lately. 

 

[Dave Bartlam]

I was runner up for Volunteer of the Year last year and won it this year. I run a club (every job in the club with three teams), a Flexi league (on my own), I am a Reg Sec. of Trelawny, I also help with referee recruitment and a few other things around the County... I was humbled to win the award this year because people have to vote for you. If we do this work for recognition, you will be disappointed. Most volunteers do it because they want to make a difference to people or simply because (and more often the case), because no-one else will step up.

I think it's a bit disrespectful to say that they're pointless because they aren't - getting a runner up and a winners trophy meant alot to me because people took the time to vote for me. In a world where volunteers get little appreciation, these things make a huge difference.

People moan that it's "always the same people" however do they actually know how these people get to the awards night? The FA release a voting system every year - this season I believe they had the most votes to date... Just over a hundred. Just one hundred people in the whole County voted... That is mental! Volunteers should be recognised however, they can't be recognised if no-one can be bothered to vote. I vote every season for those people that I know are doing a fab job for their clubs. More should do the same - then it won't be the same old faces

[fenman]

Please don't have the impression that I think  some people don't deserve awards . It's just that in my experience some awards , not just in football circles , don't really merit awards . One of my reasons is that I think it's insulting to the people who won't ever receive an award  because of the reasons you highlight Dave  , only a fraction of the numbers bother to vote . I'm probably being a bit hypocritical as I was probably like that as a young player . All I was interested in was playing , I didn't have a clue what went on in the background as regards running a club . My impression is that attending these awards it seems that there is a clique particularly in the youth league section that  look after each other in nominations . Just to inject a bit of humour into my post , one of the awards last year went to a youth league secretary who had abolished all paper mail . Instead of sending an receiving hundreds of letters as correspondence , he did everything by electronic means . All very laudable , until you realised that he was a postman .

Digressing slightly , harping back to when I was a youth in the 1960's and through to the 1970's when I became a club secretary , Norfolk was run by one man and a part time secretary from an office in a bungalow in Norwich and very efficient it was to . Today I think that this number has risen to about 30 in a plush office on a business park . How times change !!!!!! Having said that they are efficient today and always helpful  to leagues and clubs , like everything in life if you approach them in the correct way ,

[Martin Eddy]

The trouble is with any award, some people do not get put forward because they just quietly get on with things and go under the radar.

[fenman]

As your Cornish / Devon rain and gale force winds have spread across to here  I've little to do but make more comments on this subject . Forgive me because it's not strictly football related .

Coming up very shortly is the BBC Sports Personality ? award  . Now this programme highlights my argument about awards . Some years ago , a British World motorcycle champion came in the top 5 as nominated by viewers , for some reason the BBC only  mentioned the top 3 . Last year ( or was it the year before ? time flies when you're old ) another British motor cycle world champion  Jonathan Rea won the world title for the 5th year running . He received a huge vote , particularly from Northern Ireland . As a result he finished runner up in the BBC  award  . I gather that the BBC  sports people were not very happy that a minority sports person , particularly a motorcyclist , should feature in the results . As a result they , the BBC , have a panel set up to decide 6 people that they think should feature . The list is then published and viewers  can vote from this list of 6 .Democratic or what ? . Or have I got this all wrong and only people who feature in sports that the BBC cover  are eligible ?  . On a football theme , can any give a reason why Sterling  should be the only footballer  included on the list ?