UNITED KINGDOM
The first Onside Soccer U.K. project was started in 2015 in Carshalton, south-west London. Working in partnership with Carshalton Beeches Baptist Church, the project is aimed at children aged 5 - 14 years old, teaching them the skills of the game in a fun and encouraging environment.
Sessions are held each week at Stanley Park playing fields and at the Oaks Park High School, with our team of coaches working with three main age groups (6 - 8, 9 - 11 on Sundays, 8 -14 on Tuesdays). Since 2022 we have also organised occasional friendly games against local teams to give our players the opportunity to play in a competitive environment against other children.
If you would like more information about the project or to book your child into a training session please contact paul@onsidesoccer.com. Please note, all children attending training must have parental permission to attend, the form for which is available below.
How it works
We currently host two training sessions per week, on Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings. All of our sessions are free of charge and open to any child aged 6 - 14 years old. On Sundays we meet at Stanley Park playing fields from 2-3pm and have two main groups for children aged 6 - 8 and aged 9 - 12. On Tuesday evenings we meet at the Oaks Park High School from 7 - 8pm, again with two main groups for children aged 8 - 11 and 11 - 14. Children of all ability levels are welcome and each child is allocated to a suitable group.
Our Coaches
All of our coaches are volunteers from the local community, mainly parents of the children taking part. Some of our coaches are just starting out on their coaching journey while others have been coaching for many years. All of our coaches are CRB checked and are working through FA coaching qualifications at different levels. We have specialist Goalkeeping coaches as part of our staff and we also have coaches involved in disability football.
Why are sessions free of charge?
We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to play football and that no-one should ever miss out because of financial reasons. It can be expensive for children to play in local teams, buy kits, etc., especially if there is more than one child in the family, and we want to try to alleviate that burden on parents. On that basis we made a decision never to charge anything for any of our weekly football sessions. Anyone attending our football sessions is very welcome to make a donation to our work but it is not obligatory.
Donations
Any donations received by Onside Soccer go back into our work. Our monthly costs include paying for pitch hire at the Oaks Park High School and also to support our overseas projects. It also covers things like equipment costs, uniforms, etc. Without a certain amount of donations being received each month we would not be able to run our projects.
How do I sign up?
If you would like your child to attend one of our sessions please just fill in the form below and come along. When you arrive we will allocate your child to a suitable group, introduce them to our coaches and then let them join in. Parents are encouraged to stay and watch the session. All we ask is that children wear suitable footwear, shin-pads and clothing, that they listen to what their coach is saying and try their best at all times. Please note that we normally run through term time only and that session dates are published on this website. We strongly advise checking a session is actually due to take place before coming along to avoid disappointment.
