Tag: development

Youth Development News

Last night was a momentous occasion for one of our new youth teams.

The 2006/07 team, led by Graeme Anderson, held a signing evening at Carmuirs Park and the players even got to play on the main pitch too. Head of Youth Development Gary Clark and Committee member Allan Morrison were there to support the coaches, players and parents during the evening.

We are thrilled at how many Camelon children are in the team. This is one of the reasons for our youth teams – to support and encourage the talent within our local children as well as involving other talent from across the region too. It’s what we all sign up to when we say we’re a community club and encourage people to “support local”.

Also showing the strength of community and family spirit throughout the whole club, first team striker Kieran Anderson came down to the park and spoke to the children in this young team to encourage them.

Congratulations to all involved and for the new signings, welcome to the CJFC family!

#weareCJFC #itswhoweare #supportlocal

Celebrating our under 16s team

Our under 16s team finished their season by playing at Carmuirs Park today and celebrated with a 4-3 win against Cowie. This capped off a strong season from the lads under the guidance of Graham McKinnon, Jeff Stewart and Jimmy Wilson. Well done to all involved in this team.

After the match, the team gathered in the Social Club to celebrate their season and to present trophies to both the Committee and Players player of the year.

This season, the committee voted for Connor Wilson, and the players voted for Kai Wilson.

Both are pictured below, receiving their trophies from First Team manager Gordon Herd.

#weareCJFC

Committee Player of the Year, Connor Wilson with First Team Manager Gordon Herd

Players Player of the Year, Kai Wilson with First Team Manager Gordon Herd

The Family Grows

Camelon Juniors are delighted to announce two new youth teams for next season.

We’re thrilled that this year’s Stenhousemuir boys club 2003’s and 2005’s will don the famous Camelon red strips from next season. They will join the CJFC family as an integral part of our player pathway.

Everyone at the club is delighted to welcome the boys, coaches and parents to the family.

With the guidance of Head of Youth Development, Gary Clark, we have more teams coming as shown in part on the flyer below and with more still to be announced! So watch this space to keep up to date with all the latest developments at the club.

#weareCJFC

Youth Development News

Camelon Juniors can confirm that we will be entering an under 20s team into the East of Scotland League from the start of the 2018/19 season. Our coaches have been taking in several fixtures from this league over the last few months and they believe we will be entering a strong league with a great pedigree of developing the best of young talent in Scotland.

Head of Youth Development Gary Clark said, “I am very excited going forward with the formation of our under 20s development team. I think it presents a fantastic opportunity for the club, for the development of our players and any new players coming in to join us at Camelon Juniors. It also gives the club a great player pathway option and entry into the Scottish Youth Cup where we can test ourselves against the best in the country. Overall I strongly feel that having players playing in the development league will further help to strengthen the first team in years to come. It will also give these players a platform to perform and really show what they can do against other top development teams.”

#weareCJFC

Chairmans Update

In the last two weeks, the club has attended due-diligence meetings in relation to joining the East of Scotland League. It’s still the opinion of the club that this is the only way to secure the clubs long term future, and may I once again state that this is a view endorsed by all at the Club. Our first team management and players, our youth development coaches, players & parents alike, have been coming forward in great numbers showing support for us undertaking this journey into the Scottish Football pyramid. Furthermore we’ve had so much encouragement from our fans. People that were once following us and hadn’t been to our games for a while are starting to come back out to see us at Carmuirs Park. We’ve also had a great response from the local community and businesses have been in touch to see if we need any help and funding through sponsorship. The support has really been overwhelming!

Camelon Juniors are moving forward and there is a real buzz around the Club at the moment. People are engaged with what is happening here. May I also add that the Club has secured investment for the journey ahead too. We currently have a team of local businessmen who are ready to stand with the club through this period of transition and beyond. The Club will also lean on their expertise when it comes to securing our club licence from the S.F.A.

I also understand that some people do have concerns about us moving, so allow me to clarify the most common questions we’ve encountered:

1) Will the club change it’s name?
No it won’t. We’re proud of our Junior heritage and our name will never change. Argentina’s Boca get away with it too!

2) Will attendance be affected?
Currently the average attendance for this season is 95 so it’s hard to imagine how crowds could possibly be smaller with several Junior Clubs moving over too. There are an estimated 14 Junior Clubs moving over – 4 of them we already play against and they have come to Carmuirs Park in good numbers this season. Kelty are averaging much higher attendances since they made the switch last summer and their chairman has recently testified to the benefits of EoS.

3) Will this affect the use of the ground?
The club has a new twenty year lease on the ground and it won’t be affected by changing leagues. If anything we will have more resources to improve our Facilities. Being part of EoS gives us a level of support from the league committee and it’s club members, plus they can assist us with grant applications and funding requirements. Currently we receive no help or support for ground improvements from the Junior Association.

4) Will there be more travel involved?
No. We currently travel to the Dundee area and beyond several times a season. We’ve looked at the teams potentially involved in our league and estimated traveling times are just the same if not less.

5) Will we not have any local derby matches?
I gather that some local Junior clubs have applied and also that others who didn’t apply for next season are submitting applications for the following season. We will have 2 competitions to compete in next season in which we can draw East Stirlingshire too.

Moving on, I am also pleased to announce the club will hold its AGM in the last week of July. Could members please update their postal details via email or by contacting a member of the committee, in order that financial accounts and other papers in relation to the AGM can be sent out in advance of the meeting. Please note only verified club members will be able to attend and vote at this meeting. Social Club members (due to it being a separate organisation) are not eligible to vote at the AGM, although the club would be happy to meet with them to outline our plans for the future of the football club.

Additionally, Club Members are invited to an East of Scotland presentation evening on Tuesday the 24th of April at 7.30pm in the sponsors lounge at the football club. If you are a Club Member, Coaching Staff, player or youth parent you are invited to this meeting.

We will also host a fans forum in May, so that supporters can be updated on progress of the club licence, SFA membership and playing matters. We hope to make this a quarterly occurrence so that fans are able to be part of the clubs thinking and strategy going forward.

If any member or supporter has any questions about the future of the club, they can get in-touch as our door is always open.

Eric Henry
Chairman, Camelon Juniors FC

#weareCJFC #camelonmarinersarewe

Under 19 plays for Scotland

Pictured here is Owen Anderson. Owen joined our under 19s in February when his former team folded. Owen is deaf but doesn’t let this affect his game. We were very pleased to welcome him into the squad.

You’ll notice Owen is pictured in a Scotland shirt. That’s because this week, Owen is in Belfast playing for Scotland in the Under-19 Learning Disability Home Nations Championships. You can read more about the championships here.

This is an amazing achievement for the young lad from Larbert and we’re pleased to be just a small part of his career.

Have a great week Owen!

#wearecamelonfc

A new future beckons

Statement from Chairman, Eric Henry.

Earlier this month the club took the decision to apply to join the pyramid by submitting an application to the East of Scotland League. It’s not a decision we came to lightly but after carefully evaluating the financial options and considering our footballing ambitions, it was felt this was the best way to secure the clubs long term future.

We are also applying for a club licence in order to be a full SFA member. Being a licenced club has obvious benefits with participation in the “Big Scottish Cup” being one of them. I’m sure that will be something all of us will look forward to.

There is a great deal of work to be done in order to achieve our aims, and work will begin next week at our ground to ensure we meet the criteria for being a member club.

The decision of taking our place in the 6th tier of Scottish football has been embraced by all at the Club and we are looking forward to a new chapter in our great history.

#wearecamelonfc

Under 19 debuts with first team

In the First Team’s match against Dundonald Bluebell, manager Gordon Herd once again turned to the Under 19s to boost the squad, with a couple of players unavailable. So Keir Young returned to the line up having been on the bench against Jeanfield Swifts, and was joined by Alistair Stewart.

Both were happy to be part of the team and gain experience from match day training and being part of the squad. But with a couple of minutes of the match left, the manager called on Keir to get his number 16 shirt on in order to take to the field. Keir joined the defence as we survived a final couple of minutes of attack from the visitors.

So it may only have been a couple of minutes, but this marked a momentous moment in the Camelon Juniors family of teams as an “under 19” debuted with the first team. We’re serious about creating a clear pathway for players with the option to bring them into the first team if and when they’re ready. Today evidenced that perfectly. Well done lads.

#wearecamelonfc

The Manager gets Keir ready to take to the field

Player Pathway evidenced

Our trip to Perth to play Jeanfield Swifts this week was an extra special trip for one young player.

With two of our regular first team midfielders unavailable for the match, manager Gordon Herd turned to our under 19’s squad for a back up option. So, Keir Young became the first under 19 player to join the first team in a competitive match. He’s pictured here proudly wearing our away kit prior to the match. Whilst in the end his services weren’t required in the 90 minutes, the experience of being on the bench and getting involved in match day preparations will help Keir considerably.

Keir’s call up evidences the possibilities of the pathway within the Camelon Juniors family of clubs. We have our current set up with under 16’s, under 17’s, under 19’s, plus our first team. We’ve already announced that we’ll have an amateur team from next season and discussions are ongoing for more younger options as well. But none of these teams stand in isolation. They are all part of the big picture to enable young football players to grow, develop and to see possibilities for their career progression within the Camelon Juniors family.

This season has been one of reshaping for the future. Next season is going to be awesome! Watch this space for more….

#wearecamelonfc

The Camelon Juniors family grows

Camelon Juniors are delighted to announce that from next season, Grahamston AFC will join our growing family of clubs, forming our Saturday amateur side as Camelon Juniors AFC. They will be an integral part of the club, forming an important part of our player pathway.

Grahamston AFC was a progression from a successful under 19s team, and now as well as preparing to join the Camelon Juniors family, they are looking for additional players. Ideal candidates would be players who have played at pro youth or a higher level and are looking to be part of a new pathway. If you are interested in playing for the team please get in touch with us via Facebook.

#wearecamelonfc