Picture but no sound.

Jen and I fell out this weekend. She was/is extremely angry that only a few weeks after surgery and only 1 week after being given a stay of execution for chemotherapy, I am throwing myself into football and cricket business and in her mind "taking too much on". My defence is/always has been that if a job is worth doing its worth doing properly and so because I'm a bit of a perfectionist "you like to dot the i's and cross the t's" is another of her favourites, we didn't speak to each other much over the weekend hence the title of this blog.

It has been a busy week this week with a whole range of different activities going on.

Tuesday evening saw my first Finance & Premises Committee of the academic year at Mabs Cross Primary School where I am vice chair of governors. I chair this particular committee which looks after the money and the school buildings.

Immediately following this on the 6th November the cricket section AGM took place. As junior section coordinator I am required to write and present a report to the meeting. The Chairman had asked that they be sent to him by Sunday 4th. Therefore Sunday morning was taken up by writing the report, compiling statistics and setting out plans for the section for 2013. As a senior player I also wrote the 3 XI report on behalf of the 3XI skipper who I knew was away on holiday and wouldn't meet the Sunday deadline.

The cricket club have also agreed to replicate the football club by selling club hoodies in aid of Myeloma UK. I had also agreed to co-ordinate the cricket sections order. I therefore took a range of hoodies to the club for people to try on before ordering, took orders and money.

Following the meeting in which it became apparent that we needed to raise some funds urgently to pay for some much needed drainage, I set about planning a fund raiser, which I circulated to a select few.

An all too familiar sight at Bull Hey this year - drainage is essential

On Wednesday night I researched and planned my training sessions for the Greens and Whites the following evening.

On Thursday I was on leave from work as I had to go to MRI for the skeletal survey. In the afternoon I visited B&Q to buy ground equipment - brushes, spades, forks, sand, soil to carry out some work to the pitches at Cale Lane. I had learned earlier in the week that there was some holes in the pitch that were unsafe. I also knew the pitches were wet. This rather annoyed me as several people knew about these holes but rather than do anything about it, simply said "the pitch isn't fit". On Thursday afternoon I spent at Cale Lane with a colleague filling holes, forking water away, cutting and laying turf sods etc.. All this so we could get some games on that Saturday.




We dug that puddle out, sanded and soiled it then laid turf

Thursday evening was spent delivering the previously planned coaching sessions - both teams seemed to be incredibly distracted which left me reviewing the sessions later Thursday evening to see where they might have gone wrong.

After getting in from training at 8.15pm and putting balls, bibs, cones, etc..away I was straight back out to meet Steve Heaton from Rose Leisure about holding our annual fund raiser and end of season presentation evening. We talked about themes, costs, dates etc.. Last year was a disappointment, poorly attended and didn't make much money - this year needs to be different to reinvigorate interest.

On Friday at lunchtime I went up again to check the pitches due to heavy rain - they would be borderline for Saturdays games.

Saturday morning and I left the house at 7.30am to pack the car with all the equipment we need to get a game on - we were also holding our coffee morning month to raise money for Myeloma UK so additional equipment such as cups, coffee, tea, sugar, milk, stirrers, biscuits, cakes, hot water flasks, camping table etc.. needed to be taken.

The Greens and Aspull Juniors at our Myeloma UK Coffee stall

After putting up, and taking down goal posts, supervising 2 games, putting equipment away in the cabin, locking up, getting home and putting stuff away, cleaning up, reporting results etc. it was too late to take Alex & Callum to Latics as I had promised them - it was 2.30pm.

Sunday morning was spent doing secretary admin - checking the bank account for standing orders, completing the Income and Expenditure sheet on behalf of the Treasurer, Jen, who was out with the children at the roller rink (to make up for missing Latics).

Sunday evening was spent coordinating the charity hoodie order for the cricket club - between the hockey and cricket section we have ordered a fabulous 74 hoodies which means £370  for Myeloma UK.

On Monday evening I attended the league committee meeting on behalf of the club. The Chairman was unable to attend due to having no babysitter and so I went with another coach to represent the club.

On Monday night/Tuesday morning Callum became ill and was sick 5 times through the night. Alex started vomiting at 6.30am this morning and carried on until around 2.00pm this afternoon - I took the day off work to look after them but also to have a bit of a rest too. Yes I forgot to say I work full time too!!

2 poorly boys on the sofa with juice, bucket and SpongeBob on the TV

People say I should delegate more. I am happy to do that but unfortunately there isn't a queue of people waiting to take things off you. I was disappointed that on Saturday parents walked past the coffee stall and didn't offer to help. Jen stood for 3 hours and missed both Alex & Callum and Liams games for the Greens and the Whites as a result. We raised £92 for Myeloma UK which is fabulous, but it was disappointing how people didn't offer to muck in. I was also disappointed that I had to take goal posts down. Its the first time Ive had to do this in 2 years as my parents are usually very good at helping clear away. I hope this week was just a blip.

We provide the players with an awful lot - much more than football and I don't think its unreasonable to expect people to help out a little.

This next week doesn't show any signs of letting up. As well as the usual training, matches etc. I am very excited about a meeting I am going to with Jonathan Jackson, Chief Executive of Wigan Athletic and Councillor Chris Ready about getting my Kit Bank idea off the ground. Latics are brilliant at supporting community initiatives and are keen to get behind the idea. Next weeks blog will be about the Kit Bank.

Jen has warned my though that if I take this on it has to be at the expense of something else. She said "I cant be all things to all people". So I'll either have to set it up and delegate it to someone or drop something else.

Any volunteers? No I thought not!

I will have to do it though, cos I hate it being picture no sound in our house.

You can choose your friends....

The brilliant news is that chemotherapy has been delayed indefinitely. Following my visit to MRI on Friday - it was a family day out due to half term and the children were superbly behaved too, my Myeloma levels remain really high but my haemoglobin levels and kidney function are returning to normal. The likelihood is that my illness throughout summer and subsequent surgery has had an impact on these readings.

I return to MRI this Thursday for a full skeletal survey. This involves numerous X-rays of every major bone in my body from 2 or 3 angles. The purpose is to ensure that the Myeloma isn't causing any bone lesions which is quite common given it exists in the bone marrow. As I've no major bone pain I'm confident on the all clear on this too. Following this I will attend Myeloma clinic at MRI once a month for monitoring. At the point treatment is required all consent forms, permissions etc have been completed and we are good to go with the Myeloma XI trial. Hopefully this will be a long time in the future.

On Friday night it was good to relax and enjoy a beer or 2 with Jen. It was good to see her relax too - the first time that we've enjoyed a meal without the stress and dread that seems to have loomed over us since June.

As mentioned in previous blogs I believe children, and adults for that matter, should play as many sports as possible. Trying many different activities not only gives the individual a richer experience but also enables them to develop several different circles of friends. I am very fortunate to be involved with 2 fantastic sports clubs and am lucky to have developed some lifelong friendships.

Team Martlew also has a fantastic support network of friends. The support comes from several different circles of friends, from work colleagues to school friends to neighbours, but many are friends that we have made at the 2 sports clubs and these friendships have developed and blossomed over the past few years. Without the messages of goodwill, the practical support and the listening ears, it would have been an incredibly difficult summer - far more difficult than it has been.

It's essential that sports clubs provide the opportunity to play sport on a variety of levels. Different people have different motivations to play sport. Some wish to play on a serious level, wishing to be the best and compete at the very highest level. Often this may be at district/town team level or even professional club/county level. Often many of these types of players do not stay at any particular club for a long time, moving round to different clubs, taking the view that the next club may offer a better development opportunity. There is nothing wrong with this and it is a fact of life.

Some players motivation is to play for enjoyment and its essential that clubs offer this facility too. These players are the ones that will make up the large majority of your membership, and are the future of your club. If you retain them, by providing opportunities to play for enjoyment, then you are likely to produce future coaches, secretaries, Child Welfare Officers, groundsman etc from this cohort.

At Whelley Alexandra and Wigan Cricket Club, I believe we have struck the right balance between these 2 drivers for involvement. At the cricket club there is a pathway from the youngest junior cricket team to the first team. We provide a variety of coaching on this pathway from the fun and enjoyment side at the very early age to focused group and 1:1 coaching at the higher end - we even have a New Zealand Test opening batsman, our pro Aaron Redmond, who is available to do 1:1 batting sessions - I challenge any club in the area to match that!!

At the football club it's slightly different. We do insist on fun and enjoyment no matter what level (I hate the word division) the team plays at. However what we find is the higher the team rises in the divisions, the more transient the players become. We do have a hardcore cohort of players that have been there since day one, but around them players come and go with more regularity as they look for "the next best thing". Sadly this can often be a parent rather than a player decision.

My hope for my children playing cricket and football at the 2 clubs is that they have fun, enjoy themselves and make some lifelong friends along the way. I would also like them to stay loyal, develop to the best of their ability and when the time is right develop new skills such as refereeing or umpiring, scoring or officiating, coaching or another volunteering role to put something back into the club that has served them well over the years.
This is already happening at the cricket club with some of our younger senior cricketers. They have taken the view that they should help the next group of young players coming along by taking their coaching qualifications. It makes me incredibly proud to see 19 and 20 year old young men choose to coach rather than us having to twist reluctant dads arms up their backs. As a result I believe that the quality of coaching is better as it wasn't that long ago they were in the position of the learner.

Already at the football club we have under 14s players asking about coaching and refereeing courses. We have elder brothers who will become qualified coaches later this year and are willing to specialise in areas such as goalkeeping, to help develop the younger goalkeepers at the club. Add to that the maturity that many of our older players are now beginning to display, helping tidy up at the end of the session, not requiring prompting to undertake a warm up or cool down, makes me really proud and positive that the future of both clubs is rosy but the future or these young people is even rosier.

Welfare Reforms, Football and Funds

Firstly an update about treatment. The infection in my belly button was still present and so treatment was delayed again until this Friday 2nd November. Look out for updates on my Twitter feed.

This weeks blog is about 2 subjects that I am heavily involved in - grassroots sport and the governments Welfare Reform agenda. It talks about how one will impact on the other. Feel free to comment.

Anyone who knows me or has come across me on a touch line or cricket pitch knows that I am passionate about grassroots sport. I believe sport is a fantastic way of creating better citizens of the future by teaching the values of respect, team work, personal responsibility, effort and hard work. It’s also useful in leading a healthy lifestyle as well as great at making new friends. The one thing I demand from all my teams and to me the most important thing in sport is to have fun. If we discover the next Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard or Andrew Flintoff along the way, or win a trophy or two, then great - but those things are not that important to me.

In my day job I work for Wigan & Leigh Housing. My current role involves preparing the organisation for the impact of the governments Welfare Reforms something I have been working on for nearly 2 years.

The Welfare Reform Act came into being in March 2012 following a long path through parliament. It's aims are to encourage people into work by proving that work pays and remaining on benefits for long periods doesn't. It also aims to deliver major efficiencies in the system that deliver savings to the government. Other aims are to make the benefits system less complicated and easily understandable as well as reduce the levels of fraud and error.

Whatever your political persuasion the Welfare Reforms will leave many people, particularly those in Social Housing (Council Housing or Housing Associations) with less money. The Act contains many, many changes that will impact on many different people. However, the major change that will impact on us as sports clubs is the introduction of Universal Credit.

Universal Credit is a new benefit that will replace all income related benefits such as

Income Support
Income based Job Seekers Allowance
Income Related Employment Support Allowance
Working Families Tax Credits
Child Tax Credits
Housing Benefit

From October 2013 until March 2017 people of working age (18-62) will be migrated across to UC. Migration will involve the cancellation of the old benefit and a new claim for UC. UC will be paid monthly, to resemble a salary, rather than weekly or fortnightly. This means people will need to develop their budgeting skills. Furthermore it's designed to be a dynamic benefit, so if you are in work but on a low income then it is also payable and will automatically alter depending on any change in hours or salary.

Makes perfect sense you would think. In reality though the practice will not support the theory.

Claimants will need to administer their claim online. Figures show that typically only around 70% of any northern Borough have access to the Internet. This figure drops significantly on Social Housing estates. We know there are football and cricket clubs in our areas that do not use the internet to communicate with their members. Those that do will know there are members that do not use the internet and you need to make alternative arrangements for them.

Claimants will, over time receive less money. You don't need to be told that food, fuel (gas, electricity and petrol), clothes etc are going up. Less income more expenditure.

Claimants will only receive their first payment 1 month after submitting their claim for UC - that's one month with no money to feed, cloth, heat their families.

Any changes in circumstance will only take effect from the beginning of the next payment period. For example if my payment period is the 1st February to 28 February and my hours drop at work on the 15th February - my UC will only be altered we'd from 1 March (my next assessment period). In reality I may not get that payment until April.

Other changes that will impact as well as UC is that from April 2013 Councils will administer the Social Fund. This is the fund that makes emergency payments to people to help them with basic living expenses. This is then reclaimed via a deduction from their benefit.  Not surprisingly the amount the DWP will give to local Councils as their Social Fund allocation is less than the previous years expenditure. Therefore Councils will face the difficult decisions as to when and when not to fund a Social Fund payment.

So what does this mean for grassroots sports clubs?

In simple terms people on benefits will have less money. For some, particularly those with children, poverty will be a reality. Food, gas and electric will be the priority for the little money they have - things like weekly or monthly subs, new boots or spikes, shin pads, the latest kit of their favourite team, waterproof coats, warm hoodies for winter - will be out of reach or quite far down the list of priorities.

If less people are paying subs then that means clubs will find it more difficult to find funds to buy equipment such as balls, cones, samba goals, corner flags, bats, stumps, etc...

It would be a disaster for the area and the league if clubs began to turn children away because they couldn't afford to play. If we become financially exclusive then we are failing 100s of youngsters we should be helping. If they are living in poverty then sport may be the only escape they have. That hour training and that 2 hours gametime may be the highlight of their week.

It is anticipated that crime (illegal money lending, counterfeit goods, burglary and robbery) and anti-social behaviour will increase as a result of the reforms but sadly it also predicted that as family life becomes more stressful Domestic Violence will also increase.

Councils will find it difficult to help clubs as their budgets are being slashed. In an effort to save money last year, Wigan Council decided to reduce the number of times grass is cut from 16 cuts a year to 12 cuts a year.

Already this year, comments have been made on various forums that Councils should invest in football playing fields to ensure that games don't get called off. Whatever your opinion of your local Council, investment in playing fields will be very far down the list of priorities.

So what can we do?

We need to think about how we fund our clubs. This means building a financial model that doesn't depend on 100% of your members paying their subs to keep afloat. Build some capacity in that will allow you to let a few players pay less or no subs at all for a period of time whilst they are in difficulties.

We need to think about the equipment we buy. Could we not share the equipment, and the cost with neighbouring clubs. If we spend less on equipment as clubs then we have greater capacity to financially assist our members.

Kit recycle schemes. Leigh Utd have a boot recycle scheme - clubs could look at similar schemes for not only boots, but other sports clothing. I remember hand-me-downs as a child - this would be a similar scheme. Its not great and its not ideal however, it may be the difference between retaining that child as a player or not.

I'm working a model up and think I have a solution. We need to put rivalries aside to come together and help each other so we can help the children of our communities. By developing geographical partnerships (football clubs, rugby clubs, cricket clubs – and other sports clubs too) then we can reach children all year round, provide a range of equipment to a variety of clubs but also help each other with cross membership benefits (your local cricket club may be struggling for junior members but you may be able to help signpost your members in)

Whatever you decide to do as a club hopefully this note will help.

You may decide to look at some of the options or all of them.

You can get more information on Welfare Reform athttp://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/

And the winner is......

The ECB to be fair.

On Monday myself and Mark Rowe, first team skipper and the person who secretly nominated me for this award, attended the ECB Annual NatWest Outstanding Services to Cricket Awards or OSCAs as they are known, at the home of cricket, Lords.

Amongst 400 guests and stars from the cricket world we received a tour of the ground, including the JP Morgan Media Centre, the Pavilion, the home team dressing room and the famous long room. We were then treated to a champagne reception followed by a 3 course meal around which the awards would be presented.

Test Match Special's Jonathan Agnew was the Master of Ceremonies and before each award was presented he interviewed the cricketing celebrity that would present the award. Each award had 3 nominees selected from all of the county submissions and so to make it to Lords was a triumph in itself.

I had been lucky enough to win at the Lancashire Cricket Board OSCAs in July in the Behind the Scenes category.

The day wasn't so much about winners it was about celebrating grassroots cricket. The ECB appear to genuinely believe in the grassroots ethos about encouraging children into the sport. The 3 former England captains in attendance (Gatting, Vaughan & Strauss), the current England Ladies captain (Charlotte Edwards) and in my mind a future England captain (Jonny Bairstow) spoke passionately about grassroots cricket and the benefit that sport plays in young people's lives.

David Collier, Chief Executive of the ECB spoke about encouraging children into the sport, particularly girls and understands that if cricket is a pyramid with the England test team at the top then the base is grassroots cricket - clubs, schools, districts, counties without whom the test side simply wouldn't exist.

I received my runners up award from Charlotte Edwards and Mark Lane who is the head coach of the England Ladies team. I felt incredibly privileged to be there and am incredibly grateful to Rowie for nominating me. I should also like to thank all the people that support the club and the things I try to implement, but most of all thanks to Jen who is very often a junior sports widow as I am always off somewhere doing something related to the football club or the cricket club.

I am incredibly uncomfortable with personal awards and praise. I do what I do because I believe that sport can play an important role in children's lives. It has the obvious benefits of health, friendship, teamwork, individual application - making better citizens of the future. But in the current climate and with the forthcoming Welfare Reforms, sport may become the highlight of a child's week. We need to make sure that children can continue to access grassroots sport, that we do not become financially exclusive and that simple obstacles such as subs, kit, warm clothing, don't become a barrier to children remaining or becoming involved in sport.

My next blog will be about this subject and some ideas I have on how we may offset the effects.

In the meantime I have some fantastic memories of the day I went to Lords.

Myeloma XI Trial

Next Friday is a day that I knew would arrive, I secretly hoped it wouldn't but it was inevitable. The doctors who diagnosed my Myeloma back in March 2011 said the day would arrive within 6 months,  friends and relatives said it might never arrive as they clung to some forlorn hope, however some 604 days following my diagnosis it's here.

Friday will see my first day of chemotherapy.

Following a pretty rotten summer of illness which has seen me admitted to hospital on 3 separate occasions with unrelated, deficient gall bladder problems, this was removed just over 2 weeks ago, I was recalled by my Haematologist Specialist Dr Eleni Tholouli to see her at Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) on the 12th October. She told me that my Myeloma remained stable and that treatment wasn't necessary, but they would take some blood to test anyway. It appears that this sample showed a big jump in my para protein level and that there was a renal deficiency also present. She said treatment should start immediately, and so I travelled to MRI yesterday to start treatment but due to an infection in my belly button following my gall bladder surgery, treatment has been delayed by one week. So yesterday was taken up by signing consent forms, giving numerous blood samples and a lot of sitting round waiting - I suppose I'd better get used to it!

I have volunteered to go on the Myeloma XI trial - no they're not some non league team from Macedonia or some select cricket team from the Shetland Islands, it aims to see how well drugs used for relapsed patients who have received several treatments, help newly diagnosed patients who have received no treatment so far. The treatment involves taking 3 drugs, a chemotherapy drug, an immunomodulatory drug and a steroid. The trial will look at different combinations of the drugs and their effect.

I will receive 6 cycles of treatment, 21 days of taking drugs then 7 days off is one cycle. The drugs are administered orally, although my body's reaction to the drugs will be closely monitored during the trial.

There are many side effects to taking the drugs and I may encounter none, some or all of them - what is clear if that a drug clearly doesn't agree with me treatment will be changed.

Long term I hope to have some stem cell replacement treatment. This will follow a very high dose of Chemotherapy that will see me hospitalised and in isolation - however that is for the future and what is important is to focus on getting through the next few days and weeks.

It's important normal family life, whatever that is!!!, is maintained. Not just for my sanity but for the children and in particular Jen. That means if I can get out and coach the Greens and Whites I will. If in the new year I can get in the sports hall with the u9s and u15s to do some soft ball stuff I will. Normality is important and working with the children will give me the drive to fight this disease.

Last night was presentation night at Wigan CC. We combined both juniors and seniors for the first time and it seemed to work well and was very well attended. I was fortunate to present some well deserved prizes to some fantastic children and cricketers. It was also great to catch up with some genuinely lovely people.

Today saw a football free Saturday, although we took the Whites paintballing. I didn't don boiler suit and face mask and watched from afar as the lads seemed to really enjoy themselves. We try and provide a rounded life experience for the players and this is the sort of thing we do - its not just football. It was good to see them interact with each other outside of a football field.

On Monday I travel to Lords with my good friend Mark Rowe for the National OSCA's. I have been shortlisted for the Behind the Scenes award and am representing Lancashire. I'm not particularly bothered about winning but more the 45 minute guided tour of the home of cricket - and lunch in the Long Room. Hopefully there'll be a couple of test crickterers for a photo opportunity!!!

You can learn more about the Myeloma XI trial and then work of Myeloma UK via the following link http://www.myeloma.org.uk/index.php/download_file/view/1239/

Grassroots League Tables

This weekend I got into an online debate about league tables for grassroots football. The guy who I was debating with was complaining that a team his sons team had beaten that week (their first win of the season) had subsequently dropped down a division and as a result his team wouldn't see the 3 points they won and remain rooted to the bottom of their division.

He went onto complain that that this would be demoralising and that the lads would be disappointed. I worked out that we are talking about under 10 s football.

The point I tried to make was that you didn't need a table to tell you that his team had made improvements from the last game which they lost. It's only the obsession of parents and some misguided coaches that become fixated with league position, promotion, relegation etc..

My question is does a league table really matter?

I've coached the Greens for 3 seasons - they are now under 9s. When I first started coaching them some players struggled to kick a ball. One player in particular has struggled, however because he plays every week (each of my players gets a guaranteed 25 minutes football each week) he has now blossomed into a super little footballer. This week he dropped his shoulder and passed the ball with his left foot. A real sign that this player is confident and has grown in ability. He asked me after the game "Steve, did you see me pass it with my left foot?" That was the highlight of his game, not the result.

I don't need a league table to measure improvement - I coach the team each week and I can see the improvement that this player and all my other players make. All a league table shows me is where my group of players is in relation to the other groups of players in the same division.

I never refer to the table either in training or at a match. I would guess that 90% of my players don't know a table exists, they wouldn't care because win, lose or draw within 5 minutes of a game ending, they are chasing each other round and being little boys. They've enjoyed playing with their mates - end of story.

So, should we not just do away with tables? By not having tables it allows teams to play other teams of similar ability each week without the straight jacket of that particular division. It also continually tests teams allowing them to develop at their own pace. It will enable players to play with freedom and to try things they wouldn't dare too if it risks losing points! Play from the back? "Don't do that there son, get rid of it"

Finally I am convinced it will be a major factor in improving parent and coach behaviour on the sidelines, after all if there isn't 3 points at stake, where is the fire?

Introductions

This is my debut in the world of blogging and it aims to cover the many things that are happening in my life. Firstly about me....

I am a 40 year old bloke from Wigan. I am married to Jen and have 4 wonderful (most of the time) children, Liam (13) Natalie (10) Alex & Callum (8 year old twins). In my day job I work for Wigan & Leigh Housing. I am currently involved in developing responses to the governments Welfare Reforms.

In my spare time I am secretary of Whelley Alexandra JFC. I also coach 2 teams - the under 9s (Greens) and the u14s (Whites) and this is the bit I enjoy the most.

In the summer I am the junior coordinator at Wigan CC and coach the u15s and the u9s. I also play, very poorly, for the 3rd team n a Sunday.

Finally I suffer from a type of cancer called Myeloma which is a cancer of the bone marrow.

So this blog will cover all the above subjects, hopefully with a bit of humour.

What will hopefully come through is my passion for the various subjects and my opinions, which won't be shared by everyone.

I hope you enjoy it - either way let me know.