FEATURED CHARTER STANDARD CLUBS

 
 

Weston Lane

 
When Weston Lane Junior Sports & Social Club celebrate it’s 50th anniversary next year it has more than a proud heritage to be grateful for.
 
The club was on the brink of extinction when an arson attack destroyed it’s old club house in 2000 and the years that followed brought a sharp decline for the oldest junior football club in Otley.
 

Picture shows Weston Lane Players and Coaching Staff with the Charter Award

 
The old club house had stood for over 25 years and was the focal point for many community activities in North Otley.

Ian Needham (Charter Standard Liaison Officer & u15 Coach) says “We lost the club house not long after I joined and I remember training on cold Saturday mornings with no facilities and using an old container for equipment storage. However through the hard work of the club we have re-built the club house and started to develop new teams from Under 7’s to Under 11’s.”

Weston Lane set out in 2005 with a goal to become Charter Standard within 2 years and at that time had only 3 teams and no qualified coaches. The club now boasts seven Level 1 coaches and Ian himself is a level 2 coach.

Ian says “The Charter Standard award gave us a focus to put our constitution, committee, CRB checks and coaching development on an upward curve and together with the new club house this gives us the foundations to attain even greater heights”.

The club continues to go from strength to strength and remains true to it’s ideals of providing sporting and personal development for children of all abilities from 6 to 17.  

Special mention must go to all the committee, parents, friends and local residents who have helped the club emerge from a dark period in it’s history. In particular the chairman Richard Bolton has put in hundreds of hours working to finish the new club house which thankfully is almost complete.