THE VILLAGE
Churchdown is one of the largest 'villages' in England. Situated mid-way between Gloucester and Cheltenham at the foot of Chosen Hill and overlooked by historical St. Bartholomew's Church. Churchdown is all the village it claims to be as it takes pride in its sense of community. A fortified encampment existed before the Romans came and the people of Chosen co-existed with their highly-civilized new neighbours. They may have 'stayed put', too, when the Saxon invasions took place but, in time, they moved lower down the hill from the church choosing to live, perhaps, where the Green or Chapel Hay are now.
Here the village as we know it began to grow becoming after the Norman Conquest the centre of a barony owned by the Archbishops of York. The Barony was broken up in the Tudor period and the manors passed into private hands. The way of life, however, continued much as before and Churchdown remained a small rural community. Even after the changes brought about by the Enclosure Act of the 19th century farm work was still the main employment of most of the local people. The appearance of the countryside was now altered, however, for the big open fields were divided into the smaller hedged units we see today. The great change came this century when big industry, notably Dowty-Rotol and Gloster Aircraft, came to operate in the locality and employed hundreds of workers. The newcomers were quickly absorbed into the community and Churchdown today, even vastly expanded as it now is, still retains much of its essential character and insists on its independence from its two important neighbours, Gloucester and Cheltenham. It is still the 'Village-below-the-hill' which, long ago, in popular parlance was called Chosen'.
THE PANTHERS
Churchdown Panthers was formed when a bunch of Soccer mad friends decided the would like to play other teams instead of just each other. They formed teams of differing age groups. The friends decided on the name Panthers as they wanted something different. Friendly matches were arranged and eventually there were enough boys to form a team that could play in the local league. A set of shirts had to be decided on and as the boys could only afford one set the colour tangerine was picked. Since Panthers were the only team in this colour a second set of shirts was not required. There are over 300 boys now registered with the Panthers and we are justly proud of our most famous old boy Guy Whittingham. Guy has played in the English Premier League with Sheffield Wednesday. He is currently on loan to Watford.
WHAT WE VALUE IN CHURCHDOWN PANTHERS FOOTBALL
This group which represents the forming and developing group of the Panthers is currently attracting over 20 boys. They have been playing friendly matches with good results, and have now entered into the "Mini Football League". These matches are 7-a-side and played on a Saturday Morning. The players play two matches with three teams turning out to play alternate games.
We note that the key features of the game of football are quite simply:
- To play the game.. and therefore not to be a regular non playing substitute.
- To enjoy the game.. and such enjoyment means that each child looks forward to Panthers football and Quote being there Unquote.
We value the child's appreciation and understanding that such enjoyment is not dependent on winning matches.
We value the development of self-confidence and self-worth that each child can experience through playing football with others.
We value each child having an appreciation of being part of a football club and part of a team as well as enjoying football for his/her own sake.
We value seeing an increase in football skills and a greater understanding of what the game is about for all the children and not just those who are more naturally gifted.
We value the opportunity to children to gain this greater understanding by playing in all different positions within a team.
We value maintaining a balance in each team/squad of children of varying abilities so each child can learn from and encourage each other. Therefore we also value teams/squads that do not label children Quote A Unquote or Quote B Unquote, or winners/losers.
We recognize the importance of children paying attention and behaving sensibly so that no one person's behaviour should distract from the participation of others.
Finally, we value the involvement of parents so that:-
a) there can be greater attention given to each
b) because such participation will increase a sense in all of us, that we have a part to play, and also that pulling together in the same direction, we will most likely see evidence of the values described above.
Thank you
Ken Wilford
