Times change but sport still offers so much
AS a former Stacksteads St Josephs player I am concerned that the football club is facing the bleak prospect of having to fold due to a lack of players.
Unfortunately this situation is becoming increasingly common amongst amateur sports teams with younger players ie 18-24 year-olds not being attracted to play as much as they used to be.
Another former club of mine, Goodshaw United FC, succumbed to a similar fate ten years ago, after being the top team in the East Lancs League for many seasons, despite the hundreds of new houses being built in the Crawshawbooth area which would potentially provide a production line of players for years to come.
As a keen cricketer I made the difficult decision this year, at the age of 41, to no longer play on a regular basis after 30 years of involvement with Rawtenstall, Old Rossendalians and Stacksteads.
However as a committee member of the latter for four years I am well aware that we too are facing an uncertain long-term future due the majority of our players being the wrong side of 30 and a handful over 40, but only one under the age of 18. Over recent years I have seen the composition of opposition teams change, to now being a mixture of experienced heads and under 18s, with a distinct absence of late teens and early twenty year olds. During the winter as a concerted effort to rectify the problem I hand delivered recruitment posters to six Valley secondary schools, advertising our preseason training session in hope to we may pick up a few new players. Although I appreciate that as the smallest club in the area, we don’t offer the same prospects and facilities that the Lancashire League clubs do, I was still disappointed that not a single school-age player expressed an interest in joining us.
The current situation is in stark contrast to the one in which I grew up. In the late 80s/early 90s every practice session at Rawtenstall CC was packed, with it sometimes being almost dark when the last person got chance to have a bat and you daren’t book a holiday in the cricket season as the competition for places was so great.
As it is now for the serious cricketer there were opportunities in the Lancashire or Ribblesdale Leagues, however for the more casual player the mid-week “workshop” league offered a more relaxed setting to enjoy playing the game. There was also a winter indoor league to stop you getting rusty in the close season. For the footballer there was the Burnley Saturday and Sunday leagues, the East Lancs League, a Rossendale Sunday League and a Thursday 5-a-side competition that at its peak comprised of 28 teams.
Half of the aforementioned competitions have probably been disbanded or are operating with much smaller numbers, but what has changed in our society to cause such as decline in participation amongst a certain demographic? The obvious scapegoat is undoubtedly computer games and (un)social media, but surely they can’t solely be to blame.
On the other side of the argument people may say, what is the big deal if young adults don’t wish take part in sport, particularly in a team, as there are many other worthwhile pursuits.
Well, yes there is, however I feel that participating in sports develops a person’s character in many ways, from being able to work in a team and communicate with others to selfdiscipline and the ability to deal with ups and downs which “real” life will no doubt throw at you at some point.
Then there are the benefits of the social side of the game with friendships built that last a lifetime both with your team mates and the opposition.
I hope that St Josephs FC are able to find the extra players that they need in order to continue and that players, young and old, have the opportunity to experience the enjoyment that I have throughout my playing days in whichever sport they chose. John Dawson Whitewell Bottom