Leichhardt Saints Football Club

Leichhardt Saints encourages participation in Football, and expects players to be given equal opportunities on the field to develop skills to their best potential. Regular attendance at one training session per week is considered reasonable and a fair expectation for team 'membership'.

Opportunities for additional training sessions, if requested by a coach, are limited and should not be a requirement for membership of a team. Additional training times are limited by:

• Access to King George Oval - The Club only has access to the Oval on Mondays and Wednesdays and with many teams practicing, an 'additional' team practice session may compromise access by others.
• Players other commitments - Many players have a number of other sport, music and educational commitments on at other times.
• Parents' expectations - Many parents have selected the Saints for its fairness, family friendly orientation and on the suitability and frequency of training times.

Accordingly, the Club considers attendance at one training session per week as a satisfactory commitment and entitles a player to equal consideration at match time. Subject to the display of equal commitment (attendance at training and games), all members of any team (regardless of age or division and individual player ability) should enjoy equal time on the field. The policy of equal time for all players still stands.

Any coach seeking additional training times for his team must therefore;

• Inform players that attendance at extra training is optional and will not effect grading or player selection or match-play time, and
• Contact the Club to discuss suitable extra times and/or locations that will not compromise training access for other teams, and thereby to ensure all players are covered by Insurance.

Notwithstanding, the Club understands that graded teams and teams entering a finals competition may benefit from additional training. However, before committing the team to additional training nights, coaches may wish to consider a number of options including:

• Homework drills (involve parents in this)
• Fitness sessions (a team jog)
• Work on specific players and areas of play with more intensive coaching utilising two or more 'assistant' coaches (other parents?) within the existing training times
• Increase in the length of the existing single training session (for older teams).

2007 Leichhardt Saints Football Club Committee.