From Gary McDonald.
I WANT to say how much I appreciated the article by Carl Walker on junior football (JEP, 12 September).

It is something very close to my heart at the moment because I have taken over as first team manager at St Brelade and my youngest son, Stephen, has left St Clement and signed for the U16s.

Unfortunately, the squad appears to be made up of players who have been rejected at most clubs but have quite rightly been welcomed at our club because they want to play football. Some early fixtures have not been kind to them and they have suffered heavy defeats to First Tower and St Paul’s, 14-0 and 12-0 respectively.

During pre-season I have watched, and even helped coach these children and in a matter of weeks I have seen them turn from a bubbly, highly enthusiastic team into a group of individuals who expect the worst every time they pull a pair of football boots on. Their confidence has been shattered in such a way that we would be screaming blue murder on child cruelty if it were in any other walk of life.

I can see this first hand as my son has gone from preparing his kit and boots in excited anticipation the night before a game, to throwing his dirty boots in a bag five minutes before we are due to leave for a game.

As a senior club manager I am aware that our game is suffering from a lack of interest and this is manifested in the difficulty to field just two, let alone three teams on a Saturday afternoon – Sporting Academics C team recently scratched to St Ouen due to lack of players.

I know, in sport, for every winner there has to be a loser but something should be done to protect our children a bit more. I hope having a spokesperson like Mr Walker may have some people take another look at the structure for youth football.

I would be interested to know whether this article provoked any thought or review from anyone at the JFA?