Tankerton F.C. Fun Day & Trophies Presentation 2024

The Club held its annual, end-of-season Fun Day at Seaview on Saturday 22nd June, which included the presentation of trophies to team members and to coaches and other volunteer helpers.

CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME AND VOTE OF THANKS

The Club Chairman, Dave McGovarin, welcomed everyone to the Fun Day and thanked everyone for their continued support of the Club, saying how good it was to see so many of those connected with the Club in attendance.

Dave went on to express his thanks to:

• The Club’s Trustees, who are all volunteers, for their time and the support and challenge they provide to the Club Committee. Additional thanks were given for the Trustees’ tireless pursuit and resilience in the Club’s endeavours to develop the land on the Whitstable to Herne Bay road.
  
  Tim Elgar, joint-chair of the Club’s trustees then gave an update on the progress being made with the new ground. “The new ground is really beginning to take shape now and the fields are being levelled, ready for topsoil and seeding. The pitches are unlikely to be playable for the coming season but should be ready for the ‘25/’26 season. There are to be temporary arrangements for car parking and access, with use of facilities on the industrial site and a new walkway being built from the existing carpark. The Club is working with the City Council and Southern Water to resolve the annual winter flooding problems and blocked drains on the corner near the industrial site.”

Dave then went on to give further thanks to:

• All the players, parents and carers for continuing to make the Club the success that it is.
• All the coaches, managers and assistants who give up their time to provide a fun environment for players to thrive and develop.
• The Club’s numerous sponsors who pay for all of the playing kits and whose generosity really does make a difference to the local community.
• Dean Gonsalves, Terry Whyte and Phil Barton for all the time they give up, ensuring the Club runs smoothly and compliantly by carrying out all the admin.
• An additional, special mention and thank you to Terry Whyte who is the man solely responsible for maintaining the pitches at Seaview. Terry spends hours mowing and lining the pitches, cleaning the toilets and generally maintaining the ground.
• As a result of the unprecedented amount of rain we have experienced this season, Terry has had to make numerous trips to Seaview to check the pitches and to make arrangements for car parking.
• Special thanks also to Fixtures Secretary, Iggy Tapsell who, every weekend, arranges with opposition clubs the whole of the Club’s fixtures and books referees for our home matches. This has been very much a full-time job this season, given the number of postponements due to bad weather.
• Final thanks to all of the volunteers on the gate and on the barbeque and stalls at the Fun Day, including members of the Club’s Youth Council and a number of the Club’s Trustees.

2023/24 SEASON REVIEW

At the start of the season, the Club had 12 teams playing in five different leagues.

The Club’s Adult Pan-Disability team continues to grow and expand and the team played in the Kent Disability Football League for the first time this season. This, coupled with the ever-popular “Kicks for Kids” sessions on Monday evenings, for disabled children aged 5-16, is testament to the Club’s inclusivity policy. Once again, the Club’s thanks go to Vanessa Oakes for her continued hard work and drive behind these initiatives.

Dave focused on Vanessa’s drive, noting that she has single-handedly reformed the Club’s Youth Council this season. The Youth Council has monthly meetings and one of the things they have done is to produce the Fun Day programme and newsletter. In just a few months, they have also produced an amazing video which has been used towards a grant application for additional fundraising, as well as creating a questionnaire, the responses to which have helped inform some of the Club’s strategic decisions. If that weren’t enough, they have also been instrumental in creating the Club’s new mascot.

The Youth Council are a highly motivated and inspirational group of young people who have achieved so much in just 9 months and, for this reason, the Club has awarded them the “Chairman’s Special Contribution Award”.

The Club has seen a growth in numbers for most teams, with teams having solid seasons in their respective leagues. However, there was one team which had a more than solid season and that team was the U13s Girls who finished second in Division 3 of the Kent Girls & Ladies League. In addition to this, they won the end of season shield. In recognition of the team’s exceptional season, the TFC “Coach of the Year” trophy was presented to coach Sam Burford and his assistants, Christopher Rowley and Alex Bushby.

Dave McGovarin then presented the “Adam Bowey Special Recognition Shield” to Ja Tongue. Ja has been heavily involved with the Club for some 15 years as a coach, inspiring many boys and girls to become not only better footballers but also better young people. His philosophy wasn’t to win at all costs but to give equal opportunities to team members. Having said that, his teams did win trophies along the way. As a committee member, Ja was instrumental in leading several fundraising events including Golf Days and the auction night hosted by Frank Skinner. Ja has been responsible for the Club raising thousands of pounds.

Ja was single-handedly responsible for ensuring that the playing kit for all TFC teams was unified and he also played a significant role in the early years of driving the pursuit for the new ground.

The Club’s Joint Chairs of Trustees, Tim Elgar and Richard Miller, then made a presentation to Dave McGovarin who is standing down as Chairman of the Club. Dave was presented with a bottle of 18-year-old single malt Glenlivet and a pair of Gillingham FC mixer glasses. Dave has been involved with the Club for more than 15 years, serving variously as Chairman, Treasurer and Trustee, as well as being heavily involved in fundraising and, of course, coaching several teams.

Although overcast to begin with, the weather held out for the most part until a sudden heavy downpour interrupted the last team trophy presentations. A frustrating end to the day but perhaps a fitting full-stop to the story of the season.

TEAM PHOTOS

Pan-Disability Team

Tankerton FC Under 9s

Tankerton FC Under 11s Colts

Tankerton FC Under 12s

Tankerton FC Under 13s Colts

Tankerton FC Under 14s

Tankerton FC Under 15s

The Under 13s Boys and the Under 13s Girls teams were also in attendance but, unfortunately, the sudden downpour of rain meant that we were unable to take team photos on the day.