To follow on from Otis's positivity thread, here's my own commending the club on a brilliant experience for my boy as a mascot at the Forest Green Rovers match...
Arrived at 5.45 and met the other dads and boys (5 in total) in the Atrium. Shaun Pierce from the club met us and walked us through to the media centre, where we were based.
The boys got given 2 free programmes, laminated certificate and free gift (ccfc bag).
Shaun did warn us that we might not be able to see Mark Robins as there's less time for evening matches, but we did and MR was happy to sign autographs, pose for photos and answer questions (mainly about goalscoring...) for a few minutes.
Onto the changing rooms (Shaun made sure they were all decent...) next to meet the players. Without exception they were also happy to chat, sign autographs and pose for photos. Identical suits for all players, something MR had brought in for this season.
The boys then changed into their football boots and headed out with Shaun, a bag of balls and a couple of mini-goals for a kick-about on the grass off the pitch that is in front of the away fans (interestingly Shaun said the pitch had been made smaller as there wasn't usually that amount of grass to play on...). They must've have been playing for about 40 mins, showing off their football tricks and playing a 2 v 3 match supervised by Shaun.
Incidentally, the walls of the tunnel area are now adorned with Cov pics of players past and present including a huge one of the just the fans. Apparently MR had again asked for this and they'd only been put up a week before. I'll see if I can get a pic uploaded.
The kids waited for the players to line-up before heading out with their selected player, whilst us chaparones stood pitchside taking pics. Boys then posed with Sky Blue Sam, match officials and captains before sprinting off with a big grin.
We then watched the game from front of the West Stand. Even 90 mins of abysmal football didn't detract from the overall experience.
An official photographer had been taking pics of the boys throughout the evening and I gather these will be emailed to me.
All in all, the club couldn't have done more. Shaun is a qualified coach and was brilliant with the boys throughout. Explaining everything patiently and asking the boys questions to keep them engaged. All staff we met said hello to the boys and asked if they were enjoying themselves (even a couple of FGR players said hello and jokingly asked the boys who they thought were going to win)
And all this was free.
We felt very lucky to have been picked as a mascot and I hope others who get the chance this season have a similarly enjoyable experience
:emoji_thumbsup:
Arrived at 5.45 and met the other dads and boys (5 in total) in the Atrium. Shaun Pierce from the club met us and walked us through to the media centre, where we were based.
The boys got given 2 free programmes, laminated certificate and free gift (ccfc bag).
Shaun did warn us that we might not be able to see Mark Robins as there's less time for evening matches, but we did and MR was happy to sign autographs, pose for photos and answer questions (mainly about goalscoring...) for a few minutes.
Onto the changing rooms (Shaun made sure they were all decent...) next to meet the players. Without exception they were also happy to chat, sign autographs and pose for photos. Identical suits for all players, something MR had brought in for this season.
The boys then changed into their football boots and headed out with Shaun, a bag of balls and a couple of mini-goals for a kick-about on the grass off the pitch that is in front of the away fans (interestingly Shaun said the pitch had been made smaller as there wasn't usually that amount of grass to play on...). They must've have been playing for about 40 mins, showing off their football tricks and playing a 2 v 3 match supervised by Shaun.
Incidentally, the walls of the tunnel area are now adorned with Cov pics of players past and present including a huge one of the just the fans. Apparently MR had again asked for this and they'd only been put up a week before. I'll see if I can get a pic uploaded.
The kids waited for the players to line-up before heading out with their selected player, whilst us chaparones stood pitchside taking pics. Boys then posed with Sky Blue Sam, match officials and captains before sprinting off with a big grin.
We then watched the game from front of the West Stand. Even 90 mins of abysmal football didn't detract from the overall experience.
An official photographer had been taking pics of the boys throughout the evening and I gather these will be emailed to me.
All in all, the club couldn't have done more. Shaun is a qualified coach and was brilliant with the boys throughout. Explaining everything patiently and asking the boys questions to keep them engaged. All staff we met said hello to the boys and asked if they were enjoying themselves (even a couple of FGR players said hello and jokingly asked the boys who they thought were going to win)
And all this was free.
We felt very lucky to have been picked as a mascot and I hope others who get the chance this season have a similarly enjoyable experience
:emoji_thumbsup:
