Membership Card, improving Cañada’s sports programme

The boys and girls children from Cañada now have access to the sporting facilities through a membership card. The provision of this credential includes three main objectives. The first and most essential objective is to reinforce a sense of belonging into children by creating a space where kids can use to get a better education and acquire life skills.

The second objective is to take the next step in the organization of sport programs in order to avoid forcing young people, within a variety of age groups, to play on the same team. In a recent football tournament organized by Red Deporte for 13- and 14-year-olds, circumstances required a much younger, in comparison to the other kids, child to participate in one of the games. The significantly younger player came onto the pitch, which in mere seconds unbalanced the match in a decisive way. For children, an age difference of only two years alone creates huge differences in both height and weight. These variations, especially in extreme amounts, create a great sense of ease for teams with “older” children amongst their ranks in comparison to teams with “younger” children. For this reason, the use of a membership card, each of which is categorized by perspective age groups of players, would avoid unnecessary and detrimental mixes of age groups in training sessions and, more importantly, in tournaments.

The third objective is to emphasize respecting the rules of the pitch and the sports program in general. Basic rules, based in respect, are blatantly presented to each child along with his or her membership card upon entering our program. Our organization is committed to continuously promoting and respecting each of these rules. In situation that a child repeatedly commits an infraction and thereby breaks these rules, his or her membership card will be confiscated and he or she will temporarily have limited use to the sports facilities. The front of each membership card contains a reminder of the most basic rules and obligations, which can be summarized by respecting both others and the pitch and facility of Cañada, as well as each child’s most basic rights: to have fun while playing football and to obtain a better education through participating in sports.

Red Deporte sports program in Cañada is supported by UEFA Foundation for children and streetfootballworld.