Rising Stars Youth FC is Whitstable’s newest football club. We started out in May 2014 with 24 enthusiastic children (playing in two teams, one under 8s and one under 9s), two fantastic coaches, and a very supportive group of parents and carers.

We entered the East Kent Youth League and had a very successful first season, during which the children had lots of fun. The club is also proud to have been awarded Charter Standard status by the Football Association in our inaugural season – something that is only awarded to clubs that are well-run and sustainable, and which prioritise child protection, quality coaching, and implementation of the FA’s Respect programme.

Going into our next season, we’re expanding from two to five teams, giving around 50 children the chance to play football in a fun and safe environment. We even have a new age group (U7s) that will be playing in the Faversham and District Youth league. We’ve invested in training five new coaches so that we can cover all of the teams. And we’ve been working hard to find new kit sponsors and organise local fundraising events to raise money for other essentials, including goalposts, balls, and first aid kits.

As part of our fundraising strategy, we applied to Kent Trust for Youth Sport to purchase one of a pair of folding metal goalposts, one of two sets of posts we need for our home league games. We were extremely pleased to have been awarded a grant, and will be purchasing the goalposts in August, ready for next season’s games, which kick off in early September.

We’ve also just launched the Rising Stars FC website, so please take a look to find out more about the Rising Stars, and what we’re about.