Footballs Coming Home

A pleasant evening last night at the Pilot Field where, as the guest of sponsors Hastings Heritage, I watch Hastings record a satisfying 4-0 victory over Maidstone in the first home game of the new seaon. A bit of a treat sitting in the Directors box with a cup of tea at half time in the boardroom and a drink after the game - how the other half live eh? Actually what is rather impressive is the amount of voluntary effort the club harnesses at all levels. There is a good community feel to sport at this level and the boardroom actually doubles as a study centre during the week deliverying basic skills and ICT programmes. All the youth teams are all run by volunteers and that involves a lot of effort. It was also rather nice to catch up with a couple of former HVA staff and trustees. Paul - formerly a PPI Development Worker is a regular at the Pilot Field and has also been known to double as Leonard the Seagull the clubs mascot when the mood takes him. Also Steve Thorpe a former trustee of HVA was acting as Chief Steward so it was good to have a chat with them. Hastings United have their own website which is regularly updated if you want to check out their progress during the season http://www.hastingsunitedfc.co.uk/ And just in case you forget why football is called the beautiful game just watch this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2TY-hN8x0s