Verona FC are delighted to become the first club in Dublin 15 to be awarded the prestigious FAI Club Mark Entry Level Award. The FAI Club Mark is an award based on best practice in management, operations and administration of your club off the field. The programme aims to support and encourage clubs to improve standards with the result of having stronger clubs and a stronger game.
Over the course of two years our Academy Director and Club Mark Officer Tracy Gleeson has worked tirelessly alongside the Football Committee, volunteer coaches and club office staff to ensure all criteria was met to obtain the prestigious award.
To meet the criteria some positive improvements were required in areas such as, child welfare; coach education; club policies and procedures, volunteer & recruitment process, all in line with best practices.
All Verona teams now have at least one FAI certified coach assigned to each junior team. New coaches are required to complete a safeguarding course & Garda vetting prior to commencing voluntary roles in Verona FC. All new coaches also attend age appropriate FAI coach education courses at the earliest opportunity available.
During the process of the application over 90% of Verona FC coaches attended coach education courses delivered by the FAI which has aided their coaching development, which will ultimately improve Verona FC’s player development. The club would like to thank their local Development Officer Paul Breen, for facilitating and delivering coach education courses at Verona FC, and for his continued input in our club development.
A huge thank you to Tracy and the rest of the Football Committee at Verona FC for making this possible. Being awarded the FAI Club Mark is an important step in providing a safe and excellent learning environment for all Verona players in the future.
Well done to all who made it possible including the managers and coaches who gave up their time as volunteers to meet their individual requirements. We look forward to working towards the next stage of the process which is the FAI One Star Award.
If your club is interested in attaining the award or finding out more please complete this short registration form.