Leamington Hibs were this week presented with their Chartered Development Club Status Certificate from the Birmingham FA. After many months of hard work from all the managers, players, volunteers, parents and committee members the efforts paid off and we are now recognised as one of only a handful of clubs to achieve the accolade in Birmingham and Coventry.

The club now has a 3 year plan to work from and will be working towards Community Status in the coming months and expanding its soccer school which currently involves approaching 50 children aged 4-8. Hibs also pride themselves on the development of their young leaders programme, a course run for children aged 9 years and upward that encourages them to take part in junior coaching and refereeing. Eventually this is intended to lead toward the development of future coaches, sponsoring FA badges where appropriate and mentoring their training sessions. Many of the clubs coaches are now working at level 2 or above. The club produced 5 young newly trained junior Referees last season and hope to do the same this year with a course starting in January.

The standard opens the door to increased exposure within the FA and access to subsidies for courses and equipment to assist in providing the support needed to maintain all our existing and emerging teams.