Its the parents abdication of responsibility and in vast % numbers their presence in the kids lives thats the issue
i posted a few years ago of the struggles i had whilst coaching a youth football team to keep the boys in check and the biggest challenge came from a team called RapAid who constantly tapped up the black kids in the team and their guardians (i refuse to call some of them parents) and told me i was a negative influence who didn't understand their culture and the significance of allowing them to talk like a wanna be rapper and wear their trousers around their arses
For the record two of the boys who left are attending a local authority Unit for schooling the 2 that stayed are completing their A levels in a local college they both had no father influence and they and their parent thank me for the effort i put in
The most talented one of all who unfortunately got injured whilst at Chelsea and then again at CAFC i last saw at the end of my road with a gang of lads , he walked away from them to come and say hi and changed his accent when doing so is now missing and has been on the missing kids twitter feed
his mum admits he is lost to the street and shows no regard for returning home
I recently said I'd never move house again, but these gangs are cropping up everywhere. Not just the cities. Stabbings are occurring all over the country, shootings are spreading too.
There were 2 stabbings last month in the largest local town (Crawley) to me (Horsham) and knives have recently been taken off students in schools around Crawley too.
Must have been fate with this thread as whilst sitting in traffic today the kid I mentioned above who has been on the missing kids twitter feed rode past me,
I called out to him and he rode over to me we had a chat and I checked he was safe and ok, he isn’t i could tell that very thin but not dirty his clothes were not the smartest but standard dark tracksuits with hoodie and dark coat (in this weather)
I made him take my number and he pulls out a standard pay as you go shit phone the type that most hood rats up to no good would have
I asked him to keep it don’t delete it and if he ever needs help for anything he can ring me 24/7 and I will come and find him and bring him to a safe place and help him
I told him I don’t want to read about him being another dead kid because it would break my heart if I knew he ended up that way
“ I am cool coach don’t worry you always worried about me “
I pray he will be ok but you can tell he is a runner for some group he said he can’t hang about here on this part of enfield too long just don’t just doing his thing and heading back to Tottenham for the eve
Must have been fate with this thread as whilst sitting in traffic today the kid I mentioned above who has been on the missing kids twitter feed rode past me,
I called out to him and he rode over to me we had a chat and I checked he was safe and ok, he isn’t i could tell that very thin but not dirty his clothes were not the smartest but standard dark tracksuits with hoodie and dark coat (in this weather)
I made him take my number and he pulls out a standard pay as you go shit phone the type that most hood rats up to no good would have
I asked him to keep it don’t delete it and if he ever needs help for anything he can ring me 24/7 and I will come and find him and bring him to a safe place and help him
I told him I don’t want to read about him being another dead kid because it would break my heart if I knew he ended up that way
“ I am cool coach don’t worry you always worried about me “
I pray he will be ok but you can tell he is a runner for some group he said he can’t hang about here on this part of enfield too long just don’t just doing his thing and heading back to Tottenham for the eve
Must have been fate with this thread as whilst sitting in traffic today the kid I mentioned above who has been on the missing kids twitter feed rode past me,
I called out to him and he rode over to me we had a chat and I checked he was safe and ok, he isn’t i could tell that very thin but not dirty his clothes were not the smartest but standard dark tracksuits with hoodie and dark coat (in this weather)
I made him take my number and he pulls out a standard pay as you go shit phone the type that most hood rats up to no good would have
I asked him to keep it don’t delete it and if he ever needs help for anything he can ring me 24/7 and I will come and find him and bring him to a safe place and help him
I told him I don’t want to read about him being another dead kid because it would break my heart if I knew he ended up that way
“ I am cool coach don’t worry you always worried about me “
I pray he will be ok but you can tell he is a runner for some group he said he can’t hang about here on this part of enfield too long just don’t just doing his thing and heading back to Tottenham for the eve
He was by far the most gifted footballer of the bunch , he approached us aged 7 and we had him for 2 full seasons before Chelsea sniffed and offered his brother the same money he was earning at TNT to take him to training and matches
And like anyone who took the bait 1 season in and a double elbow fracture during a game va sthampton and his days there were numbered
Paid his brother off the remainder of the three yrs they promised and he was back with us
We got him fit and back in the goals and cafc came and he was gone again it didn’t work out and was at watford then fell out of love with it by the age of 13
I got him back for a season
but the kids life was on the turn his much older brother who he idolized and who was his main carer (Mum tried but was not really any good ) had started his own family and moved away to bring them up and have a life
That season I tried hard to to guide him and point him along the right route paid for him to join my family and one other lad on the football tour and it was heart breaking to see his reaction to a family unit and have things done for him and have a bit of routine for a few days
He used to come rd to ours and just say hello grab a sandwich and a couple of quid (never ever asked for it ) and sit and watch the tv with us him and my eldest got on really well
It went from weekly to fortnightly to monthly to never and that was that
I then by chance met him last summer and we had a catch up the same evening I got a tweet from missing persons and it was Khalid I rang the number , the old bill phoned and explained the situation I told them I had seen and chatted with him and to tell his mum he is ok and if I see him I will try and get him to go home
Then nothing till today
Heartbreaking ain’t the word but he was a good kid who I don’t doubt now he is on the line between going fully into his new found world and not stepping back over
Must have been fate with this thread as whilst sitting in traffic today the kid I mentioned above who has been on the missing kids twitter feed rode past me,
I called out to him and he rode over to me we had a chat and I checked he was safe and ok, he isn’t i could tell that very thin but not dirty his clothes were not the smartest but standard dark tracksuits with hoodie and dark coat (in this weather)
I made him take my number and he pulls out a standard pay as you go shit phone the type that most hood rats up to no good would have
I asked him to keep it don’t delete it and if he ever needs help for anything he can ring me 24/7 and I will come and find him and bring him to a safe place and help him
I told him I don’t want to read about him being another dead kid because it would break my heart if I knew he ended up that way
“ I am cool coach don’t worry you always worried about me “
I pray he will be ok but you can tell he is a runner for some group he said he can’t hang about here on this part of enfield too long just don’t just doing his thing and heading back to Tottenham for the eve
And off he rode I hope he calls if he needs me
Need more people like you going out and doing youth work mate.
I miss it now but I honestly lost the love of it at the time, the situation with the coach in the other team who I mentioned started telling me a white man cant emphasize with the black kids and that riled me a lot , it became quite apparent that he was talking to the guardians of 5 or 6 of the Boys
He had a very big strong team of black lads not a white kid on the team they were quite influential at the local schools and the kids being kids were feeling the pressure to conform
We had a strict policy of school work behavior and community behavior being as important as football ability
Clean boots club tracksuits and punctuality , no slang talk no cursing and respect to opponents, refs at all time
Our home ground was one of the big parks in Enfield that shared with numerous teams meaning we regularly came into contact with them even when not playing them
And things got sour quickly as I wouldn’t let them influence our boys and it came to a head at a league AGM and I decided enough was enough for me
Comments
I recently said I'd never move house again, but these gangs are cropping up everywhere. Not just the cities. Stabbings are occurring all over the country, shootings are spreading too.
There were 2 stabbings last month in the largest local town (Crawley) to me (Horsham) and knives have recently been taken off students in schools around Crawley too.
I called out to him and he rode over to me we had a chat and I checked he was safe and ok, he isn’t i could tell that very thin but not dirty his clothes were not the smartest but standard dark tracksuits with hoodie and dark coat (in this weather)
I made him take my number and he pulls out a standard pay as you go shit phone the type that most hood rats up to no good would have
I asked him to keep it don’t delete it and if he ever needs help for anything he can ring me 24/7 and I will come and find him and bring him to a safe place and help him
I told him I don’t want to read about him being another dead kid because it would break my heart if I knew he ended up that way
“ I am cool coach don’t worry you always worried about me “
I pray he will be ok but you can tell he is a runner for some group he said he can’t hang about here on this part of enfield too long just don’t just doing his thing and heading back to Tottenham for the eve
And off he rode I hope he calls if he needs me
And like anyone who took the bait 1 season in and a double elbow fracture during a game va sthampton and his days there were numbered
Paid his brother off the remainder of the three yrs they promised and he was back with us
We got him fit and back in the goals and cafc came and he was gone again it didn’t work out and was at watford then fell out of love with it by the age of 13
I got him back for a season
but the kids life was on the turn his much older brother who he idolized and who was his main carer (Mum tried but was not really any good ) had started his own family and moved away to bring them up and have a life
That season I tried hard to to guide him and point him along the right route paid for him to join my family and one other lad on the football tour and it was heart breaking to see his reaction to a family unit and have things done for him and have a bit of routine for a few days
He used to come rd to ours and just say hello grab a sandwich and a couple of quid (never ever asked for it ) and sit and watch the tv with us him and my eldest got on really well
It went from weekly to fortnightly to monthly to never and that was that
I then by chance met him last summer and we had a catch up the same evening I got a tweet from missing persons and it was Khalid I rang the number , the old bill phoned and explained the situation I told them I had seen and chatted with him and to tell his mum he is ok and if I see him I will try and get him to go home
Then nothing till today
Heartbreaking ain’t the word but he was a good kid who I don’t doubt now he is on the line between going fully into his new found world and not stepping back over
I miss it now but I honestly lost the love of it at the time, the situation with the coach in the other team who I mentioned started telling me a white man cant emphasize with the black kids and that riled me a lot , it became quite apparent that he was talking to the guardians of 5 or 6 of the Boys
He had a very big strong team of black lads not a white kid on the team they were quite influential at the local schools and the kids being kids were feeling the pressure to conform
We had a strict policy of school work behavior and community behavior being as important as football ability
Clean boots club tracksuits and punctuality , no slang talk no cursing and respect to opponents, refs at all time
Our home ground was one of the big parks in Enfield that shared with numerous teams meaning we regularly came into contact with them even when not playing them
And things got sour quickly as I wouldn’t let them influence our boys and it came to a head at a league AGM and I decided enough was enough for me
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/teenager-in-critical-condition-after-double-stabbing-in-south-east-london-a3836141.html
He got a bit of a grilling on LBC yesterday but was let off the hook imo