Looking forward to Christmas!

By Shaun Wimble of Wims11 Football Academy which is the Swindon home of Little Nipper Soccer & Wims11 FC.

What does Christmas 2020 mean for you in your business?

 A break. We have a busy build up and always finish with a Xmas party for the staff on the 23rd which has become quite an annual event. This year will be a little different no doubt. 

For me personally I am big on family time and time for ourselves so we ensure that our players and coaches have this valuable time off. Not to mention my birthday is on December 28th so even more to celebrate!

Are you a business owner who thinks more of ‘autumn/winter’ rather than Christmas? 

The football season for our age demographic tends to break each half term so the autumn/winter months are the busiest. As football fans it is exciting with the amount of football we get to watch. 

In your business when do you start talking or planning Christmas?

The children's Xmas party which is traditional with our little nipper soccer programme is generally planned in the summer or September. Other than that we just plan to ensure that everything is organised for the start of all the programmes and games in the new year. 

Will your business be operating differently during Quarter 4 2020? 

We don’t plan on doing anything differently although with the current conditions we are working in and we are prepared for any necessary changes or postponements. 

Are you planning any events in Quarter 4, virtual or real world? 

We hope that the restrictions will be lifted and we can hold our annual tots Christmas party which will take place on Saturday 19th December and of course our venues always get a visit from Santa so we hope he can make it this year. 

Have you got any milestones to share? 

2009/2020 was supposed to be a huge year as we celebrated turning ten years old, unfortunately COVID has meant we couldn’t do the things we wanted so we hope to do these again, bigger and better in 2021. 

Have you employed any new staff recently? 

We are in the process of recruiting new coaches and for me the most exciting aspect is giving our young U13 players some coaching and assisting experience. 

These players started in the very same programme they would now support. They learn important life lessons and it's great to see how they engage with the young children.

Have you faced some challenges which have changed things for you? 

The biggest challenge was ensuring we could come out of lockdown and still be able to hold our football programmes and have a club for them to return to. 

Our little nipper soccer programme is still unable to return properly as we rely on indoor venues which are still not up and running or are not allowing third party clubs on site at this time. 

How are you feeling generally about business in your community at this time? 

Feeling great. Football is back up and running and can continue under strict conditions which we have in place. I think there is a really exciting buzz about the place again and I think the amount of time away from playing has really given the boys and girls the opportunity to miss playing. 

Any special offers you’d like to mention? 

Any child signing up for the autumn/winter term will automatically go into a draw to win one of our bespoke NIKE Wims11 Mini-kits 

And finally: 

2020 has been tough and we are still not out of the woods so I would like to see us stick together, stay strong for each other and not forget to be kind, thoughtful, empathetic and patient. 

We will all get through this and hopefully have a big party, whether Christimas 2020 or beyond. #Weareone 

For more information visit www.wims11.com