Loughborough Emmanuel FC is a Christian football club that is part of Emmanuel Church's youth work but open to players from any church and any faith or none.
We seek to:
- provide Saturday football in a county where there is no organized Saturday football for anyone under 18 (all club youth football in Leicestershire takes place on Sundays);
- stress that good football is about enjoyment and sportsmanship; LEFC teams always seek to win, but still more important is playing to enjoy;
- invite players to join in other youth activities at both Emmanuel and other churches;
- give a game to as many as we can;
- provide football for both the very best players and those with less natural ability;
- help build self-esteem, particularly among players of lesser ability;
- treat players as rounded individuals, not just as footballers;
- work together with players, coaches and parents from other faiths and none;
- work together with players, coaches and parents from other churches / denominations;
- help players to learn to:
- work together as a team;
- develop self-discipline, both on and off the pitch;
- encourage each other;
- win, draw and lose with good grace;
- appreciate the hard work of all those who work to provide football;
- thank God for the good health to be able to play football;
- accept each other, irrespective of football ability;
- accept the authority of referees and coaches;
- at all times respect, and be polite towards, opposition players and coaches.
Emmanuel Church includes football as an integral part of its youth work for all the above reasons and because it believes that football, like all good things, comes from God. Emmanuel also believes that football is a good way to get to know players and their families, and to thus to invite them to share, if they wish, in the wider life of the Church.