Today sees the VSC launch the Tomorrow's Rovers project, a new fundraising initiative aimed at supporting the development of youth players.
As I'm sure all supporters are aware, six of last season's excellent u18s squad are now signed on as professionals with the club - Jordan Ball, Liam Wakefield, James Husband, Patrick Mullen, Andrew McCormick and Jonathan Maxted. James Husband was given his opportunity in the first team towards the end of last season and turned in some impressive performances, not looking out of place on a field of players with combined career transfer fees well into the tens of millions of pounds.
This development of local young players is, in the view of the VSC Board, vital to the future of the club - a steady stream of players developed in the Doncaster Rovers way, who understand the way we play because that is the way they have been taught, and are able to come into the first team and be comfortable, prepared and excel.
This summer the VSC has been speaking to the club about supporting the continuation of the successful youth development programme, and has decided to sponsor one of the youth squads. The club have introduced this sponsorship for this coming season, and have ensured that sponsorship money is "ringfenced" to be spent only on youth development projects.
This is where you, the fine members of the Viking Chat forum, come in! We spoke with the club about barriers to the young players' development, and the resounding response was transport. The club need a dedicated minibus to take young players to away matches, training opportunities, development days, etc, and these are opportunities that some squads are missing out on, so we have decided to run a fundraising drive to sponsor a second youth team to assist the club in securing that minibus for the benefit of all the young players at the club.The Tomorrow's Rovers project gives us all a chance to invest in the future of our club and the future of Doncaster's talented young players.
We know times are hard, but see this as a very worthy cause with a tangible payback. Many supporters tell us that seeing local lads come through and pull on the iconic red and white hoops gives them an enormous sense of pride.
Please support this cause by donating via Paypal using the button below, or email chairman@drfc-vsc.co.uk if you would like to donate via an alternative method. As little or as much as you can give will be gratefully received, and move us closer to securing that minibus.