Club

Comets Sports Club was established in 1974. It offers boys and girls of all cultures races and abilities the opportunity to participate in organised football from Under 6 to adult age groups.

It is a Football Association Charter Standard Club. This award was presented at Vicarage Road Stadium in 2006.

Comets is a growing club and has over 40 FA qualified and CRB checked volunteers, none of whom take any wage or payment for their efforts. We have approximately 300 players, who are offered weekly coaching and match day games.

We encourage family orientated activities based on inclusion and team play. In 2006 we held a family weekend in Great Yarmouth, attended by over 150 members of our club. The previous year saw our U12 team travelling to Germany to Hemel Hempstead's twin town Neu-Isenburg where it fared extremely well in a tournament. Many of our teams regularly grace tournaments all over the South East.

Our contribution is measured in the quality of our service to the community. We are proud to offer weekly coaching sessions to a disabled group of players. We have organised games with other Hertfordshire clubs for this group, who would otherwise not get the chance to experience team football.

Comets run regular training sessions for girls from the ages of 6 to 16 years old. In 2007 we held a “fun day tournament style” event at Longdean School which was supported by around 25 girls and their families. Demand for girls' football is high, and we see this as a growth area and opportunity for Dacorum youngsters.

Comets has a partnership with one of Hemel Hempstead's sports colleges. We have sole use of the Longdean School pitches and have worked with the school to improve these. We have already installed small sided pitches for 6-10 year olds, and plan to further develop facilities. In recent years we have partnered the Cavendish School to deliver one of Dacorum's largest junior sporting events, our Summer Tournament. Last year we successfully transferred this to Longdean where we entertained around 5,000 people over the course of a weekend in June. Some nine counties provided the 183 teams that took part.

We celebrate our success annually by gathering the whole club community together for a presentation evening. Two years ago this was held at the Watford Coliseum, where 1,000 people saw our teams receive honours presented by Marc Bircham, then of QPR. Last year we relocated the event to Longdean, where the surroundings felt more homely. Marc Bircham, now with Yeovil, again helped with the presentation. This time he was joined by Ryan Charles of Luton Town and by Martin Bayliss, Chairman of the Berkhamsted Sunday Football League.