English Schools' Football Association

ESFA Newsletter - Monday 8 November 2004

Chief Executive's Comments

This is an extra Newsletter to keep you updated on a number of issues and to accompany a number of important forms.

Discipline

The new County Administrative System (CAS) introduced by the FA has a number of teething problems, one of which is the identifying of school children playing out of school club football. A number of County Schools' FAs have reported this problem and we are endeavouring to sort the problem with the CAS management at Soho Square.

In the meantime we are continuing to issue Caution and Sending Off notices through the old system. One day a week has been set aside for the administration of all the referees reports. The system is:

1. Receipt of Referee's report.
2. We write to school/district/county Head/Secretary informing of offence.

1. Sending Off will incur the appropriate suspension and £8 administrative fee. Appeals are to be made to the office and then passed onto the appropriate Council Member.
2. Caution offences will incur an £8 administrative fee.

Records will be kept in the office and County FAs will be informed of the offences.

We understand that the Head Teacher has ultimate responsibility for the discipline of his/her children, but if a school enters a National Competition they must abide by the ESFA disciplinary procedures.

Adults other than Teachers in Schools Football.

Following agreement at the AGM and after consultation with the NSPCC and the FA the rule regarding the control of teams includes:

A person who has the direct approval in writing from the local or county schools' football association who is a licensed member of FACA (giving a first aid and coaching qualification, plus a CRB check and attendance on a Child Protection Course) and is registered with the ESFA Head Office.

Please note that all applicants must be a member of the FACA. It would be appreciated if Members could check this fact BEFORE applying for the necessary paperwork. All appropriate application forms are now available from the ESFA Office. These can be obtained either by postal request or by electronic means (email)

Child Protection

All Associations are reminded that they should have a committee member designated as Child Protection Officer, and if possible that individual should have attended a Child Protection Course or as a minimum seen the FA best practice guidelines as set out on the FA web site www.TheFA.com

It is now 2 years since Associations registered their Child Protection Officer with the ESFA Central Office in Stafford. If those records need updating please inform me, preferably through the email address john.read@schoolsfa.com

Thank you for your continued support in this area.

All Age Associations

Secretaries of all age Associations are requested to supply the ESFA Central Office with the name and contact details of their Primary Schools representative. Again, by email would be appreciated john.read@schoolsfa.com

England Schoolboys (under 18)

The programme for the 2005 season is:

• 12 - 20 Feb - Jamaica : Kingston
• 18 Feb - International v Jamaica
• 25 Feb - Scotland - Dunfermline FC
• 04 Mar - Northern Ireland - Bolton Wanderers FC
• 18 Mar - Republic of Irelan - Cork City FC
• 30 Mar - Invitation International - Pakefield Festival
• 06 Apr - Invitation International - Newport FC, Isle of Wight Festival
• 27 Apr - 2 May - China : Shanghai
• 30 Apr - International v China

The final 32 trial will be played at Lilleshall during the weekend of 15/16 January 2005. Trial matches will be played against an RAF Under 25 XI and PASE XI.

The selected squad of 16 will play Loughborough University over the weekend 29/30 January 2005, before departing for Jamaica on 12 February.

Competitions

County Secretaries and Council members receive regular updates and news of all our competitions. All ESFA Members should encourage their teams to make sure that they adhere to the dates of the competitions. Although there are often good reasons for seeking an extension when the deadline is due, this could be alleviated if thought were given at an earlier stage. When dealing with thousands of matches in each competition it is very difficult for the Competitions Department to have a flexible attitude to extensions.

With the number of Sponsors increasing it is more and more important for the Central Office here in Stafford to have details of all the local and county competitions that lead into National Rounds and Finals. Most District and County Secretaries have been very good and responded to Mike and Darren's requests for details, but some are still a little tardy. Please help us to help you! I think the ESFA deserves this support now that District and Counties are receiving a small amount of funding through the Central Office. The two competitions where we are short of detail are the Under 16s RAF Boys and Girls Cups and the Under 12 Nutella Cups.

Web Site - www.esfa.co.uk

We are making strenuous efforts to get the web site updated and to keep it updated on a weekly basis. There have been some problems, but we feel that we now have the ability to complete an update at least once a week. If you wish any notices, news etc to be published on the web site please let me know in good time.

Festivals

At this time the Isle of Wight Festival is in real danger of being cancelled. There have been insufficient entries to make the Festival financially viable. So if you are intending to go to the Isle of Wight at Easter, you need to pay your deposit to Gerry Smith without any delay.

Contacts:

• Durham (u13 District)
  Alan Johnston
  01207 284916 (home)
• Isle of Wight (u14 District)
  Gerry Smith 01793 750955 (home)
  
• Jersey (u11 District)
  David Lailey 01256 881517 (home)
• Pakefield (u18 County)
  Alan Ball - 01903 812006 (home)
• North Tyneside (u11 District)
  Dennis Fulton - 01661 886289

NOTICE BOARD

1. Long Service Awards. A reminder that completed nomination forms must be returned to the office by 31st January 2005
2. Funding Opportunities for schools and associations (kit etc.). This is available via The Football Foundation at www.footballfoundation.org.uk
3. ESFA Business Plan Funding. Application forms have been issued in early September. These will be considered at the Council Meeting on 20 November 2004.
4. The next ESFA Council Meeting will be held at the CCPR Main Office in London on 20th November 2004.
5. The 2005 Annual General Meeting will be on Saturday 2nd July in Loughborough.

OFFICE MATTERS

All to note that the email address of Dawn Howard, our new Finance manager, is:
dawn.howard@schoolsfa.com with effect from Monday 15 November 2004.

A Happy Festive Season to you all and thank you for your continued support of schools' football.