LFA Competitions

2020 Is Year Of The Child

Lancashire FA is delighted to announce that we are designating 2020 as The Year of The Child

Lancashire FA is thrilled to announce that we are designating 2020 as The Year of The Child in grassroots football, where we will ensure youth football is based on the needs of its participants rather than adult agendas.

As part of its designation of 2020 as #LFAYearOfTheChild, Lancashire FA wishes to make all clubs and leagues aware of the Youth Onside award.

Any club or league that can show that it involves children and young people in the decision-making process in partnership with adults is entitled to apply for Youth Onside status. This means the club receives a visit from a member of the safeguarding team and is awarded a framed certificate which can be hosted in the clubhouse or suitable venue. In addition the visit is publicised on our website.

We will also create a register of clubs and leagues who have received this accolade to assist you positively with recruitment of new players and volunteers. Last but certainly not least we will be working on a mechanism for ensuring that clubs who have Youth Onside status have a direct line of communication into our planned Youth Football Advisory Board which will effectively mean that your children and young people have the opportunity to feed directly into the Lancashire FA Board of Directors.

If you have not previously been awarded Youth Onside status but have a youth council, committee or consultation process please e-mail neil.yates@lancashirefa.com and we will arrange the visit and presentation.

We are also looking to conduct a couple of case studies into well-established youth committees so we are better able to support new start-ups. If you would like to be involved in one of these case studies please e-mail Neil at the above address. Similarly if you are interested in starting a new youth council or forum in your club or  league get in touch and we will put you in contact with those who have successfully introduced this to discuss tactics and offer advice.