Surrey FA Nominated for London Football Award.

Surrey FA is delighted to have been nominated for The FA ‘For All’ Award at the London Football Awards in recognition of their Inclusive Schools League.

The Inclusive Schools League was established ahead of the 2017/18 season by Surrey FA in partnership with Metropolitan Police Youth FC and has been a huge success. 42 school teams signed up to play in the first season across three abilities bandings and two age groups (KS3 and KS4) and this has grown to 65 teams this season, playing across nine divisions.

The enormous success of the league has seen the creation of a ‘League 2’, allowing beginners, lower ability players and pupils with more complex needs to play in an environment which better suits their needs. Due to a high demand, a Girls division has also been added, with 6 Girls teams entered so far.

It’s not just new players who have developed through the league, but also other young leaders from the Metropolitan Police FC Academy programme who have been involved with refereeing and organising the league. A number have even progressed to taking coaching and refereeing courses. The schools involved have noted that their students not only love playing but have also shown great personal development too, as a result of regularly being part of a team, meeting new people and making new friends from other schools.

Surrey FA’s Football Development Officer for Disability and Inclusion Tamsyn Woodman commented, “We are delighted that the Inclusive Schools League has been recognised by the London Football Awards. The league has been a huge success thanks to partners such as Metropolitan Police Youth FC, the Surrey Special Schools Sports Association and Goals Wimbledon, and has brought the game to young people who might not have previously had the opportunity to take part in regular, competitive football matches. We are always looking at ways to help create football opportunities for all and we are immensely proud to be nominated for such a prestigious award.”

More information on how to get involved with disability football in Surrey can be found at: http://www.surreyfa.com/players/disability