The vast majority of clubs have two mini soccer teams totalling 20 players. When the time comes to move these players on to 11v11 the two teams combine which means there are only 16 places available therefore 4 players per team miss out.
To combat this drop out rate at one of the key transition points in junior football, Sheffield & Hallamshire FA have invited Charter Standard Community clubs to form an additional team at Under 11’s.
Charter Standard Community Clubs have been approached by the County FA as they already have adequate infrastructure in place to accommodate another team plus they have achieved the highest criteria in the FA’s Charter Standard programme. This defiantly does not mean that other clubs including non Charter Standard clubs could not support the transition of players from Mini Soccer to 11v11 and generate new teams at Under 11’s.
Matt Handley, Football Development Officer went on to say “This is an important initiative for Sheffield & Hallamshire FA and a key agenda in terms of the current targets set within the County Plan. The aim is to generate more teams through current club structures and to offer the option of continued football, instead of many players opting to drop out of the game.
Having worked closely with all the Junior Leagues in the area to achieve their Charter Standard League status, each league has highlighted that they want to increase the amount of teams in their leagues and this initiative is an ideal opportunity to do so”.
Sheffield & Hallamshire FA have produced a list of clubs wishing to set up additional teams in order to combat this drop out trend. Please pass this list on to all players affected by this issue.
The up to date document is available to download from the related documents on the right hadn side of this page