S&HCFA Affiliated Leagues have the opportunity to nominate one team per month for the award, for a positive contribution to having and showing respect.

There have been some fantastic nominations for December. The winner has been selected by a panel of County FA staff and the December award goes to Brunsmeer Athletic AFC Boys U13 Black   from Sheffield & District Junior Sunday League.

Brunsmeer U13 Boys were nominated for their exemplary sporting behaviour during a game against an opposition team who had only 9 players at the start of the game during an 11v11 league fixture. Brunsmeer started the game but several minutes in realised the significance disadvantage and restricted the players to minimum touches. As the game progressed the team manager decided to rotate players out of position while keeping to the restricted touches. By half time it was clear the there was still a disadvantage so to keep the game competitive, the manager reduced his team to 9 players and played on as usual.

When informed of the award, Daniel Bingham team manager of Brunsmeer U13 was surprised and happy to receive the award. Daniel said “We could see that the game was unfair and was quickly becoming one sided, so we tried to make it more of an even game, even though the game had only just started. I sat with my players and suggested we played with 9 players to match the other team and they all agreed with this.”

Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA Assistant Football Development Officer Jade Elson said: “Situations like this will happen in grassroots football and it is great to see teams adjust and adapt to the situation to allow all the players involved to not only continue to develop their skills and knowledge of the game but also have fun.”

Brunsmeer Athletic AFC Boys U13 Black will officially be awarded Respect Team of the Month by Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA for the month of December which will include a trophy and Respect goodies for the players.

There were 2 runners up for December who deserve a special mention for their excellent examples of Respect within their clubs; Mason Arms Wickersley from Rotherham Sunday League and Worsbrough Athletic U16s from Barnsley and District Junior Football League.

We look forward to seeing more examples of Respect for the month of January!