Players Wanted

I have added a new Players Wanted page to  the website which will contain adverts from clubs looking for new players.

Clubs wanting to add an advert, please send me a note using the Contact Us page.

Newly added - Seton BC Under 11

Players Wanted

Edinburgh City under 10s are requiring players born 1999 for all positions but specifically goalkeepers to top up our squads for next season when we will be under 11s.

Can any interested parties please contact :-
Jim Pringle on 0131 539 1507 or 07770 432893
or by E mail jim.pringle@kerr-assoc.co.uk.

ESSDA Season 2009-2010

Application Forms for the 2009-2010 season are available on the Forms page - to fill in online or to download.
Clubs must also register as Associate Members of the SYFA at www.syfaregistrations.co.uk

Applications must be returned to Tom by 31st July 2009.
Cost is £15 for teams playing 7 a side,
£10 for teams playing Soccer4s.

The First Half of the season will run from
           30th August 2009 - 13 December 2009 (16 weeks)

Players Wanted

Edinburgh Star YFC are looking for a goalkeeper and a couple of outfield players at 2001 age group and also young players at 2002,2003 and soon to commence at 2004. www.youngstarsacademy.co.uk for details and contacts

Players Wanted

Currie Star are looking to recruit players born in 2001, and in particular a goalkeeper.  Please contact John Brock john.brock@blueyonder.co.uk

18th May 2009

Under 12 Football - XI or 7 a side

ESSDA will be supporting the SFA Player Pathway and will organise 7 a side football for teams at Under 12 next year.

Mark Munro (SFA Regional Manager) has written to all clubs outlining the views of the SFA. To read this letter, click here - SFA Letter to ESSDA Clubs

ESSDA AGM on 31st May 2009

The ESSDA AGM will be held on Sunday 31st May 2009 at The Jewel Miners Club at 7:30pm. All teams are invited to send a representative.

Items for inclusion on the agenda should be sent using the Contact Us page.

All positions on the committee will be up for re-election. Anyone wishing to stand as General Secretary, Child Protection Officer, Match Secretary, Treasurer, Web-Master or Chairman should submit their nominations using the Contact Us page.

NEW U13 GIRLS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

The SFA South East Region are very keen to support the development of the girls game and continue to offer support to clubs as much as possible. There have been a number of developments over the past six months and we are keen to continue to progress the game further.

Through the girls and women’s development group, a number of clubs have suggested that there could be increased support for talented players at the U13s age group and below and whilst we would not support a regional squad at this age group we have decided to open a player development centre for the U13 age group. This Centre commenced on Monday 20th April (6.00pm – 7.30pm) and runs through to the 1st June. The Centre will then recommence in August through to October. The venue will be Meggetland Sports Complex, Edinburgh and players are asked to bring trainers as well as boots.

They realise that there are a lot of girls playing in boys teams and  are keen that they are given the opportunity to access additional training if they want it. If your players wish to take part in this programme please send us their name, club, date of birth,
parent’s/guardian’s name, and contact details asap to Aidan Forbes (South East Office & Events Coordinator) at southeast@scottishfa.co.uk

Under 9s Beckham Division

Merchiston BC will join the Under 9's Beckham division as the spare team. If you require contact details for Merchiston BC, please use Contact Us.

Level 4 Children's License - Sunday 26th April

On Sunday 26th April 2009, the SFA are running a Level 4 Children's Licence assessment at Peffermill. They are looking for 4 teams of children to help out as runners on the day. The children will get lots of football and top quality coaching.

If your team has a free day on 26th April 2009 and are interested in the above, please contact Mark Munro at the SFA - Mark.Munro@scottishfa.co.uk

Easter Weekend

Teams unable to play their Easter Weekend fixtures should contact their opponents as soon as possible so that alternative arrangements can be made.

Under 11 Fixtures

The Under 11 fixtures are now available on the Under 11 page.

Let Them Play

Thank you to the SFA for conducting this campaign. If you have any comments on the weekend, please get in touch using Contact Us page.

Under 12s Premier League

Dalkeith have left this league. There will be some restructuring to accommodate this change.

SFA Under 12 Soccer Sevens Grand Finale 2009

On Sunday 14th June 2009, the SFA will be holding the inaugural SFA U12 Soccer Sevens Grand Finale at Meadowmill Sports Centre.
For details of the event, please read the attached letter (DOC - 60KB) from Mark Munro - SFA Regional Manager (South East)

To apply, please complete and return the attached Application Form -(DOC - 817KB)

ESSDA Fixtures

Fixtures for the Under 12, Under 10 and Under 9 Age Groups are now available.
Under 11 will appear shortly.

SYFA Registration

It appears that not all clubs are registered with SYFA with at least Associate Membership. This is a prerequisite for membership of ESSDA. Clubs found not be registered will be suspended from ESSDA until they are registered.

It is only through membership of SYFA that ESSDA can confirm that clubs are properly insured.

I will be checking with Hampden to ensure that all clubs are registered and contacting the clubs directly. Clubs not registered will be listed here and other clubs should refrain from playing the listed clubs until their registration is confirmed.

Fixtures

Fixtures were handed out at the meeting on Sunday. They will appear here shortly, when I have electronic copies I can post,

A couple of things to note:

Under 10s - The contact for Fernieside u10 Colts is Ronald Stevenson.  Please note on your fixture list.

Under 9s - Beechwood are moving from the Pele to the Maradona division.
Under 9s - Gorgie Hearts are joining the Maradona division as Free Team
Under 9s - Easthouses Colts are moving from Maradona to Zidane division.
Under 9s - Easthouses are moving from Zidane to Beckham
Under 9s - Leith and Dunedin are joining as new teams in Zidane division.

Football 4s.

It is hoped to start Football 4s this weekend. Please contact your host club co-ordinator and confirm your attendance and start date.

See Under 8s page for more details.

Football Festivals

See the Football Festival page for details of upcoming festivals. If you wish to advertise your festival, please use the Contact Us page to advise details.

Kildrum United are holding a Festival in June 2009. For more details and application forms, please see www.kildrumunited.co.uk

Tournaments & Friendly Matches

Permission of the East of Scotland Soccer Development Association is required before participating in any Tournament or Friendly match if the opposition is not in membership of the Association.

Permission is also required to be obtained from the Scottish Youth Football Association.

Use the on-line permission form to speed up this process.

HELP Wanted

ESSDA is still looking for help running the association, If you would like to volunteer, please use Contact Page.

• Minute Secretary - To take minutes at ESSDA Quarterly Meetings
• 4s Secretary - To help organise the ESSDA Football 4s programme
• General Secretary - To manage ESSDA on a day to day basis.

ESSDA General Meetings

The meetings for 2009 will all take place at 7:30pm at The Jewel Miners Club on the following Sundays-

• 1st March 2009

• 31st May 2009 - The Annual General Meeting

• 16th August 2009

• 15th November 2009

Webmaster emails

Due to the increasing number of spam emails (100+ a day) that the webmaster email address receives, I will be moving to a new address. The new address will be web-master (note the hyphen between the web and master). It will remain @essda.co.uk

Alternatively, you can use the Contact Us page.

Season 2008-2009 Second Half

The fixtures for the second half of the season will run from 8th March 2009 - 21st June 2009. Edinburgh Leisure and the City of Edinburgh council have confirmed that dedicated 7 a side pitches will be kept open in June to play these fixtures.

11 a side pitches will close at the end of May (even if used as 2 x 7 a side pitch).

Clubs who use school pitches will need to check their own arrangements.

Where your home pitch is not available in June 2009, you will have a number of options:

• Use a 3-G pitch at a reduced rate eg Saughton.
• Use  an under utilised pitches eg Gyle 3.
• Use a pitch at Peffermill Playing Fields (probably 5 pitches available here)
• Swap the venue
• Postpone the match

If you think you may have a problem, please contact us - see Contact Us page.

ESSDA Quarterly Meeting

The next ESSDA Quarterly Meeting will take place at 7:30pm at The Jewel Miners Club on Sunday 16th November 2008.

Items for the agenda should be submitted using the "Contact Us" page as soon as possible.

Under 12s - Soccer 7s

ESSDA will be merging with ELSSDA (East Lothian Soccer Sevens Development Association) to provide a joint Soccer 7s programme for the Second Half of the 2008-2009 Season.

The proposal will include:

• SFA "In Service" training for Coaches
• Mixed fixtures between ESSDA and ELSSDA teams
• A "Festival of Football" at the end of the season at Peffermill organised by SFA.

Please see the Under 12s page for more details.

Please use the Contact Us page to register interest in this proposal.

City of Edinburgh Council 

Corporate Services – Culture & Sport

Leasing of three new build pavilions at Bingham Park, East Pilton Park and Fernieside Recreation Ground

The City of Edinburgh Council is inviting football clubs to register their interest in acquiring a long term lease on individual pavilions at Bingham, East Pilton and Fernieside Park.

The pavilions are being built by John Dennis & Company (Scotland) Ltd and accommodation includes a home and away changing room, male & female toilets, disabled toilet, first aid room, officials changing and storage space. The scheduled completion of all three pavilions is the end of December 2008.

The pavilions are available on a full repairing lease and insuring basis with an annual rental charge for the pavilion and an upfront security bond payable. Clubs will also be responsible for all utility bills.

Applications will be assessed on a number of criteria that includes club management and sustainability, youth development and links with the local community. The deadline for applications is Friday 17 October 2008. Applications will be accepted by post, email, fax or hand delivered to Waverley Court.

Once applications have been marked, and there is no clear successful applicant, clubs may be asked to do a small presentation to a panel to determine who will be awarded the lease.

Ultimately the decision on the successful clubs will be approved by the Council’s Culture & Leisure Committee.

For more info, contact:-
Colin Mackay, Club Development Officer, City of Edinburgh Council  at  c.mackay@edinburgh.gov.uk   or  www.clubsportedinburgh.org

Under 11s and Under 12s

Please note that the playing format changes for Under 11s and Under 12s discussed at the ESSDA Meeting and demonstrated at the In Service Session last night come into immediate effect this weekend.
The Guidelines page will be updated shortly, but for a summary of the rule changes, please see Rule Changes page.

SFA Player Pathway

At the ESSDA Meeting on Sunday 17th August 2008, Mark Munro (SFA South East Regional Manager)  talked through the Player Pathway for young footballers. The documents he referred to during that session are available for download:-

Proposed Player Formats for ESSDA (PDF - 235KB)
Proposed Player Formats for ESSDA (DOC - 152KB)
4v4 Information (PDF - 162KB)
4v4 Information (DOC - 157KB)

PDF - Adobe Acrobat format
DOC - MS Word Format