East of Scotland Soccer Development Association

ESSDA AGM 2019

The ESSDA AGM will take place

•    on Sunday 17th November 2019
•    from 7:20pm to 8:30pm
•    at World of Football (Marine Drive, Granton)

SYFA Registration for 2020

Sadly, too late to save the ESSDA 2020 Winter Football event, the SYFA have changed the timetable for SYFA registration for 2020.

•    Registration for associations ()ESSDA) will open today 6th November 2019.
•    After ESSDA has registered, all Clubs can register for 2020 - one registration per Club
•    After your Club has registered with SYFA, all Age Groups will be able to register with SYFA

Age group 12s (2008) do not need to register with SYFA at this time as they are entering the transition season for moving to 11v11 in summer with SERYFA.
All other age groups must register with SYFA - one registration per Age Group.

To register an Age Group, you must have -

•    a Coach with SFA Level 1.2 qualification
•    all Coaches PVG Checked with SYFA
•    a First Aider with a valid Sports First Aid qualification

You can speed up your registration by ensuring you have the required paperwork ahead of the registration.

After your Age Group is registered, you can then register players. All players need to be registered and must be registered to the age group in which they are playing.
    eg  A child born in 2010 but playing in a 2009 team, must be registered to the 2009 Age Group and thereafter cannot play for a 2010 team.

Please note, all teams must be registered with SYFA before they play any football in 2020, including futsal.

As an association, ESSDA will not be registered until after the AGM, so the above timetable cannot start before 18th November 2020.
If only we had been given some notice of the change!

SYFA GUIDANCE ON HEADING FOOTBALLS

Following Dr Willie Stewart’s recent study into dementia risks in former professional footballers, the SYFA has now updated our guidance accordingly.

We would recommend, with immediate effect, that any drills which involve heading the ball are removed from all training sessions for age groups up to, and including, under 11s (7 v 7 teams).  As far as possible, heading the ball during games at these age groups should also be avoided.

The SYFA would also take this opportunity to remind all of our coaches and officials that if any player, at any age group, is suspected of having a concussion they must immediately cease playing in the game and should not re-join the match. Coaches and officials are also reminded of NHS advice on concussion and head injury, and should seek immediate medical advice if symptoms continue or worsen, or if a player is suspected of having lost consciousness.

For more details, please read the Sport Scotland's Concussion Guidance.

The SYFA is committed to ensuring the safest environment possible for children and young people to play football. Although there is not yet a definitive link between heading the ball and brain injury, it is essential that we take the relevant precautions to best protect our players.

First Aid Training

New Teams Wanted

I have received a request to add a new 2009 Beckham team for the rest of the 2019 Second Half. To allow this to happen, I need another new team for this league?

Do you have enough players to add a new 2009 Beckham team now?  If so, please get  back to me.

Winter Football 2020

Sadly, ESSDA will not be organising Winter Football for January / February 2020. See Winter Football page for details.

All Clubs are reminded that SYFA permission is required to play any other Winter Football including Futsal.
Clubs which fail to get the necessary SYFA permission before playing will be breaching rule 131 of SYFA Supplementary and Playing Rules:-

131 All clubs, teams, leagues, associations and players under the jurisdiction of the SYFA shall not be permitted to stage or play in any match or competition other than those approved by the SYFA.

ESSDA 2019 Second Half

I have been forced to make some changes to the schedules for the Second Half. In particular, I have swapped some fixtures in the 2009 Maradona and 2010 Zidane, making the home team play away, and the away team play at home. I have made the changes in pairs, so no team should be losing a home fixture.

Also, a team has dropped out of the 2008 Pele division which means there are now two Spare teams. Hopefully these teams can play each other

I am sorry for the disruption.

SYFA/SFA Player Pathway 2019

Please see the SYFA website for revised Player Pathway rules for the different age groups -

2008 - Nines 9s - https://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk/images/Information-Downloads/Football-Games-and-Tournaments/Laws-of-the-Game-Small-Sided-Games-and-Player-Pathway/Player-Pathway-Rules_2008.pdf

2009 - Soccer 7s - https://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk/images/Information-Downloads/Football-Games-and-Tournaments/Laws-of-the-Game-Small-Sided-Games-and-Player-Pathway/Player-Pathway-Rules_2009.pdf

2010 - Soccer 7s - https://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk/images/Information-Downloads/Football-Games-and-Tournaments/Laws-of-the-Game-Small-Sided-Games-and-Player-Pathway/Player-Pathway-Rules_2010.pdf

2011 - Super 5s - https://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk/images/Information-Downloads/Football-Games-and-Tournaments/Laws-of-the-Game-Small-Sided-Games-and-Player-Pathway/Player-Pathway-Rules_2011.pdf

2012 - Football 4s - https://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk/images/Information-Downloads/Football-Games-and-Tournaments/Laws-of-the-Game-Small-Sided-Games-and-Player-Pathway/Player-Pathway-Rules_SSG.pdf

ESSDA Season 2019 Second Half : Games should be played as close as possible to the rules above.

SYFA Approved First Aid Training

See https://www.facebook.com/FAtrainingservices/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Upcoming courses at Bonnyrigg on 29th September 2019 and 10th November 2019

Fixtures for 2019 Second Half

Fixtures are now available.  With nearly 300 teams, please excuse me if I have made an error. Let me know and I will try to fix it as soon as possible.

 Digital Education @ Tynecastle Park, Hearts FC

2019 Second Half

The closing date for changes before I do the fixtures list is tomorrow 15th August 2019

Changes after that date will be too late, and I cannot promise to be able to make the changes, and you may be stuck in the wrong league. If you want to change, please get in touch now.

ESSDA PVG Night

With thanks to Craigroyston FC, ESSDA will be holding a PVG night

Where:  Craigroyston FC club rooms on Muirhouse Parkway
When:    Monday 12th August
From:     18:30 to 19:30

ESSDA Coaches who intend to come along should bring:

•  SYFA Official Form (or proof that they are registered to ESSDA Club on SFA Live)
•  Passport
•  Driving Licence
•  NI Number
•  Existing PVG Scheme Membership Certificate (if you have one)
•  Proof of current address (recent bank statement or utility bill)

Please note: Passport and/or Driving Licence are NOT proof of current address.
Please note: Only original documents, no photocopies will be accepted.

Season 2019 Second Half

The 2019 Second Half will run from 25th August 2019  to 1st December 2019. Fixtures will be published 18th August 2019.

•  2008 (11s) age group will move to play Nines 9s
  The match supervisor must be an SYFA registered official or SFA Referee. The use of an SFA Referee is optional.
•  2009 (10s) & 2010 (9s) will continue to play Soccer 7s
•  2011 (8s) will continue to play Fives 5s
•  2012 (7s) will continue to play Football 4s

Teams are not allowed to switch age groups at this time.
All players MUST be SYFA registered to play ESSDA Football. Players should be registered to the age group they are playing in.
eg If a 2010 child is playing in a 2009 team, that player should be registered to the 2009 age group, and thereafter cannot play in 2010 teams.

All changes should be sent to me before 15th August 2019. All teams have a free choice of which league they would like to play in.
Teams will automatically be moved to play 2019 Second Half from First Half - there are no more fees to pay for existing teams.
New teams should complete a new team application form - see Forms Page.

First Aid

Anyone requiring a First Aid qualification might be interested in this upcoming course

See https://www.facebook.com/FAtrainingservices/?modal=admin_todo_tour for more details

 Summer Hack 2019

ESSDA Winter Football 2020

The SYFA operate a complete winter shutdown of all outdoor development football in December & January. In previous years, ESSDA has organised an indoor winter football event at World of Football and Oriam. However, the SYFA registration regulations and the SFA Live registration system make it impossible to organise a winter event like ours.
As such there will be no ESSDA winter football for any age groups in January & February 2020. 
Thank you for your support with our event over the last 15 years.

Please remember that no football activity is allowed in 2020 until after your team is properly registered with SYFA for 2020 season. Permission is required from Hampden to play in any indoor event in January & February - even if the event organisers claim otherwise.

SYFA Membership for Coaches

All Team Coaches, Assistant Coaches and First Aiders must be members of SYFA and registered on SFA Live.
To be members of SYFA, officials must be PVG Scheme Members through SYFA.
All Officials must also complete the free online Child Welfare and Wellbeing course on SFA Live.

Coaches who have not completed the online training will shortly have their SYFA membership suspended - do it now!

Parents who look after teams on match days or who act as Match Officials must also be SYFA registered on SFA Live as Team Helpers.

ESSDA Registration 2019

ESSDA registration for 2019 will open in December 2018. All teams playing ESSDA football in the new 2019 season must register.
All Age Groups must also register with SYFA (see below).

Each team playing Soccer 7s or Nines 9s will have a free choice of league : Pele > Maradona > Zidane > Beckham

SYFA SFA 9v9
 SYFA SFA Player Pathway 7v7
 SYFA SFA Player Pathway 4v4 and 5v5

Concussion Report

All Clubs are encouraged to read the attached Concussion Report and pass round their coaches
https://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk/images/Latest-News/Concussion-Report.pdf

Twitter / Facebook

All Clubs are reminded that SYFA rules prohibit the publishing of any results of development football on social media.

"Club A won 10-0" "Club B beat Club C" and similar statements are not allowed.
See https://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk/images/Information-Downloads/Football-Games-and-Tournaments/Laws-of-the-Game-Small-Sided-Games-and-Player-Pathway/Player-Pathway-SSG-Rules-2018.pdf

Formal Complaints

Anyone who wants to make a formal complaint about any aspect of ESSDA or ESSDA match must follow the SYFA Complaint Management System. This can be viewed at http://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk/index.php/members-corner/complaints-management-system

Complaints must be made in writing to Hampden using the forms available on SYFA website.

The Complaint Process consists of several steps:

Stage 1) Discussion with the party the complaint is about
Stage 2) Telephone or email enquiry to SYFA
Stage 3)  Lodging a formal complaint with SYFA
Final Stage) Complaint referred to a senior person within SYFA

Feedback on ESSDA Matches can be made using the ESSDA Monitoring Form.

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