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1. |
INTRODUCTION |
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This
document sets out the development plan for the West Riding Girls
Football League. |
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It defines the
objective of the League, traces its history and provides details of
how we intend to meet our development objectives |
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2. |
OBJECTIVE |
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The
objective of the League is set out in the constitution. It
is to provide the opportunity for girls and women to play football by
providing structured coaching to help the to develop their skills and,
by providing friendly fixtures, league and cup competitions to allow
them to practice their skills. |
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3. |
HISTORY |
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| The
West Riding Girls Football League evolved out of the
Calderdale Soccer group (CSG) - an organisation established to
provide young boys (aged 6-10) and young girls (aged 9-17) with
the opportunity to play football. CSG itself grew
out of mini-soccer centres and within 5 years had some 800 boys
and 350 girls registered to play in its Leagues. |
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| The Major difference
between the boys and girls competitions in CSG was that the boys
teams came exclusively from within Calderdale, whereas the girls
teams, fewer in number, were drawn from Calderdale, Kirklees,
Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield |
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Given its wide
catchment area, effectively the whole of West Yorkshire, the
Committee of the Girls Section of CSG approached the West Riding
County FA with a view to setting up the West Riding Girls Football
league, based largely on the constitution of the Calderdale Soccer
Group and retaining the Committee Members to launch the new League. |
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With the help of
the Womens and Girls Football Development Officer and in consultation
with some Metropolitan Counties, the West Riding Girls Football league
held its inaugural meeting in May 2002 and received sanction from the
WRCFA two months later. It began playing league fixtures in
October the same year. |
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The League
wishes to acknowledge the huge contribution made by the Calderdale
Soccer Group to the development of football for young people and
particularly girls in Calderdale and more broadly in West Yorkshire. |
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4. |
THE FIRST SEASON |
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In
our first season we held 10 league competitions.. Two
divisions and under 10, One division at under 11, Four divisions at
under 12, Two divisions at under 14 and One division at under 17.
All the divisions up to and including under 12 and one of the under 14
divisions played 7-a-side according to mini-soccer rules, whilst the
remaining under 14 division and the under 17's played 11-a-side games.
Cup and Shield competitions were held for each age group. |
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These
competitions were entered by 35 clubs from West Yorkshire, many of
them newly formed. Between them they provided 75 teams
with 953 girls registered to play in competitions organised by the
League. |
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Coach and Player
Education was a major part of the first season, with two FA Level
1 courses being held (including Child Protection and Emergency Aid), a
Matchday Skills workshop and an Equity workshop. |
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The League wants
all Clubs to achieve Charter Standard within 3 years of joining.
At the end of the first season 15 of the 35 clubs had achieved that
level or higher and a further 5 clubs were being provided with
assistance to attains CS. A rolling programme of
assistance to clubs to achieve CS is in progress. |
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5. |
PLANNING AHEAD |
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Clearly
the League has made huge progress in its first year.
However, there is still much we want to achieve. |
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* To
encourage girls to start playing at a young age through the provision
of non-competitive fixtures |
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* To provide
a pathway through to open age football |
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* To identify
talented players and provide a pathway to centres of excellence |
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* To increase
the number of qualified coaches |
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* To increase
the number of qualified referees |
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* To enable
clubs in the League to have achieved Charter Standard |
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5.1 |
STARTING AT A YOUNG
AGE |
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Commencing
with season 2003-04 the League will invite clubs to enter teams at
under 8 and under 9 with the intention of providing friendly fixtures.
The entry fee will be £10 instead of the current £32 for teams
playing competitive fixtures. |
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5.2 |
OPEN AGE FOOTBALL |
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Commencing
with season 2003-04 the League will invite clubs to enter teams for
open age competitions which, if successful, will achieve the aim of
providing a pathway from early recruitment through to open age
football for girls in West Yorkshire. |
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5.3 |
TALENTED PLAYERS |
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The League
recognises that currently there are very limited opportunities for
identifying and progressing talented players. In liason
with Active Sports the League will in season 2003-04... |
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* Establish
an Assessment Centre where selected players will attend for coaching
and monitoring |
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* Establish 2
Development Centres for players graduating from the Assessment Centre
where they will obtain advanced coaching. |
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* Arrange for
top players from the Development Centres to be given the opportunity
to attend a Centre of Excellence |
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* Encourage
clubs to nominate players for trials for the West Riding Ladies open
age team |
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5.4 |
QUALIFIED COACHES |
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The League recognises
the importance to young players of having qualified coaches available
at clubs. Therefore, we will continue our efforts to
increase the number of coaches, either by holding coaching courses or
subsidising attendance at courses held by the WRCFA |
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It is an inherent part of
the Charter Standard that clubs should have qualified coaches and
this part of the plan is consistent with the aim of being a Charter
Standard league. |
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5.5 |
QUALIFIED REFEREE'S |
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The League will hold at
least one Matchday Skills workshop in the season 2003-04.
It will also hold at least one course to provide formal referee
qualifications. |
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5.6 |
CHARTER STANDARD |
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By the end of 2003-04 the
rolling programme of assistance to clubs to achieve Charter Standard
will be well established and a further 10 clubs will have attained
that level. |
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