Youth Conference returning in March
THE Suffolk FA Youth Conference is returning in March.
The event will return to Ufford Park, near Woodbridge and will take place on Tuesday, March 28th 2023 from 6.30pm.
It will be the first time that the Youth Conference has been held since October 2018.
The topic will be ‘Disability & Inclusion’. This is an important topic to explore further and support all individuals to get involved in football in the county.
Football should be enjoyed by everyone and Suffolk FA want to help explore opportunities for clubs/leagues to develop opportunities for their local communities.
Phil Heap (National Development Manager (Disability Pathway) and Jonathan Coles (National Development Officer (Disability Pathway) will lead on workshops and drive discussion between all those in attendance.
All leagues, clubs, volunteers and participants in Suffolk football are welcome to attend. The event will provide opportunities to network with people to share and discuss best practise and development ideas.
Suffolk FA Development Officer (Retention) James Morley said: “We are really looking forward to welcoming members of the Suffolk footballing community to Ufford Park in a few weeks’ time to discuss all things disability and inclusion.
“This is going to be an opportunity to discuss this subject with National FA staff and influential people from their areas of expertise throughout the county to use their knowledge and experience to try to find positive outcomes to a topic which affects football and sport nationally and develop the pathways in Suffolk.”
Suffolk FA Development Officer (Growth) Kirsty Smith said: “Disability and Inclusion is a very relevant and an important topic in the current climate. As a County FA we want to encourage and support our local clubs to be able to offer more opportunities/pathways which will engage with different people within their local communities.
“Suffolk is a very big county, so we realise that being able to provide a good spread of opportunities so that people don’t have to drive miles to their nearest sessions is very important.
“We want to help break down barriers to participation and the creation of more disability provision would help with this.
“I think whenever you mention disability and inclusion people are automatically wary as they think it’s going to be completely different to mainstream grassroots football, but that really isn’t the case.
“That’s why we want to use this year’s Youth Conference to showcase all the great things that clubs/coaches/volunteers can do in order to make their clubs/sessions fully inclusive and all the support/guidance we can offer them.”
The cost of attending the Youth Conference is £15 per person and numbers are limited to 60. The closing date for bookings is 5pm on Monday, March 13th 2023.
If you would like to sign up to attend the Youth Conference, please click the link below.
To find out more information on the event, please contact Football Development Officer James Morley on 01449 616606 / 07976 957094 or via email: james.morley@suffolkfa.com
