NEHYL Newsletter Snapshot #14
January 2025
Happy New Year!
And 2025 has brought a very wintry start to playing football with frozen pitches and sub-zero temperatures – and very little football able to be played…so it’s a good time to remind everyone that it is really important to make sure when matches are postponed due to weather that we need to let everyone know of the decision as soon as possible – opposition, referee and Div Sec – and both teams must reply to the FA FullTime SMS text with simply P-P for any postponed match.
January is also the time when the League are looking for last season’s trophies to be gathered up and safely returned to Sue Barnes by 31st January at the latest. Club Secretaries have all the necessary details as to how to return the trophies – so, if you do have a trophy proudly displayed from last season then please liaise with your Club Secretary to agree logistics of getting it safely returned.
Whilst still a couple of months away, now is a good time to flag that the deadline for new player registrations and player transfers is midnight on Saturday 1st March. And it is essential between now and then that you continue to flag any new registrations or transfers to the age group Div Sec – they don’t have a crystal ball (or receive any sort of system notification) to tell them when a player awaits their approval.
As ever, there is a wealth of information on our
website – so if you are ever unsure about anything around the league then this should be your go to first port of call.
Missing Match Day Information
The League has been aware of several incidents this season where teams have needed vital information to be available on match day. Many clubs provide excellent match day information – much more than just kick-off time and pitch location – but there is more some clubs and their teams can do.
We strongly urge all clubs and teams to look at the match day information you provide to your opposition (as well as to your own team players and supporters). Best practice is to include the nearest A&E department; location of the nearest defibrillator; and how to always get hold of gate keys and/or codes. Ensure the postcode is sufficient to find the pitch in an emergency – or better still provide a What3Words location.
If there is an emergency of any sort at your match, do you have all the correct information to hand to be able to quickly deal with it and ensure prompt – possibly lifesaving - action can be taken?
(Re)-Introducing Saturday / Sunday Club Representatives
Did you know at NEHYL, our clubs & teams are represented at all monthly league committee meetings? If not, the following will introduce (or re-introduce) you to the role of ‘Club Representative’ and what they do, and can do, for you.
There are currently five Club Representatives; Paul Reynolds, Rhys Culverhouse, Darryl Taylor, Polly Roberts and Andrew Hall. Paul, Rhys & Darryl all represent the Saturday mixed teams; Polly & Andrew the Sunday girls’ teams.
The backgrounds of our Club Representatives are varied but they all come from club or footballing backgrounds having played the game; coached or managed teams; have held committee positions within a club; or referee across differing age groups. With this mix of experience and backgrounds they are well equipped to understand the challenges faced by our members during the year. Ultimately, the Club Representatives are here to represent the needs of the clubs, ensuring you have a voice into the League Committee and age group Divisional Secretaries.
A Club Representative can influence and shape a wide range of relevant topics including input into rule changes, discipline, supporting referees, helping Divisional Secretary in times of increased workload, supporting festivals/competitions/cup finals, mentoring and being at the end of a call or email should a club (or team) wish to check or discuss anything, including providing a second opinion.
Club representatives are here to support, help, guide and advise as required – and their profiles can be found on the contact page
here.
Mini-Soccer Update
For the U7 to U10 age groups we have been following the new “No Deliberate Heading” laws since the start of the season – this was covered in the England Football link back in May 2024 (ref: new rule to be introduced to phase out heading in grassroots youth football matches) and on our website here.
As part of this initiative throw-ins were replaced with either a Dribble-In or Pass-In – as is the case for any free-kicks for mini-soccer, the opposition must be 5 yards/4.5 metres away from where the Dribble-In or Pass-In is to be taken.
A pass-in is not a big kick up field; it should be to another player – so, if this is not followed do expect the Referee to ask the player to retake the Pass-In.
The following resources from the England Football helps explain further:
Girls’ Football
Girls’ football is continuing to thrive here at NEHYL – we have recently welcomed several new U7, U8 and U9 teams. And we are looking for more of our clubs to consider entering girls’ teams in our Sunday morning Flexi league. It is aimed at teams and players that are new to football and not experienced enough to play 11 a-side fixtures in the competitive Hampshire and Surrey leagues.
For U12s and U13s, the matches are non-competitive 7 aside games with no offside. Teams play in the monthly Festivals and have additional friendlies as required. The next girls’ U12 and U13 Festival will take place on Sunday 2 February. Please contact Andrew Hall on 07355 006716 or email
girlsflexileague@nehyl.org.uk if you are interested in taking part.
U8 to U11 Development Festivals
Festival Competitions are held for all Under 8 to Under 11 age groups. This season we have two different Festival formats – the Festival Cup Competition and the Festival Divisional Competition. To help teams better understand the key differences between the two formats an explanatory note has been drafted and can be found here on our website.
In short, there will be one Festival Cup Competition per U8 to U11 age group this season (For both Mixed & Girls teams) – these will be held in the Spring. And, new for this season, there is a Festival Divisional Competition for Mixed U9 to U11 teams – this has already started, is held across the season, with generally one match played per month.
U23 Football
This season has seen the successful start of an U23 Development League, run by the Aldershot & District Football League (ADFL) with support from NEHYL – the majority of the teams playing in this league were formed from NEHYL U18 teams & players who want to continue to play Saturday football.
The ADFL is actively seeking U23 teams to join next season to grow the U23 Development League and help U18 to U23 players on their pathway to adult football. Are you a qualified coach or manager looking for a new challenge? Do you know U18 players who want to continue playing football? Aldershot & District Football League can help – if you want to find out more then
click here or email
u23@adfl.org.uk
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