This Update has FOUR messages this week which we would ask you to please read.
Reminder for all Winter league champions/runners-up
An hour with our YEL Friends
Management of the match day environment and respect for referees
REMINDER: What is/isn’t permitted up to June 1st
Reminder for all Winter league champions/runners-up
By now all teams who are champions or runners-up in the Winter league should have received an invite to the YEL awards for Saturday 14th May or Sat/Sun 11th/12th June. If you have not yet responded and confirmed you are coming, you must email events@yelonline.com ASAP to confirm. Details of where to pay your £40 deposit have already be emailed to you. This is Winter league only.
Those teams who have confirmed, will have received an email from us asking for final numbers and payment. Please ensure you follow the instructions in the email and confirm numbers/payment no later than Tues 22nd March to events@yelonline.com Anyone in any doubt as to what to do, please contact us as soon as possible.
An hour with our YEL friends – Thursday 24th March – 7.30pm online
Don’t miss this great opportunity to meet up online with three of our YEL affiliates and see how they can help your club – parents/ players and club administration/finances.
FindMyKit, SNAP Sponsorship and TeamFeePay will be doing three 15 minute presentations about their products with a Q&A session at the end.
Drop an email to the YEL Office office@yelonline.com for a link to the meeting. Pass the message on you your Treasurer/Club fund raisers as all are welcome to attend. It could be the best hour you spend this coming week!
Card checks
Concerningly, we are receiving anecdotal reports of some teams not doing card checks before games. This is a reminder that it is a league rule that both teams in ALL YEL organised games – league, friendly and cup games – must show their ID cards downloaded from WGS prior to the start of the game. If you have somehow avoided showing cards to this point of the season, count yourself very lucky not to have been fined. Please ensure that this weekend you have ID cards/sheets available for inspection by your opposition. Anyone found to not have shown cards will immediately be referred to the YEL Discipline team. Apart from fines, other sanctions are available. For cup competitions in particular, anyone not showing cards can be treated as a cancellation on the day which will result in instant removal from the cup. There is no reason for ID sheets/cards not to be shown so please do not be responsible for your players being removed from the cup or have points removed from them after they have won a league fixture.
Management of the match day environment and respect for referees
We have been made aware of an unprecedented occurrence in a recent YEL game. The match featured FIVE yellow cards with one team receiving four of them.
Managers are reminded that they have a responsibility to manage the match day environment and manage themselves, their parents and their players at a game.
Unacceptable adult behaviour from coaches/parents including criticism of referees, verbally encouraging players to be overly physical, aggressive actions/comments towards opposition coaches, parents and players is totally unacceptable and will filter through to the players as they will believe this is part of football. IT IS NOT.
Adults are role models and regardless of whether they believe a referee is good, bad or indifferent or whether they feel they are being hard done to on decisions, they need to control their emotions and comments to ensure that games are played in the right atmosphere. This is children’s football NOT The Premier League. Equally players who are showing frustration or are becoming overly aggressive in challenges, need to brought off for a cooling down period and a discussion around behaviour and what is and isn’t acceptable.
If you are unhappy about a referee’s performance and feel you wish to report it to the league, please do so office@yelonline.com as there may be an opportunity for us to provide support in their development. Remember 81% of our referees are children who are still learning – just like the players. Under no circumstances criticise the referee or disagree with their decisions as your actions will directly impact on the players and their highly impressionable minds. If our game is going to thrive with players developing in the right way, we all need to play our part.
REMINDER: What is/isn’t permitted in an FA league sanctioned game
Playing out of format football – In a YEL organised game, you cannot agree to play outside of the format of that set for your age group. We are aware that two teams agreed to play 7v7 in a U8 5v5 fixture. We are also aware that two U10 teams played 9 a side in a U10 7v7 fixture. All four teams have been fined for breaking YEL/FA rules. Any game organised by the YEL must comply with the rules.
Loaning players – Under no circumstances should any team loan players to another team that is short in a YEL organised game. Whilst this may be done in good faith, it would be breaking YEL rules regarding playing ineligible players. Also, there is a huge insurance implication if one of the loaned players gets injured or causes an injury to another player. If you want to balance the numbers up, ask the opposition if they would be willing to drop to the same numbers as you have. PLEASE NOTE: There is no requirement for them to agree to this.
Allowing the opposition to bring on additional players – The YEL has never signed up to the FA Power Play initiative and therefore players cannot be invited into a game to ‘balance up’ a match ie adding a sixth and seventh player in a 5v5 format. As such, the only option for a team who is dominating a game and wants to make it competitive is to remove one or two of their own players.
Game Day Hotline
If you have any match day queries when at your game – Saturday or Sunday – and need advice, contact the YEL Game Day Hotline. It is monitored by YEL staff and is available between 9.00am and 12 noon for match day queries only.
07510 305354
Rob Harwood CEO
YEL OFFICE