Essex FA will be offering FREE Affiliation to all Youth Disability teams for the 2023-24 season. The offer will be for all teams and clubs, including new and existing teams/clubs.

Essex FA Equality and Inclusion Officer, Milly Morgan said “Essex FA recognise the absence of a formalised opportunity for youth disability teams to play within a league.”

“Whilst we work to address this and support the creation of a league, our main aim is to find ways to engage with clubs and teams to be ready to enter a league for next season.”

“I really feel this offer will not only help the clubs financially, but it will also allow us to better understand the number of youth provisions in the county and highlight the great work that is already going on.”

“Being able to see an accurate number of youth disability teams through affiliation to the County FA, we will be better able to understand the appetite for a youth league and ensure that appropriate provisions are provided for the coming years.”

Essex CFA will be looking to reduce the costs of football for Youth Disability teams in two ways:

• FREE affiliation for all teams and clubs, including new and existing teams/clubs.
• Covering the cost for all affiliated teams to have Public Liability Insurance, which is a mandatory requirement for affiliated teams.

Milly also added “We would like to ask clubs with youth disability provisions to utilise this opportunity to ensure that all of your teams and age groups are represented through your team affiliation. If you are offering multiple age groups, it is important to affiliate all of these teams to ensure that they are covered through the Public Liability Insurance we will cover the costs of as part of the affiliation process. The same goes for multiple teams within the same age group. We want you set up to best represent all of the hard work you put into the teams. If your club is offering football for a lot of young people who may not have been able to access football before, we want to be able to share that amazing work with your local communities.”

How to claim your free affiliation?

NEW TEAMS: Please contact your Local Football Development Officer. They will be able to support you through the process of setting up a new club or adding an additional team

Group 1 (Colchester, Tendring, Braintree & Maldon): Lana Gillard - Lana.Gillard@EssexFA.com

Group 2 (Chelmsford, Brentwood, Epping Forest, Harlow, Uttlesford): Emma Burden - Emma.Burden@EssexFA.com 

Group 3 (Southend-on-Sea, Thurrock, Basildon, Rochford, Castle Point): Eloise Ives - Eloise.Ives@EssexFA.com

Group 4 (Havering, Barking & Dagenham, Redbridge, Newham, Waltham Forest): Karl Sear - Karl.Sear@EssexFA.com

EXISTING TEAMS: If you are already an affiliated youth disability team for this season, at present you don’t need to take any action and a refund will be processed. If we have any issues, we will be in contact with you soon.

In preparation for a youth league, we are still looking for individuals who would be interested in joining the committee. If you would like to express your interest in becoming a committee member, please complete the form below:

CLICK HERE

If you have any further questions, please contact Milly Morgan on Milly.Morgan@EssexFA.com