Girls Football Week

Local Youth Football Club leading Specsavers Fair Play award table

Sylvans Youth are leading the inaugural Specsavers Guernsey Football Association (GFA) Fair Play award for sportsmanship in the first half of the season. The Award is a joint venture between Specsavers and the GFA which encourages Guernsey’s youth teams to play football in a respectful and inclusive way.

After every youth match this season, both clubs score the opposing club on how they conducted themselves during the game. This includes the club’s youth players, its coaches, and even the parents watching from the side-lines. These scores earn clubs points which count towards an end-of-season award. This end-of-season award will earn the winning club £500 pounds worth of football equipment, whilst teams placed second and third will also win prizes.

The highest possible average score would be 6, so Sylvans currently are currently in first position with an average score of 5.81.

               Club                    Average Points per Game

1            Sylvans               5.81

2            St Martins          5.76

3            Vale Rec              5.47

4            Rangers               5.41

5            Rovers                5.18

6            North                  5.08

The Fair Play Award links with the FA’s (Football Association) national ‘Respect’ program. This program was launched in 2008 as an initiative aimed at improving behaviour around the grassroots football game. The Respect program was developed after extensive research into youth football identified that 9 in 10 children play better with positive encouragement. It also highlighted the negative connotations that can arise for children when faced with negative experiences in football. Ultimately, the Respect program focusses on creating and maintaining the right environments for young players which support fun, safe and inclusive experiences. The Specsavers Fair Play Award is aimed at recognising those clubs that best reflect the Respect program, which we hope will raise the profile of the program, whilst also rewarding positive behaviours.

GFA Chief Executive Officer & Director Gary Roberts says, ‘We have a reputation of great sportsmanship in the island and this award is a way of recognising exemplary

behaviours. This will encourage clubs to play the game the way it’s meant to be played, and to reward the ones that already do that.’

Specsavers Managing Director UK/ROI Paul Marshall says ‘This is a great opportunity for Specsavers to get involved in the local community and help to contribute to our positive culture in football’.