SFA Youth Council wins High Commendation Award at FA Leadership Academy


Somerset FA Youth Council were given a High Commendation for the Youth Leadership Group Award at the FA Leadership Academy. The Youth Council were nominated by Somerset FA in which they were shortlisted with one other youth council win the first inaugural Youth Leadership Group Award. 

The group award was presented at the FA Leadership Academy in which Tom Bond (SFA Youth Council Chair), Georgia Ferdinando (SFA Youth Council Vice Chair) and Alex Caird (SFA Youth Council and Inclusion Advisory Group member) were present to receive the commendation. 

This has been a culmination of all of their work that the Youth Council has achieved throughout the season with the successful launch of their first Club Youth Council, a Mental Health in Football podcast series (soon to be released on SFA socials) and having the names changed on our county cup competitions making their mark on posterity.

Somerset FA CEO Jon Pike had this to say around the Youth Councils nomination;

The Somerset FA Youth Council is now in its 9th season. The council has proven to be a resounding success over the years, providing a voice of youth for Somerset FA. As well as a great induction for young people into football I genuinely believe that the Youth Council provides a training ground for the game’s leaders of tomorrow, with several of them joining local league management committees. Our Youth Council has in its time also provided an excellent training ground for us, with a few of our current and past staff members being recruited from the Youth Council.

The 2021-22 cohort have provided to be an excellent continuation of tradition. They have begun exciting projects looking at increasing the voice of youth at club levels so that CYP can influence the cubs the play in and a work about mental health across the game, with a podcast on the subject. They have also changed the names of the county cup competitions, so instead of Junior Cup and Women’s Junior Cup we now have Men’s Junior and Women’s Junior cup; leaving their mark for posterity.
I look forward to working with them, either continuing in youth council or other areas of the game going forward.

Somerset FA wishes a huge congratulations to every member of our Youth Council and if anyone has any enquiries around our Youth Council please feel free to contact Rebecca Snelling – Rebecca.Snelling@somersetfa.com