ARCHIVED NEWS ENTRIES

SFA SE Region u12 Soccer Sevens Grande Finale

Once again the Scottish FA South East Region will be hosting the U12 Grand Finale 7v7 Festival and we would like to invite your club to participate. The aim of the Scottish FA U12 Soccer Sevens Grand Finale is to mark the completion of a players development in participating in seven-a-side football, before moving to the eleven-a-side game.

The festival, which is also part of the SFA South East Region
department’s annual plan, will be hosted at Meadowmill Sports Centre, Tranent, EH33 1LZ on Saturday 19th June 2010. The format for the event will be a seven-aside festival played on a round robin basis with no recording of results. We are encouraging all clubs to send as many representative teams as they wish to participate in the U12’s age group category.

Entry forms should be returned no later than the 31st May.

Additional Information (PDF 90KB) and the application form (PDF 287KB)

SFA/ESSDA 11 a side workshop

The SFA/ESSDA 11-aside "in service" workshop to all coaches (especially U12s)  will be held on Thursday 6th May at Peffermill Playing Fields at 6.30-8.00pm.

Any coaches wanting to attend should notify SFA using the attached application form (PDF - 162KB)

SFA Pre Season Training

Get A Head-Start : Scottish FA South East Pre-Season Training Techniques Workshop
(For coaches of children, youth and adults)

Monday 17th May – Peffermill Playing Fields, Edinburgh (6.30pm – 8.30pm)

For details of this free workshop please see workshop.

To apply for this workshop, please download the attached application (PDF 162KB) and return to SFA at Peffermill.

Pinkie Playing Fields

Please show your support for the campaign to keep the groundsman at Pinkie Playing Fields. Many ESSDA clubs will have play at Pinkie against Musselburgh Windsor FC,

For details of the campaign, please see the letter from Ian Mackay or visit www.musselburghwindsor.org

Players Wanted

The players wanted page contains details of many teams looking for players. Newly added items include Salvesen 2001 and Dunedin (Under 9) and Loanhead Miners (Under 10)

Disclosure

All club contacts listed on the SYFA Application form must be Disclosed. SYFA at Hampden have supplied a list of contacts who do not appear to be properly Disclosed, and I will be contacting all clubs concerned to chase this up.

Under 9 Contacts - Corrections/Changes

The contact for Dunedin Under 9s is  now Steven Morrison 07940002939

The contact for Beeslack Thistle (Beckham Division) is Norman Kidd. His mobile number should end 139607, not 136072.

The contact for Loanhead (Beckham Division) is now Keith Angus, not A Hutchison or S White.

S Anderson is no longer the contact for any of the Lochend teams.

The contact for Currie Star is John Brock. His mobile number should end 5341, not 5340.

Apologies to all who have been inconvenienced.

ESSDA Annual General Meeting

The ESSDA AGM is due to take place on Sunday 23rd May 2010 at 7:30pm at The Jewel Miners Club.

All clubs are invited to attend.

Items to be added to the agenda should be sent to me using the Contact Us page.
Individuals wishing to nominate others or  themselves for positions on the ESSDA committee are also invited to send their details via the Contact Us page.
All committee positions are up for re-election:-
Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, Match Secretaries, Web-Master and Child Protection Officer.

SFA/ESSDA 11 a side workshop

The SFA/ESSDA 11-aside "in service" workshop to all coaches (especially U12s)  will be held on Thursday 6th May at Peffermill Playing Fields at 6.30-8.00pm.

Any coaches wanting to attend should notify SFA - South East Coordinator.

Hutchison Vale Colts

Hutchison Vale Colts will replace Salvesen Reds in the Under 10 (2000) Maradona Division.
Sorry for the late notification.

Lochend YFC

S Anderson is no longer the contact for any of these teams.

First Aid Cover

Please remember that each team should have someone qualified in First Aid present at every game.
Games should be cancelled if adequate First Aid cover is not available.

Under 12 - Pele

Peebles FC have withdrawn from the Under 12 (1999) Pele league. This leaves two free teams who should now play each other.

Virgin Media - eMail Problems

I continue to have email problems with Virgin Media and their new improved email system.
My advice to anyone using Virgin Media email is to read the extensive on-line help on Googlemail - not Virgin Media help.

ESSDA emails will be classed as Spam by Virgin Media. To receive ESSDA emails you will need to turn off Virgin Media spam filtering. When they say they do not filter emails, laugh at them.
Lastly, where ever possible, avoid using Virgin Media email at all. That is my preferred option until they sort out this nonsense.

ESSDA Fixtures Under 9

I have made the following changes to Under 9s leagues. I will send out paper copies to all coaches, and emails to all the contacts for Under 9s that I have.

I hope this will be the last change for these leagues for this season.
I have tried to make the change while causing minimum disruption. Most teams will only have one or two fixtures changed for the rest of the season.
Thank you all for your understanding.

Player Pathway

Last week there was a meeting with SFA and SYFA to hear about the new Player Pathway. More details will be available soon when I understand the full implications.
We do not expect big disruption as we are very close to the pathway already.

ESSDA Fixtures

Under 9: Several teams have dropped out of the Zidane and Maradona leagues, giving two spare teams in each league. Teams should play against each other.
I have not rewritten Beckham league for all th enew teams applying late. If they still want to join, they will have to become ZIdane teams.

Under 10: New Pele and Maradona fixtures are available on the website. Although most fixtures are the same, new teams have been added to both leagues.

ESSDA Fixtures - Second Half 2009-2010

Fixtures for the next 16 week season were given out at the ESSDA quarterly meeting on Sunday night.

Under 9 ,Under 10, Under 11 and Under 12 have all been added.

Under 9 - I had decided to publish new fixtures for Beckham League, but I am now unlikely to do so.  The disruption this would cause to teams who applied on time is unfair. I will try to find places in other leagues for teams who applied late.

National Player Pathway

There will be two SFA Roadshows to discuss the National Player Pathway on Tuesday 9th March at Livingston (Almondvale) and Tuesday 16th March at Heriot-Watt University (Main Lecture Theatre).

National staff from the SYFA and SFA will be on hand to answer any questions.

ESSDA General Meeting

The next ESSDA Meeting is on Sunday 28th February 2010 at The Jewel Miners Club at 7:30pm

Previous Minutes - (DOC 40KB)
Agenda - (DOC - 25KB)

New fixtures will be distributed at the end of the meeting.

Payers Wanted

I have added a players wanted button to the sidebar. Any club wanting to add an advert, please use the Contact Us button to send an email.

Winter Futsal

For details of the Winter Futsal Festival on Sunday 21st February 2010, please see Futsal Page.

All games will be at World of Soccer, Chesser Avenue, Edinburgh.

I will be emailing and sending paper copies to all contacts.

As usual, thank you to all at SFA South East for their help in organising the Winter Futsal.

ESSDA Quarterly Meetings

The dates of the ESSDA Quarterly Meetings for 2010 are confirmed as

•  28th February 2010     
   
•  23rd May 2010
   
•  22nd August 2010   
   
•  14th November 2010  

All meetings will be at The Jewel Miners Club on a Sunday evening from 7:30pm

All clubs are invited to attend and submit items for the agenda.

ESSDA 2009-2010 Second Half

Teams wishing to change divisions or change contact details should use the Contact Us page to advise their Match Secretary of revised details.

Any new teams wanting to join the leagues should complete the Team Registration form on the Forms page.

All requests should be completed by Sunday 14th February 2010 to allow Match Secretaries time to complete new fixture lists.

Fixture lists will be distributed at the ESSDA Quarterly Meeting on Sunday 28th February 2010 at 7:30pm at The Jewel Miners Club.

Virgin Media and ESSDA emails

Due to a recent system "improvement" by Virgin Media, all ESSDA emails will henceforth be classed as SPAM by Virgin Media. Virgin Media customers will not receive any ESSDA emails as they will go directly to your SPAM folder. Other email services are unaffected by this change.

Despite my best efforts in negotiation with Virgin Media, there is no way I can resolve this globally. You therefore have several choices if you are a Virgin Media (or Blueyonder) customer:-:

1. Do nothing and hence do not receive ESSDA emails
2. Do as I have done and transfer  your email to another provider
3. Go into your Virgin Media on line settings, sign into webmail, and create a filter to bypass the Virgin Media default settings for any email from ESSDA. Don't try the help desk for advice as they will deny that there is any SPAM filtering on your account.

If the situation changes, I will issue a retraction and a full apology to Virgin Media. For now, I will apologise to Virgin Media customers. If they have sent any emails to me, they will have been lost. Similarly, any email I have sent to Virgin Media customers will have been lost too. Sorry!

eMail Problems

The new email improvement by Virgin Media (Blueyonder) is causing problems to ESSDA emails. Emails sent to or from essda.co.uk addresses may be treated as SPAM and automatically deleted. I am trying to have this default activity changed, but for the moment there is little I can do.

Under 11s Futsal @ Dalkeith

Two teams booked to play Futsal at Dalkeith have dropped out at short notice.

Any Under 11 club wanting to take up these positions, please contact me via contact page. First come first served.

First game on Sunday 17th January 2010.

SFA South East Conference

The SFA South East will be holding their Free Small-Sided Games Coaching Conference, on Saturday 27th February  2010 (12 noon - 4pm) at the Hearts Academy (indoors)

For details and application form, please see Conference Page.

Coach Education Brochure 2010

The Scottish FA South East Region has published its new coach education brochure for 2010.

It is available for download at the SFA South East website.

Winter Futsal 2010

Winter Futsal starts tomorrow Sunday 10th January 2010

Please make allowances for the weather and travel safely.

Winter Futsal 2010

It was necessary to shuffle some teams between Dalkeith and World of Soccer to balance the fixtures at the two venues. This was done randomly and it will be very difficult to amend these games unless another team would prefer a venue swap.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this causes. I should have included this note with the original fixture list - sorry.

Winter Futsal 2010

Winter Futsal schedules are available to print off. I will try to email copies to every team when I get time.

World of Soccer - (DOC - 261KB)
Dalkeith Campus - (DOC - 231KB)

A schedule for the week 7 festival will be produced later - all teams will be at World of Football.

Dues to much increased demand, fixtures will run from :-

World of Soccer  - Under 9 at 9:30 to Under 11 at 11:30
Dalkeith Campus- Under 9 at 8:30 to Under 12 at 2:30

It has been a struggle to fit in all the teams. We were unable to schedule games after 3:30 at Dalkeith, hence the early start.

Thank you again to SFA (South East) for producing the schedules.

Under 9 - 2001

With effect from this weekend, Tynecastle FC will move to the Pele division taking over the fixtures of Leith Athletic who will move to the Maradona division.

My apologies for the confusion over this. I will amend the fixtures on the Under 9 page from 29th November 2009.

Futsal - Under 8

For details of the Under 8 Futsal programme, please see the Under 8 page.

MXGUARDSPAM

I have been having trouble with email after the ISP introduced a new spam checking system. Many emails failed to come through, and others were being pre-fixed MXGUARDSPAM.

I think this is now resolved, but if you have recently sent an email to essda.co.uk or failed to get a reply, please resend your note.

Thank you.

Winter Futsal 2010

Together with SFA South East, ESSDA will be putting on a Winter Futsal programme at World of Soccer and Dalkeith Campus for teams Under 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Spaces are limited, and the cost is £40 per team for the 7 week programme from 10th January 2010 to 21st February 2010

The final Sunday will be a Festival of Futsal at World of Soccer.

Please book your place before 15 November 2009 using the online forms.

More details are available on the Futsal Page

SFA Creative Player Workshops

Click here for more details about the free  Creative Player workshops and an Application Form.

Friday 27th November 2009 and Friday 4th November 2009

Under 9 - 2001

If any team in the Pele league would like an immediate move to the Maradona league, please get in touch with me via contact us.

I also have a an Under 9 Beckham team looking to swap with a team in the Zidane League - also at Under 9.

ESSDA General Meeting

The Quarterly Meeting of ESSDA will take place on 15th November 2009 at The Jewel Miners Club at 7:30pm.

All clubs are invited to attended. Any items for inclusion on the agenda should be submitted to the (acting) General Secretary.

Items to be on the agenda:

• Guidelines for Soccer 7s
• Overage players
• Conduct of Coaches and Parents on Match Days
• Futsal Applications

ESSDA Guidelines

I have updated the Guidelines for Under 12, Under 11, Under 10 and Under 9 Soccer 7s to reflect the new rules on off-side and retreating lines.

All clubs should follow these guidelines in all ESSDA games.
I have added an item to the Agenda for the forthcoming meeting to discuss these guidelines. I will bring copies of the guidelines to that meeting.

Under 12 - 1998

Players Wanted

Please see Players Wanted page to  see adverts from clubs looking for new players.

Clubs wanting to add an advert, please send me a note using the Contact Us page.

Newly added - Beechwood u9 and Tynecastle u9.

Under 9 Zidane & Pele

Boroughmuir Thistle Girls have taken over the fixtures of the Spare Team in the Under 9 Zidane Division.

Any team wishing to move up into the Pele Division (from the Maradona Division), please contact me as I have a squad wanting to swap out of the Pele Division,

Age Groups

ESSDA follows the SYFA guidelines on age groups:

Under 12 - Born in 1998
Under 11 - Born in 1999
Under 10 - Born in 2000
Under 9   - Born in 2001
Under 8   - Born in 2002

Overage players can be played in exceptional circumstances, but should be notified to the opposition.
Overage players should never be allowed to dominate a game.
Playing overage players to strengthen a weak squad is not allowed,

When players play 11 a side a football, there is no allowance for playing overage players. An overage player who continues to play football will eventually have to play in the their correct age group. The jump to the correct age group may best be made at a young age.

Any club found to be playing overage players in an attempt to win games will have their membership of ESSDA suspended.

Under 9 - 2001 Pele Division

Lochend BC Colts will take over from the Spare Team in the Pele Division. Main contact for both Lochend BC teams will be James Urquart.

Under 12 League Changes

1. Eskmill Blues have withdrawn from the Maradona league

2. Liberton have dropped from Pele league to take up the place vacated by Eskmill Blues  

3. Hutchison Vale have taken over from Liberton  in the Pele league.

4. Since there are now two Liberton teams in Maradona, they have been renamed Liberton Lions (Moray Dickson) and Liberton Tigers (Paul Ferguson)   

Fixtures 2009-2010 First Half

Fixtures were distributed at the ESSDA meeting on 16th August 2009.
Fixtures run from Sunday 30th August 2009 to Sunday 13th December 2009
Clubs must play to the new Game Formats:-

ESSDA Game Formats

Guidelines for the playing of Soccer 7s available ESSDA Game Format (PDF - 176KB) for information on retreating lines and offside.

Applications 2009/2010

Applications for the coming season have now closed. Fixtures are being created and they will be distributed at the ESSDA Meeting at the Jewel Miners Club at 7:30pm on Sunday 16th August.

The season's fixtures will run from 30th August 2009 - 13th December 2009

Applications for 2009/2010 Season

Two days to go until applications for next season must be received.

Sending your form in two days time is not good enough. Your applications must be received by Tom by Saturday or you will miss the cut off date for fixtures.

If you do not have the necessary paperwork - copies of coaching and first aid certificates - this will not be a valid excuse.

Please get your ESSDA applications in by Saturday 8th August 2009.

ESSDA /SFA Football 4s Festival

For a report on the End of Season Football 4s Festival, please see the Under 8s page.

Thank you to Mark Munro and his team at SFA South East for their efforts in organising this event.

Applications for Season 2009-2010

Applications for next season must be received by Tom Terrell by Saturday 8th August 2009. Fixture lists will be compiled over the following week and distributed at the ESSDA Meeting on Sunday 16th August 2009.

Applications received late may not be included in the fixture lists. It is your responsibility to ensure that forms are completed correctly and delivered to Tom on time.

ESSDA Applications are available for download on the Forms page. It is a condition of membership of ESSDA that clubs are also registered as Associate Members of SYFA. SYFA Forms are available on line at www.syfaregistrations.co.uk  SYFA Forms require to be signed by ESSDA, and can be submitted with ESSDA Applications to Forms with a Stamped Addressed Envelope for forwarding to Hampden.

SYFA will supply details of all registered clubs to ESSDA. Failure to register will mean suspension of your club.

When submitting forms to Tom, please remember to include sufficient postage. Royal Mail will not deliver large envelopes with only normal first or second class stamps.

ESSDA Applications can be completed on line, but your application is not complete until paper copies are received by Tom with copies of all necessary certificates, SYFA Application and cheques to cover ESSDA membership

ESSDA Season 2009-2010

Application Forms for the 2009-2010 season are available on the Forms page - to fill in online or to download.
Clubs must also register as Associate Members of the SYFA at www.syfaregistrations.co.uk

Applications must be returned to Tom by 31st July 2009.
Cost is £15 for teams playing 7 a side,
£10 for teams playing Soccer4s.

The First Half of the season will run from
           30th August 2009 - 13 December 2009 (16 weeks)

Football Festivals

See the Football Festival page for details of upcoming festivals. If you wish to advertise your festival, please use the Contact Us page to advise details.

Tournaments & Friendly Matches

Permission of the East of Scotland Soccer Development Association is required before participating in any Tournament or Friendly match if the opposition is not in membership of the Association.

Permission is also required to be obtained from the Scottish Youth Football Association.

Use the on-line permission form to speed up this process.

SFA Player Pathway

At the ESSDA Meeting on Sunday 17th August 2008, Mark Munro (SFA South East Regional Manager)  talked through the Player Pathway for young footballers. The documents he referred to during that session are available for download:-

Proposed Player Formats for ESSDA (PDF - 235KB)
Proposed Player Formats for ESSDA (DOC - 152KB)
4v4 Information (PDF - 162KB)
4v4 Information (DOC - 157KB)

PDF - Adobe Acrobat format
DOC - MS Word Format

Players Wanted

Edinburgh City under 10s are requiring players born 1999 for all positions but specifically goalkeepers to top up our squads for next season when we will be under 11s.

Can any interested parties please contact :-
Jim Pringle on 0131 539 1507 or 07770 432893
or by E mail jim.pringle@kerr-assoc.co.uk.

Players Wanted

Edinburgh Star YFC are looking for a goalkeeper and a couple of outfield players at 2001 age group and also young players at 2002,2003 and soon to commence at 2004. www.youngstarsacademy.co.uk for details and contacts

Players Wanted

Currie Star are looking to recruit players born in 2001, and in particular a goalkeeper.  Please contact John Brock john.brock@blueyonder.co.uk

18th May 2009

Under 12 Football - XI or 7 a side

ESSDA will be supporting the SFA Player Pathway and will organise 7 a side football for teams at Under 12 next year.

Mark Munro (SFA Regional Manager) has written to all clubs outlining the views of the SFA. To read this letter, click here - SFA Letter to ESSDA Clubs

ESSDA AGM on 31st May 2009

The ESSDA AGM will be held on Sunday 31st May 2009 at The Jewel Miners Club at 7:30pm. All teams are invited to send a representative.

Items for inclusion on the agenda should be sent using the Contact Us page.

All positions on the committee will be up for re-election. Anyone wishing to stand as General Secretary, Child Protection Officer, Match Secretary, Treasurer, Web-Master or Chairman should submit their nominations using the Contact Us page.

NEW U13 GIRLS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

The SFA South East Region are very keen to support the development of the girls game and continue to offer support to clubs as much as possible. There have been a number of developments over the past six months and we are keen to continue to progress the game further.

Through the girls and women’s development group, a number of clubs have suggested that there could be increased support for talented players at the U13s age group and below and whilst we would not support a regional squad at this age group we have decided to open a player development centre for the U13 age group. This Centre commenced on Monday 20th April (6.00pm – 7.30pm) and runs through to the 1st June. The Centre will then recommence in August through to October. The venue will be Meggetland Sports Complex, Edinburgh and players are asked to bring trainers as well as boots.

They realise that there are a lot of girls playing in boys teams and  are keen that they are given the opportunity to access additional training if they want it. If your players wish to take part in this programme please send us their name, club, date of birth,
parent’s/guardian’s name, and contact details asap to Aidan Forbes (South East Office & Events Coordinator) at southeast@scottishfa.co.uk

Under 9s Beckham Division

Merchiston BC will join the Under 9's Beckham division as the spare team. If you require contact details for Merchiston BC, please use Contact Us.

Level 4 Children's License - Sunday 26th April

On Sunday 26th April 2009, the SFA are running a Level 4 Children's Licence assessment at Peffermill. They are looking for 4 teams of children to help out as runners on the day. The children will get lots of football and top quality coaching.

If your team has a free day on 26th April 2009 and are interested in the above, please contact Mark Munro at the SFA - Mark.Munro@scottishfa.co.uk

Easter Weekend

Teams unable to play their Easter Weekend fixtures should contact their opponents as soon as possible so that alternative arrangements can be made.

Under 11 Fixtures

The Under 11 fixtures are now available on the Under 11 page.

Let Them Play

Thank you to the SFA for conducting this campaign. If you have any comments on the weekend, please get in touch using Contact Us page.

Under 12s Premier League

Dalkeith have left this league. There will be some restructuring to accommodate this change.

SFA Under 12 Soccer Sevens Grand Finale 2009

On Sunday 14th June 2009, the SFA will be holding the inaugural SFA U12 Soccer Sevens Grand Finale at Meadowmill Sports Centre.
For details of the event, please read the attached letter (DOC - 60KB) from Mark Munro - SFA Regional Manager (South East)

To apply, please complete and return the attached Application Form -(DOC - 817KB)

ESSDA Fixtures

Fixtures for the Under 12, Under 10 and Under 9 Age Groups are now available.
Under 11 will appear shortly.

SYFA Registration

It appears that not all clubs are registered with SYFA with at least Associate Membership. This is a prerequisite for membership of ESSDA. Clubs found not be registered will be suspended from ESSDA until they are registered.

It is only through membership of SYFA that ESSDA can confirm that clubs are properly insured.

I will be checking with Hampden to ensure that all clubs are registered and contacting the clubs directly. Clubs not registered will be listed here and other clubs should refrain from playing the listed clubs until their registration is confirmed.

Fixtures

Fixtures were handed out at the meeting on Sunday. They will appear here shortly, when I have electronic copies I can post,

A couple of things to note:

Under 10s - The contact for Fernieside u10 Colts is Ronald Stevenson.  Please note on your fixture list.

Under 9s - Beechwood are moving from the Pele to the Maradona division.
Under 9s - Gorgie Hearts are joining the Maradona division as Free Team
Under 9s - Easthouses Colts are moving from Maradona to Zidane division.
Under 9s - Easthouses are moving from Zidane to Beckham
Under 9s - Leith and Dunedin are joining as new teams in Zidane division.

Football 4s.

It is hoped to start Football 4s this weekend. Please contact your host club co-ordinator and confirm your attendance and start date.

See Under 8s page for more details.

HELP Wanted

ESSDA is still looking for help running the association, If you would like to volunteer, please use Contact Page.

• Minute Secretary - To take minutes at ESSDA Quarterly Meetings
• 4s Secretary - To help organise the ESSDA Football 4s programme
• General Secretary - To manage ESSDA on a day to day basis.

ESSDA General Meetings

The meetings for 2009 will all take place at 7:30pm at The Jewel Miners Club on the following Sundays-

• 1st March 2009

• 31st May 2009 - The Annual General Meeting

• 16th August 2009

• 15th November 2009

Webmaster emails

Due to the increasing number of spam emails (100+ a day) that the webmaster email address receives, I will be moving to a new address. The new address will be web-master (note the hyphen between the web and master). It will remain @essda.co.uk

Alternatively, you can use the Contact Us page.

Season 2008-2009 Second Half

The fixtures for the second half of the season will run from 8th March 2009 - 21st June 2009. Edinburgh Leisure and the City of Edinburgh council have confirmed that dedicated 7 a side pitches will be kept open in June to play these fixtures.

11 a side pitches will close at the end of May (even if used as 2 x 7 a side pitch).

Clubs who use school pitches will need to check their own arrangements.

Where your home pitch is not available in June 2009, you will have a number of options:

• Use a 3-G pitch at a reduced rate eg Saughton.
• Use  an under utilised pitches eg Gyle 3.
• Use a pitch at Peffermill Playing Fields (probably 5 pitches available here)
• Swap the venue
• Postpone the match

If you think you may have a problem, please contact us - see Contact Us page.

ESSDA Quarterly Meeting

The next ESSDA Quarterly Meeting will take place at 7:30pm at The Jewel Miners Club on Sunday 16th November 2008.

Items for the agenda should be submitted using the "Contact Us" page as soon as possible.

Under 12s - Soccer 7s

ESSDA will be merging with ELSSDA (East Lothian Soccer Sevens Development Association) to provide a joint Soccer 7s programme for the Second Half of the 2008-2009 Season.

The proposal will include:

• SFA "In Service" training for Coaches
• Mixed fixtures between ESSDA and ELSSDA teams
• A "Festival of Football" at the end of the season at Peffermill organised by SFA.

Please see the Under 12s page for more details.

Please use the Contact Us page to register interest in this proposal.

City of Edinburgh Council 

Corporate Services – Culture & Sport

Leasing of three new build pavilions at Bingham Park, East Pilton Park and Fernieside Recreation Ground

The City of Edinburgh Council is inviting football clubs to register their interest in acquiring a long term lease on individual pavilions at Bingham, East Pilton and Fernieside Park.

The pavilions are being built by John Dennis & Company (Scotland) Ltd and accommodation includes a home and away changing room, male & female toilets, disabled toilet, first aid room, officials changing and storage space. The scheduled completion of all three pavilions is the end of December 2008.

The pavilions are available on a full repairing lease and insuring basis with an annual rental charge for the pavilion and an upfront security bond payable. Clubs will also be responsible for all utility bills.

Applications will be assessed on a number of criteria that includes club management and sustainability, youth development and links with the local community. The deadline for applications is Friday 17 October 2008. Applications will be accepted by post, email, fax or hand delivered to Waverley Court.

Once applications have been marked, and there is no clear successful applicant, clubs may be asked to do a small presentation to a panel to determine who will be awarded the lease.

Ultimately the decision on the successful clubs will be approved by the Council’s Culture & Leisure Committee.

For more info, contact:-
Colin Mackay, Club Development Officer, City of Edinburgh Council  at  c.mackay@edinburgh.gov.uk   or  www.clubsportedinburgh.org

Under 11s and Under 12s

Please note that the playing format changes for Under 11s and Under 12s discussed at the ESSDA Meeting and demonstrated at the In Service Session last night come into immediate effect this weekend.
The Guidelines page will be updated shortly, but for a summary of the rule changes, please see Rule Changes page.

ESSDA Quarterly Meeting

The next ESSDA Quarterly Meeting is on Sunday 1st March 2009, at 7:30pm at The Jewel Miners Club. All teams are invited to send a representative. Items to be added to the agenda should be submitted via the Contact Us page.

At the meeting, fixtures for the new season will be issued. The new season will run from 8th March 2009 until 21st June 2009 (16 weeks). Fixtures will eventually be available on this website, but not for at least 7 days.

Tournaments & Friendly Matches

Permission of the East of Scotland Soccer Development Association is required before participating in any Tournament or Friendly match if the opposition is not in membership of the Association.

Permission is also required to be obtained from the Scottish Youth Football Association.

Use the on-line permission form to speed up this process.

2008-2009 Season - Second Half

Applications for new teams playing in the second half of the season have now closed. If you want to amend the contact details for your team, please contact your Match Secretary via the Contact Us page as soon as possible as fixture lists will be drawn up shortly.

HELP Wanted

ESSDA is still looking for help running the association, If you would like to volunteer, please use Contact Page.

• Minute Secretary - To take minutes at ESSDA Quarterly Meetings
• 4s Secretary - To help organise the ESSDA Football 4s programme
• General Secretary - To manage ESSDA on a day to day basis.

SFA/ESSDA Futsal Festival - 22nd February 2009

Fixtures for the Futsal Festival with all teams at the World of Football on Sunday 22nd February can be downloaded here -

Futsal Festival (XLS - 38KB)

Futsal Festival (PDF - 48KB)

Please note that this will start at 9.00am for the U9s and not 9.30am as with previous weeks. Because of the high number of U11 teams this session will last for 1hour and 20 minutes.

Therefore the session times will be;

• U9s - 9.00am to 10.00am
• U10s- 10.00am to 11.00am
• U11s - 11.00am - 12.20pm
• U12s - 12.30pm - 1.30pm

ESSDA Season 2008-2009 Second Half

Any new teams wanting to enter the leagues for the Second Half (starting 8th March 2009) are invited to submit applications. Application Forms are available on the Forms page.

Teams wanting to change contact details or move division are asked to contact their League Secretary as soon as possible - or use the Contact Us page.

All new teams and changes must be submitted by 1st February 2009 to allow Match Secretaries to draw up fixtures. Changes after that made may not be accepted.

Fixtures will be issued at the next ESSDA Quarterly Meeting on 1st March 2009.

  Futsal - Further Information 

The revised fixture list for Winter Futsal is now available for download
Futsal - Dalkeith Campus (PDF - 60KB)
Futsal - World of Soccer (PDF - 67KB)
Futsal - World of Soccer  & Dalkeith Campus (XLS -79KB)

(Corrected fixtures for Dalkeith Campus and World of Soccer)

The rules are available for download too

Rules of Futsal (PDF - 149KB) or
Rules of Futsal (DOC - 436KB)
 

Please also see the Futsal page for some exercises which were demonstrated at the in-service day.

NOTE - At Dalkeith Campus there is no viewing area for spectators and spectators are not allowed in the playing area. Please do not come along expecting to watch your children play.

NOTE: Thank you again to the SFA (especially Jen) for helping to put on and organise this programme.

ESSDA General Meetings

The meetings for 2009 will all take place at 7:30pm at The Jewel Miners Club on the following Sundays-

• 1st March 2009

• 31st May 2009 - The Annual General Meeting

• 16th August 2009

• 15th November 2009

  Futsal - Further Information 

See above for revised fixtures

Webmaster emails

Due to the increasing number of spam emails (100+ a day) that the webmaster email address receives, I will be moving to a new address. The new address will be web-master (note the hyphen between the web and master). It will remain @essda.co.uk

Alternatively, you can use the Contact Us page.

Season 2008-2009 Second Half

The fixtures for the second half of the season will run from 8th March 2009 - 21st June 2009. Edinburgh Leisure and the City of Edinburgh council have confirmed that dedicated 7 a side pitches will be kept open in June to play these fixtures.

11 a side pitches will close at the end of May (even if used as 2 x 7 a side pitch).

Clubs who use school pitches will need to check their own arrangements.

Where your home pitch is not available in June 2009, you will have a number of options:

• Use a 3-G pitch at a reduced rate eg Saughton.
• Use  an under utilised pitches eg Gyle 3.
• Use a pitch at Peffermill Playing Fields (probably 5 pitches available here)
• Swap the venue
• Postpone the match

If you think you may have a problem, please contact us - see Contact Us page.

Winter Futsal 2009

Applications for Winter Futsal 2009 are now closed. We are fully subscribed with 60 teams. Fixtures will be issued as soon as possible and will be available on the Futsal page.

Players Wanted - Salvesen BC

Salvesen 2000's (U9) require players to join this new team entering the Pele League! Please call Graham on 01573 410456 or 07768 250883 for more information!

Winter Futsal 2009

• It is a 7 week program  - Sunday 11 January 2009 until Sunday 22 February 2009
• 5 a side Futsal. Squads can be larger.
• Teams will be located at either World of Soccer or Dalkeith Campus
• The SFA will hold a Festival of Football for all clubs on the last week (22 February 2009). This will be at World of Soccer.

ESSDA Quarterly Meeting

The next ESSDA Quarterly Meeting will take place at 7:30pm at The Jewel Miners Club on Sunday 16th November 2008.

Items for the agenda should be submitted using the "Contact Us" page as soon as possible.

Under 12s - Soccer 7s

ESSDA will be merging with ELSSDA (East Lothian Soccer Sevens Development Association) to provide a joint Soccer 7s programme for the Second Half of the 2008-2009 Season.

The proposal will include:

• SFA "In Service" training for Coaches
• Mixed fixtures between ESSDA and ELSSDA teams
• A "Festival of Football" at the end of the season at Peffermill organised by SFA.

Please see the Under 12s page for more details.

Please use the Contact Us page to register interest in this proposal.

SFA October Soccer School

For an application form for the SFA/City of Edinburgh Council Holiday Courses at Meggetland 20th - 24th October 2008, please see the attached application form (PDF- 1.1MB)

EDINA HIBS BOYS CLUB CYP

YOUR CHANCE TO PLAY IN A HIBS STRIP - COME AND JOIN US !!

Edina Hibs are looking for players at boys club level (Pele League born 1998) to join their club this season

Training every Thursday 6.30pm – 8.00 pm @ Holyrood High School, Edinburgh.

Please contact our first team Coaches:
David Waddell the_waddells@hotmail.co.uk
07941795329 or 0131 669 0461

City of Edinburgh Council 

Corporate Services – Culture & Sport

Leasing of three new build pavilions at Bingham Park, East Pilton Park and Fernieside Recreation Ground

The City of Edinburgh Council is inviting football clubs to register their interest in acquiring a long term lease on individual pavilions at Bingham, East Pilton and Fernieside Park.

The pavilions are being built by John Dennis & Company (Scotland) Ltd and accommodation includes a home and away changing room, male & female toilets, disabled toilet, first aid room, officials changing and storage space. The scheduled completion of all three pavilions is the end of December 2008.

The pavilions are available on a full repairing lease and insuring basis with an annual rental charge for the pavilion and an upfront security bond payable. Clubs will also be responsible for all utility bills.

Applications will be assessed on a number of criteria that includes club management and sustainability, youth development and links with the local community. The deadline for applications is Friday 17 October 2008. Applications will be accepted by post, email, fax or hand delivered to Waverley Court.

Once applications have been marked, and there is no clear successful applicant, clubs may be asked to do a small presentation to a panel to determine who will be awarded the lease.

Ultimately the decision on the successful clubs will be approved by the Council’s Culture & Leisure Committee.

For more info, contact:-
Colin Mackay, Club Development Officer, City of Edinburgh Council  at  c.mackay@edinburgh.gov.uk   or  www.clubsportedinburgh.org

Coaching In-Service Day

The Developing Creative Player In-Service on Monday 8th September 2008 will be held at Dalkeith Campus Indoor Hall 6pm to 7.30pm.
Could all coaches wishing to attend this In-Service please apply to Keith Wright

Under 11s and Under 12s

Please note that the playing format changes for Under 11s and Under 12s discussed at the ESSDA Meeting and demonstrated at the In Service Session last night come into immediate effect this weekend.
The Guidelines page will be updated shortly, but for a summary of the rule changes, please see Rule Changes page.

ESSDA Fixtures

Fixtures for the First Half of the 2008-2009 season are available on this site.

Note: Fixtures issues for Under 10's were 4 days out, please make alterations and/or check the website for full details.

Note: Bonnyrigg Rose have joined the Under 9 Maradona League as the Spare Team.

If available, please contact  Jen Malone (Office and Events Coordinator) on 0131-442-1538 or email southeast@scottishfa.co.uk

ESSDA / SFA Football 4s

Details of the Football 4s programme for Under 8s is available on the Under 8 page now. The programme will start on the weekend of Saturday 30th August and Sunday 31st August 2008.

Coaching In-Service Session

There will be two In-Service Sessions next Monday given by SFA Coaches:

• 4v4 Game Formats
• 7v7 Game Formats

Venue: - Meggetland

Date & Time: - 6:30pm - 8:00pm on Monday 25th August 2008

All coaches are invited to attend, and should confirm with Jen Malone (Office and Events Coordinator) on 0131-442-1538 or email southeast@scottishfa.co.uk

If any club can supply teams of children to help out with the demo, please contact Jen above - We need 16 children for 4v4 and  22 for 7v7 sessions. Thank you.

SFA Player Pathway

At the ESSDA Meeting on Sunday 17th August 2008, Mark Munro (SFA South East Regional Manager)  talked through the Player Pathway for young footballers. The documents he referred to during that session are available for download:-

Proposed Player Formats for ESSDA (PDF - 235KB)
Proposed Player Formats for ESSDA (DOC - 152KB)
4v4 Information (PDF - 162KB)
4v4 Information (DOC - 157KB)

PDF - Adobe Acrobat format
DOC - MS Word Format

4v4 In-Service Coaching

The 4v4 In Service Coaching due to take place on Wednesday 13th August has been postponed. An alternative date will be published shortly.

ESSDA Applications for season 2008/2009

All clubs are reminded that applications for next season were due in by 1st August 2008. Teams failing to register run the risk of being excluded from fixture lists for the start of the season.

ESSDA applications are available from the Forms page on this site. Each team playing 7 a side needs to complete one ESSDA form. Under 8s registering for 4 a side need to complete one form per club.
Each age group must register with the SYFA. SYFA Applications may be requested from me - see Contact page. These forms are signed and can be forwarded with a stamped SAE direct to Hampden. Clubs intending to play 11 a side  - please read the next news item.

SFA In Service Days

There is an in service day for clubs who will host the Soccer 4 Central Venues on Wednesday 25th June at Meggetland from 6:00pm to 7:30pm
Clubs will be able to pick up their SFA 4's equipment at the event.

Loanhead, Spartans, Leith, Fernieside, Youngstars, Tynecastle, Musselburgh are al invited to attended.

Another event for clubs participating in Soccer 4s will be announced shortly - probably on 17th August.

SFA Activities

The SFA are running "Midnight League" - 5 and 7 a side football for 12y to 16y
and
Summer Holiday Courses:
o  Children 5y - 14y
o  Girls Only 8y - 14y
o  Goalkeeping 8y-16y

For details read Midnight League (PDF - 751KB) and
SFA Summer Programme  (City of Edinburgh) (PDF - 1.3MB)
SFA Summer Programme (Midlothian) (PDF - 1MB)

All applications to :-

SFA Coaching Courses                

Please note that application forms and payments must be in 7 days prior to course commencement as this is the closing date for the courses. Application form can be downloaded here - Application Form (PDF 152KB)
Cheques should be made payable to City of Edinburgh Council and places are limited.

All forms and payments should be sent to:                        

David Sheldon
SFA Football Development Officer
City of Edinburgh Council
5-7 regent Road
Edinburgh
EH7 5BL

ESSDA Season 2008/2009

Application Forms for the ESSDA 2008/2009 season should have been picked up by all clubs at The Jewel on 8th June 2008.

Clubs without forms can download their ESSDA forms from the new FORMS page on this website. To get SYFA forms, please contact me - see Contact page.

All forms must be returned by 31st July 2008. Clubs submitting forms late run the risk of not being admitted to the association.

Hearts FC Community Coach

Hearts FC are looking to recruit a new Community Coach. This is a new full-time position based at Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh.

The post-holders duties will include supporting grassroots provision and developing opportunities for local children's and youth clubs. 

Further information and application details can be found at either of theses links.

www.heartsfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Jobs/0,,10289~1319148,00.html

www.s1jobs.com/job/248547295.html

The closing date is 20 June 2008

SUMMER FOOTBALL - CENTRAL   VENUES are CANCELLED

Unfortunately, summer football at the central venues will not be going ahead this year.

As no new fixtures will be made available, clubs are asked to revert to the original fixtures for June 2008 as issued earlier this year. If these games are not possible, please arrange your own fixtures with clubs in the association, if you have a suitable venue to play the match.

East and Mid Lothian teams can play normal home fixtures. Edinburgh teams can switch venue where possible.

FOOTBALL  4s    FOR  UNDER  8s 

From  August  2008

As  part  of  the  SFA  Player  Pathway  which  Essda  endorse  the  new  intake  of  under  8s  in  August  will  play  Football  4s.  We  are  trialling  this  programme  form  August  so  that  we  will  hit  the  ground  running  come  March  09  when  the  Player  Pathway  kicks  in  for  real.

To  enable  this  programme  to  run  effectively  4s  centres  will  be  set  up.  We  are  asking  Clubs  to  run  these  centres  on  behalf  of  Essda  and  the  SFA.  Centres  already  in  place  are  LOANHEAD, FERNIESIDE  &  BINGHAM  PARK. We  are  hoping  to  secure  at  least  3  other  centres  (  these  will  be  confirmed  soon ).

Due  to  each  of  the  hosting  clubs  logistical  issues  the  centres  will  run  on  either  a  Saturday  or  Sunday  morning.

Each  of  the  centres  will  be  provided  with  the  equipment  shown,  the  equipment  is  the  property  of  the  SFA  but  the  hosting  club  will  have  control  over  it.  To see the equipment, please click on the equipment link

MORE  DETAILS  TO  FOLLOW  SOON

Disclosure Scotland

If  anyone  would  like  to  become  an  additional  signatory  within  your  club  please  contact  General  Secretary.  After  an  evenings  training  from  the  SYFA  Protection  Officer  you  will  be  able  to  carry out  Disclosure  checks  for  your  club.  This  is  a  responsible  position  to  hold  and  will  also  enhance  your   club's Quality  Mark  status.

AGM

The association AGM will take place at 7:30pm on Sunday 11th May at The Jewel Miners Club.

All clubs are invited to send representatives.

Midlothian 4 v4

Midlothian 4v4 starts Saturday 26th April 2008 from 9:30pm-11:00am at Burghlee Park, Loanhead (Home of Loanhead BC). This is aimed at boys and girls aged 5 to 8 and is free!

For information, please see the Flyer (PDF - 291KB) or contact Keith Wright, Development Officer, Midlothian Council.

Change of Contact

1998 Under 10s, Tynecastle in Zidane Group

The new contact for this team is Andy Coventry.
Contact me (- see Contact page) or match secretary if you require his contact details.

The SFA are holding 4v4 Come and Play days. For information, see below-

In Service Day - Monday 7th April 2008

Next Mondays In-service (Skills Test) at Poltonhall Astro pitch is cancelled due to lack of interest from clubs.
Any replacement will be advertised on the site.

Fixture List Changes

Under 10
Cavalry Park have taken over the fixtures of the Free Team in the Under 10 Maradona Division.

Under 11
Easthouses have dropped from the Pele Division to Zidane Division. CSS and Haddington Athletic have also joined Zidane Division.

In Pele Division this leaves two free teams to play each other.
New fixtures will be issued for Zidane Division, although this will not change games in Week 1.

For details of the Cumbernauld & Kilsyth SSDA Festival on 11th & 12th May 2008 and 17th & 18th May 2008, please see the Festival Page.

ESSDA General Meeting - CHANGE OF DATE

The next General Meeting of ESSDA will take place at The Jewel Miners Club at 7:30pm on Sunday 2nd March 2008.

Details of future meetings are available on the General Info page.

The Second Half of the 2007-2008 will run from
Sunday 9th March 2008 until Sunday 22nd June 2008,
as part of the move to Summer Football.

The last date for new teams or league changes will be 10th February 2008. Please contact your Match Secretary now.

The Futsal Page shows the new corrected times for Futsal Festival at World of Soccer on 3rd February 2008 and all remaining fixtures at Dalkeith Campus and World of Soccer.
Sorry for the confusion.

Football 4s - Goals

Football 4s  Goals  from  Hearts  are ready  for  collection.
Please  contact  Alan  White alan@homplc.co.uk

Teams still to collect -

• Haddington

• Redpath Albion

• Crammond

• Tranent

Football 4s at Hearts Academy

ESSDA Winter Futsal Programme

Futsal is being introduced by ESSDA with the support of the Scottish FA. The futsal season will start on the 13th of January through to the 29th of February. There will be a festival held at the world of football on the 3rd of February.

Futsal is a great way for kids to develop modern football skills and improve their technique through the winter months. The game helps develop fast quick thinking , skilful players. The game is played indoors to touchlines not walls, making players use drag backs and other skills to utilise space, with 4v4 outfield it is the optimum number of players to enhance skill and technique.

Venue Choices

• Edinburgh North: Ainsle Park
• Edinburgh South: Gracemount Leisure Centre
• Edinburgh East : Jack Kane Centre
• Edinburgh West: Firhill High School
• Midlothian/East Lothian: Dalkeith Campus

Teams must email the General Secretary of ESSDA and  southeast@scottishfa.co.uk stating your team name, age group and preferred venue by 5pm on 12th of December 2007. Alternatively please call the Scottish FA South East Office 0131 442 1538 to register interest.

Details will be updated on the new Futsal page.

Football 4s Initiative at Fernieside FC

For details of the upcoming Football 4s Initiative with Fernieside FC, ESSDA and SFA, see the Football 4s page.

Coach Education for 2008

Details of Coach Education Courses in South East Region can be found on this website (Coach Education) or Football Central.

Monitoring Forms

Every team should complete and return a monitoring form to their League Secretary to ensure all teams are in the correct division for next season. Teams should indicate their preferred division Pele > Maradona > Zidane > Beckham.

Here is the monitoring form in a couple of formats:
Word Document - Monitoring Form (DOC - 44KB)
PDF Document - Monitoring Form (PDF - 57KB)

Quarterly Meeting of ESSDA

The ESSDA Quarterly Meeting will take place at 7:30pm at The Jewel Miners Club on Sunday 18th November 2007.

All clubs are invited to attend and to submit items for the agenda.

Under 8s and Under 9s

The Under 9 fixtures  and the Under 8 fixtures are now available on this site.

Under 11 Fixtures

There have been a few revisions in the Under 11 fixtures to accommodate teams swapping leagues.

Under 10 Fixtures

The Under 10 fixtures are now available on this site.

Under 11 - (1997) - Changes to Fixtures

There have been a few changes to the fixtures for this age group due to:

Tynecastle FC Colts moved from Zidane to Maradona Division
Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic moved from Zidane to Beckham Division
Currie Boys have added a new squad to Beckham Division

Change of Address

Dave Norris (General Secretary) has a new address:-
10C Market Street, Musselburgh, E Lothian, EH21 6PT

Football 4s for Under 8s

Please see Football 4s page for details of plans to introduce Football 4s for the under 8 age group from next season.

EDRA - Edinburgh District Referee Association

Anybody interested in becoming a referee?
The course is free and starts on 3 September 2007.
Click here for more details about EDRA.

or go to www.edinburghrefs.com

Hearts v Barcelona

At the recent Heart of Midlothian v Barcelona game  several children from ESSDA were pictured with the local stars.
Click on the small picture to see all the players.

ESSDA Fixtures 2007-2008 First Half

Fixtures were distributed to clubs at the ESSDA Quarterly meeting. If your club was not represented at the meeting, please contact the Match Secretary for your age group to get your fixtures. Matches start on Sunday 26th August 2007.

PLEASE NOTE: In the Under 12 Premier Division - Spartans will be taking over the fixtures of the Free Team and Beechwood have dropped out of this division, making this fixture the Spare Week.

ESSDA Quarterly Meeting

The regular ESSDA quarterly meeting will take place tonight at 7:30pm, The Jewel Miners Club - 19th August 2007

Fixtures for the First Half of the 2007/2008 Season will be distributed at the meeting for all age groups.

ESSDA Season 2007/2008

Entries for the 2007/2008 season at ESSDA have now closed. All clubs should have completed their ESSDA applications and returned them to their Match Secretary. All clubs should also have completed Associate Member forms for SYFA.

Fixture Lists will be available at the ESSDA Meeting on 19th August 2007 at The Jewel Miners Club at 7:30pm.

The season will run from 26th August 2007  to 25th November 2007.

DISCLOSURE  PROCESS 

The  process  for  completing  Disclosure  Forms  has  changed.  Below  are  the  requirements  you  will  need  to complete  the  new  style  forms. 

Anyone  completing  a  Disclosure  Form  should  have  the  following  originals  only – no  photocopies. 

Birth  Certificate;  Passport;  Driving  Licence;  note  of  National  Insurance  number;  Utility  Bill / Bank  statement / other  proof  of  address  ( must  not  be  less  than  3  months  old ).  Address  history  for  last  5  years,  this  must  include  a  resident  from  date;  note  of  any  previous  disclosure  certificate  number. 

All  forms  must  be  completed  in  Blue  or  Black  pen. 

If  you  do  not  have  a  Passport  or  new  style  driving  licence  you  must  provide  photographic  proof  of  identity. 

* Please  Note :  If  you  change  clubs  you  must  be  Disclosed  again * 

Please  contact  the  General  Secretary  should  you  still  require  to  be  Disclosed.

SYFA / Club Website Ltd Seminar 

Hopefully you will be aware of the recent partnership SYFA have agreed with Club Website Ltd. Club Website is the SYFA's chosen partner to provide free league and club websites to all SYFA affiliated members from the start of the forthcoming season. A few communications have been sent out in recent weeks informing you of this partnership and hopefully you have had the chance to review the information and the service's Club Website provide.

Club Website may have already contacted you directly, and if not will be doing so in the near future. In light of the partnership with Club Website, SYFA are considering hosting a seminar day so Club Website can assist you, the leagues and clubs, in setting up your website or answer any queries or questions you may have on the services they provide.

SYFA envisage the seminar session lasting no longer than two hours on Thursday 23 August 2007. All seminars will be held at Hampden Park.

Club Website will run three seminars throughout the day as follows:

• One seminar in the morning at10am,
• One seminar in the afternoon at 2pm
• One seminar in the evening at 7pm

To help with the organization of the day can you respond and let Hazel at SYFA know if this is something that would be of interest to you and what is your preferred attendance time. 

 If you could reply by the Wednesday 1st August that would be much appreciated. 

Hopefully  the information provided is of assistance to you but should you require additional information please do not hesitate to contact David Little at SYFA.

SFA Coaching Courses

A number of SFA Coach Education courses have been arranged for the end of July. All will take place at Warriston Playing Fields. There will be a Level 1 (23/7), two Level 2 (24&25 July and 26&27 July) and a Level 3 (30&31 July). More details are available on Football Central website or contact SFA Development Officer (David Sheldon) on Davidsheldon@sportinedinburgh.com

SFA Holiday Courses

The SFA have organised a number of holiday courses for boys and girls in City of Edinburgh. Courses are throughout July and early August. More details are available on Football Central website or contact SFA Development Officer (David Sheldon) on Davidsheldon@sportinedinburgh.com

AGM on 3rd June

A report of the AGM, held on Sunday 3rd June 2007 at The Jewel Miners Club will appear here shortly.

SFA News

Midnight leagues (free 5-a-sides at Power League Sighthill on a Friday night from 7-8.30) already started see Midnight Flyer - (PDF 3MB) warning - large document!

4v4 Football restarting in August.  6-7.30 for 6-8 year olds and 7.30-9 for 9-12 year olds. See 4v4 Flyer (PDF 464KB)

Your chance to play at Tynecastle! 

Heart of Midlothian Football Club are offering young players in the 5-14 age range the experience of a lifetime. This will be their chance to run down the same tunnel as a number of Hearts favourites such as Bauld, Cruikshank, Robertson, Mckay, Adam, De Vries and Gordon and play on the Tynecstle pitch. Not only that, Hearts will take a picture of all participants in the famous tunnel and present them with a special certificates as a souvenir of the two days. 

Hearts are running this two day coaching course on the 22 and 23 May. Using the unique Coerver® Coaching ‘Pyramid of Player Development©’, players will be led through a series of ball mastery skills, 1v1 moves, passing and receiving, speed, finishing and group play sessions.  All participants will play in a series of fun small-sided games each day.  

To book a place or for more information call the booking hotline on 0870 3600 442. Open Monday – Friday 10.00am - 5.00pm or go to www.heartsfc.co.uk and click on ‘our community’

Newton Wanderers Football Festival

Newton Wanderers are holding a football festival on 5th and 6th May 2007 at Broadwood Football Stadium. For details of the festival, please see the attached Information (PDF - 120KB)
Especially looking for younger groups - 99.

Quality Mark Sponsorship Offer: Frankie & Benny's

The Scottish FA have been approached by Frankie and Benny's to provide support to clubs going through quality mark. If your club is based close to one of their restaurants and you are interested in being put forward, can you please fill in the attached application form (PDF - 35KB).

The selection of clubs to receive support will be at the discretion of the restaurant manager. Frankie & Benny have restaurants in Kinnaird Park, Omni Centre and South Queensferry.

Kick for CLIC Sargent

CLIC Sargent is one of the UK's largest children's cancer charity. Throughout May and June the charity runs an event called ‘Kick for CLIC Sargent’, which aims to get the nation kicking whilst raising funds for children with cancer.

For details see www.clicsargent.org.uk/football or email emma.bashford@clicsargent.org.uk

Disclosure Scotland

Early Touches

The Early Touches course at Dalkeith Campus on 16 and 23 March 2007 has been cancelled due to lack of numbers.
Any coach who had applied will get their discount on an alternative Early Touches course.

Change in Contact Info

The contact for Loanhead (Pele) in the Under 10 (1997) league is Peter Kay .

Upcoming Festivals

• under 12's eleven aside development, under 13's 14's and 15's eleven aside.
• 11 a-side teams participating  from Dublin and Belfast.
• Soccer 7's places available at Age 9, 10 & 11's.

Soccer Sevens places also available for Age 9's, 10's and 11's.

Teams may travel each day or can stay in accommodation in Ayr.

For more details on either or both of the above call on 07958 536 895 or 01620 824 941 - please leave a message and you will be contacted.

Football 4s - Easter Holidays

Due to holidays, there will be no Football 4s at the Hearts Academy on Sunday 8th and 15th April 2007

Development Plan

The South East Football Development Plan is available for download from the Football Central website for you to review and comment.

Edinburgh Sports Academy

Applications are invited for a new Sports Academy in Edinburgh. All applicants must be Primary 7 children in Edinburgh. The first set of trials will be on Friday 16th March 2007.

For more information please read Sports Academy Boys Football Leaflet (PDF - 857KB)
The application form can be found as Sports Academy Boys Football Application Form (PDF - 119KB).

This is a great opportunity for Primary 7 children in Edinburgh and is the first of its kind in Scotland.

Edinburgh Sports Academy

Applications are invited for a new Sports Academy in Edinburgh. All applicants must be Primary 7 children in Edinburgh. The first set of trials will be on Friday 16th March 2007.

For more information please read Sports Academy Boys Football Leaflet (PDF - 857KB)
The application form can be found as Sports Academy Boys Football Application Form (PDF - 119KB).

This is a great opportunity for Primary 7 children in Edinburgh and is the first of its kind in Scotland.

SYFA Late Registrations

Heart of Midlothian Goalkeeping Development Centre

For information about the new Heart of Midlothian Goalkeeping Development Centre and for details about upcoming Goalkeeping Courses, please see the attached - Goalkeeping Leaflet (PDF - 315KB)

Coach Wanted - Currie Star

Currie Star u9s require a coach for their established team who currently play in the Maradona League. Qualifications are not essential as the club will put you through relevant courses. For more information contact Lisa on 07917-407-722

Tynecastle Match Days - Half Time Games

Clubs wanting to take the opportunity to play Football 4s at Half Time during Hearts matches at Tynecastle are requested to make these requests through the General Secretary rather than direct to Heart of Midlothian FC. The association will set criteria to allow clubs to participate.

Two clubs which recently played at Tynecastle were Edinburgh City and Newcraighall Vics. To see a picture of their big day, click on the images below:-
Edinburgh City - Newcraighall Vics

Coach Education

Details of an extra Early Touches course at Dalkeith Campus on 16th and 23rd March 2007 is available on the Coach Education page.

Clubs are reminded that if they want to organise an extra SFA Coaching Course to satisfy specific demand, then they are asked to do this via the General Secretary rather than direct to SFA Development Officers.

Unite the Clubs

For details about the successful Unite the Clubs march on February 14th 2007, please go to www.unitetheclubs.co.uk

Football 4s 

Further details of Football 4s is available on the Football 4s page.

Fixtures for 2006/2007 Second Half

Please note the following amendments to the fixture lists issued on Sunday

SFA Holiday Courses - February & Easter

The SFA/City of Edinburgh will be running holiday courses during the February and Easter break. More details can be found in the attached flyer - School Holiday 2007 (PDF - 229KB)

SFA Coaching

The new Coach Education Brochure from the SFA is available for download from http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_football.cfm?curpageid=455

Cumbernauld Colts FC Annual Soccer Festival

Cumbernauld Colts FC Annual Soccer Festival will be held over the weekend 18th & 19th August 2007. More details on the festival page.  

ESSDA Meeting & Prize Draw

The regular quarterly ESSDA meeting was held on 19th November 2006 at The Jewel Miners Club at 7:30pm. Minutes of this meeting will appear on the General Info page shortly.
The Prize Draw sponsored by WT Dunbar  (Funeral Directors) took place with the following winners:-

Preston Athletic u9 - Set of Strips
KSQ u9 - Set of Strips
Oxgangs u12 - Training Equipment
Royston Rangers u11 - Medical Bag

Congratulations to all winners and thanks again to WT Dunbar.

For a photo of Carlo making the draw, please click here.

Deaf Community Sport Club

For all families with deaf/hearing parents with deaf/hearing children.
Please click on the attached link for information about a new club in Glasgow - Deaf Community Sport Club or contact Paul McCusker on paul@deafconnections.co.uk

Spare Teams - Free Weeks

If any  club  would  like  to  add  a  team  in  the  fixtures  "spare  week",  they  must  first  ask  their  match  secretary.  Under  no  circumstances  should  any  club  phone  the  "spare  team"  and  arrange  a  game.  If  any  club  has  another  team  to  fill  these  spaces  they  must  first  register  this  team  as  normal.

Girls Football

ESSDA is looking into setting up a Girls Only Section. If your club is interested, please contact Dave Norris.

Festivals of Football

For details about up-coming tournaments and festivals, see our Festival Page

Clubs are reminded that they need a permit from the SYFA to play in football festivals or tournaments.

Permission forms can be downloaded from the SYFA website www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk or by contacting the General Secretary:
Failure to get appropriate permissions may invalidate your insurance.

Child Protection

Anybody interested in the "In Safe Hands" workshop on Child Protection, please contact Pia Muir. Details can be found in the attached brochure - "In Safe Hands"(PDF - 47KB).

7 a side Football

It has come  to the attention of the committee that some fixtures are being organised and played with more than 7 players per team. 

This  association  only  allows  soccer  sevens and football 4s to  be  played. 

Upon applying all coaches signed their application form, by doing so you agreed to comply with the ESSDA rules. 

By playing football other than 7-a-side you will be subject to disciplinary procedures. 

We have consulted the SYFA ( our governing body ) and their response was that the association has their full backing on this issue. 

We appeal to you all to stop playing non 7-a-side football.