| |
21st January 2025 |
Insurance.
Teams playing friendlies and/or festivals without
permission are not insured. Playing while not insured is a serious child
protection issue.
Only players listed in your team catalogue as ACTIVE
on SFA Comet are insured to play.
eg In a 2017s match, only players listed in the 2017s catalogue as
ACTIVE are insured.
Any players born in 2018 who are playing in the 2017s match must be listed
in the 2017s catalogue as ACTIVE.
This means that clubs are not insured to play a team
of 2018s in a 2017s match.
The above rules apply to every ESSDA year group.
eg 2014s playing in a 2013s match must be catalogued to the 2014s squad.
|
20th January 2025 |
ESSDA Registrations
Registrations received so far for 2025 season. I am expecting 600 teams in
total
Year Groups |
Pele |
Iniesta |
Maradona |
Zidane |
Beckham |
Saturday |
Sunday |
Grand Total |
2013 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
|
|
25 |
2014 |
7 |
8 |
12 |
9 |
3 |
|
|
39 |
2015 |
10 |
7 |
12 |
7 |
4 |
|
|
40 |
2016 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
7 |
5 |
|
|
26 |
2017 |
|
|
|
|
|
23 |
20 |
43 |
2018 |
|
|
|
|
|
24 |
16 |
40 |
Grand Total |
28 |
28 |
33 |
25 |
16 |
47 |
36 |
213 |
|
17th January 2025 |
ESSDA Communications & SPOND
At the 2024 AGM, it was agreed that we try a new form
of communication between ESSDA and our member clubs. The chosen application
is SPOND, which is already in use by many ESSDA Clubs. You can add SPOND on
your smart phone or desktop by visiting
https://www.spond.com/ or by downloading from your APP Store.
To ensure that your club is included in the new
communication, we would like at least one person from each year group at
every club to sign up.
(**CORRECTED
LINK**)
To register you need to go to
https://club.spond.com/landing/signup/eastofscotlandso/form/085633693F3347728510C693D81BD3DE
and select your year group from the drop down list as you go through the
registration form. To register with multiple year groups, register for one
group and add a comment at the end of the form in the comments box, and you
will be added to the other groups.
|
16th January 2025 |
SYFA Registration,
SFA Comet, Player Pathway, Festival Permits...
Have you registered completely for SYFA 2025 season?
Are you having difficulty getting to grips with SFA Comet?
Darren from ESSDA is planning to hold a couple of online support sessions to
help with registrations, friendlies, match rules etc
Session 1 : Monday 27th January
2025 from 19:30-20:30
Session 2 : Monday 10th February 2025 from
19:30-20:30
Zoom details will be communicated nearer the time. You
will be able to drop into the meeting and ask your question and seek
assistance and/or clarification on any aspect of children's football.
|
16th January 2025 |
SYFA Registration via SFA Comet
You might find this video helpful when using SFA Comet
-
Scottish
Football Association Self Service Portal - SYFA Small Sided Affiliation
Process
Players, coaches and officials must be at status ACTIVE in their team
catalogue to be approved.
Coaches and officials must be saved as SUBMITTED before SFA/SYFA will
pick them up to vet and approve. They will not be picked up if left at
status ENTERED.
|
15th January 2025 |
Permits to play friendlies
I am receiving lots of requests to play friendly
fixtures. A friendly fixture without a permit is not authorised and will not
be insured. Playing fixtures while not insured is a serious child protection
incident.
Unfortunately, most of the permit requests I have
received have been rejected. To get a permit, both teams must be properly
registered on SFA Comet for the 2025 season.
If no action has been taken on SFA Comet, you are very unlikely to be
properly registered, unless you are year group 2013 and were properly
registered last season.
To be properly registered,
1) You must have applied on SFA Comet and paid
the 2025 SYFA registration fee. Your team status must be APPROVED.
2) You must have registered all your coaches and
officials and they must be in the correct year group catalogue and at a
status of ACTIVE
3) You must have registered all your players and
they must be in the catalogue and at a status of ACTIVE.
The SYFA reiterated the above today with the statement
"Please remember that if a team has not completed all steps, they
do not have any insurance for the 2025 season and should not be training or
playing."
Both sides must be fully SYFA registered before any
permission will be given. Check the
registration page for
your club status.
You are not registered if your Comet ID is not being displayed, or if it is
displayed with a status of NOT REG or NOT PAID.
|
15th January 2025 |
ESSDA Registrations
Registrations received so far for 2025 season. I am expecting 600 teams in
total
Year Groups |
Pele |
Iniesta |
Maradona |
Zidane |
Beckham |
:saturday |
:sunday |
Grand Total |
2013 |
5 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
19 |
2014 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
5 |
1 |
|
|
23 |
2015 |
7 |
6 |
8 |
5 |
2 |
|
|
28 |
2016 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
|
18 |
2017 |
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
20 |
26 |
2018 |
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
16 |
23 |
Grand Total |
19 |
24 |
21 |
15 |
9 |
13 |
36 |
137 |
|
9th January 2025 |
SYFA Registrations
for season 2025
All clubs must register their various year groups with
SYFA for season 2025. Existing 2013s are automatically registered for their
transition half season before moving to 11v11 in the summer.
Check your registration on SFA Comet or on the
Registration Page.
The following clubs have not registered any teams on
SFA Comet for the 2025 season. Permission is required to play any friendly
fixture and permission will not be given to unregistered teams as they will
not be insured to play.
Arniston Rangers, Bonnyrigg Rose FC,
Castlevale YDC, Civil Service Strollers,
Cockenzie Star, Corstorphine Dynamo,
Craigroyston BC, Cramond FC,
Dalkeith Thistle, Dunbar United Colts,
Easthouses Lily MWFC Academy, Edinburgh
City, Edinburgh South,
Gala Fairydean, Gullane Athletic,
Haddington Athletic, Hutchison Vale,
Leith Athletic, Lochend FC,
Longniddry Villa, Lothian Colts,
Musselburgh Youngstars, Newtongrange Star,
North Berwick Colts, Peebles FC,
Portobello CFA, Preston Athletic,
Redhall Star YFC, Rosewell FA,
Salvesen CFC, Tranent FC,
Tynecastle FC
To be properly SYFA registered, all your coaches.
officials and players need to be ACTIVE in the appropriate SFA Comet
catalogue.
ESSDA registration, for all year groups, including 2013s, is required by
15th February 2025 - see Application Menu.
|
6th January 2025 |
SYFA Registration via SFA Comet
You might find this video helpful when using SFA Comet
-
Scottish
Football Association Self Service Portal - SYFA Small Sided Affiliation
Process
|
5th January 2025 |
ESSDA Registration
ESSDA registration is now open for 2025. All teams
must register with ESSDA, including age 12s year 2013s. Go to
ESSDA Application Forms page
Applications are due by 15th February 2025 and the
season will start on weekend of 1st/2nd March 2025
All ESSDA scheduled and friendly fixtures must follow
the SFA Player Pathway.
The publication of results/scores of any ESSDA matches on any social media
is not allowed. See SYFA Media Policy.
ESSDA scheduled 7v7 and 9v9 fixtures will be played on
a Sunday morning.
ESSDA teams playing 4v4 or 5v5 may opt for the Saturday or Sunday morning
festivals. Saturday morning in Midlothian and Sunday morning in Edinburgh.
|
5th January 2025 |
SYFA Registration for 2025 and SFA Comet
All ESSDA Clubs must be registered with SYFA before
the start of the ESSDA season and before they play any friendly fixture or
festival in 2025 season. Playing while not registered and without
permission, will mean you are not insured.
Existing 2013s year groups will have their 2024 SYFA
registration carried forward to 2025. Check your SYFA registration on the
Registration Page.
All other year groups must register with SYFA for 2025 using the new SFA
Comet system. To be properly registered on SFA
Comet -
- Each year group must have an SFA Comet ID
with a status of CONFIRMED linked to an ESSDA Competition.
- All team coaches and team officials must be
added to a catalogue. Each catalogue must contain
- at least one team manager/team secretary
- at least one coach with an SFA 1.2
children's coaching badge per team playing in ESSDA
- at least one first aider per team playing
in ESSDA
- all other helpers and officials must be
registered on SFA Comet and in the catalogue.
- All players must be registered on SFA
Comet and added to the catalogue for the year group in which they play.
- eg Any player playing in the 2017 teams,
including underage players born in 2018, must be added to the 2017
catalogue.
- eg Players in the 2017 catalogue are not
allowed to play for any other year group.
- The maximum number of underage players in any
catalogue is FIVE, regardless of the number of teams playing in ESSDA.
|
5th January 2025 |
Permission to play Friendlies & Festivals
ESSDA permission is required for any indoor or outdoor
friendly fixture. Without permission your game is unauthorised and
uninsured.
The SYFA Supplementary & Playing Rules detail a winter
shutdown of all outdoor small sided football between the second weekend in
December to the second weekend in January inclusive. To play any
outdoor fixtures on or after 7th December 2025 until 12th January 2025 will
require explicit SYFA permission from Hampden.
Indoor fixtures during this period and all other outdoor fixtures require
permission as usual. Please see permission menu.
SYFA at Hampden have decided that the shutdown will operate as "No
matches, friendly matches included, shall be played between the 16th of
December 2024 and 13th of January 2025 without the consent of the SYFA.
Clubs will be permitted to play friendly matches indoor or participate in
Futsal Festivals during this period."
If you wish to play a friendly fixture on the weekend of 7th/8th December
2024, please submit your request to SYFA at Hampden, where they will
approve.
Playing any match without a permit may invalidate your
insurance. Playing without insurance is a serious child protection issue.
These are national SYFA rules, not merely local ESSDA
rules.
|
1st January 2025 |
Happy New Year 2025
|
27th December 2024 |
Edinburgh Indoor Winter Youth League
The SYFA have approved the Edinburgh Winter Youth
League. See
https://www.sportspathwaygroup.com/events/edinburghindoorwinteryouthleague/
Open to 2017 & 2018 year groups at World of Football from 19/01/2025 to
23/02/25 Register here
https://edinburghindoorwinteryouthleague.cups.nu/en/j/public/reg
Clubs taking part require SYFA permission and must be
SYFA registered for 2025 before applying for permission.
Please complete
Tournament Application - Scotland
(£10) and return to me with reference SC 25 / 85 to get permission to play.
|
6th September 2024 |
SYFA Contacts
The SYFA is currently swamped with enquiries and are working through
their backlog as quickly as possible.
For a list of SYFA contacts, please see the
SYFA page.
|
23rd August 2024 |
Formal Complaints
Anyone who wants to make a formal complaint about any aspect of ESSDA or
ESSDA matches must follow the SYFA Complaint Management System. This can be viewed
at
http://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk/index.php/members-corner/complaints-management-system
Complaints must be made in writing to Hampden using the forms available on
SYFA website.
The Complaint Process consists of several steps:
Stage 1) Discussion with the party the complaint is about
Stage 2) Telephone or email enquiry to SYFA
Stage 3) Lodging a formal complaint with SYFA
Final Stage) Complaint referred to a senior person within SYFA
Feedback on ESSDA Matches can be made using the ESSDA
Monitoring Form. or directly to Darren as the
Disciplinary Secretary using Contact Us page
|
21st August 2024 |
Scouts at ESSDA matches
Please see below communication from the SFA Children’s Wellbeing
Department:-
We have received reports that an individual(s) may be approaching
clubs impersonating as a scout. We are currently looking into this;
however, we would like to take this opportunity to remind clubs of best
practice:
- Scouts must not have direct and
unsupervised contact with children or young people.
- Clubs/associations must take
steps to ensure that the identities of their Scouts are published, for
example on a website, to ensure that identities can be verified at all
times
- Clubs/associations must issue an
ID card to all Scouts, which contains their name, photograph and role as
a Scout for the club. The ID card should only be valid for one season
and must be renewed on an annual basis.
- Scouts must not attend club
training and/or skill development sessions unless they have prior
agreement with the relevant club representative.
- Scouts must contact the club at
least 72 hours in advance of the game to request attendance and provide
information of the game they wish to attend.
- Scouts must not approach parents,
carers or others known to the child or young person personally, in
connection with their child’s involvement in football without firstly
doing the following: -
- The express permission of the Head of Recruitment or equivalent
club/association official who has responsibility for player
recruitment within the scout’s club or association; and –
- The express permission from the club where the child or young
person is already playing.
If you, or any of your staff/volunteers are approached by a
scout please ensure that you:
- See a valid ID card and check it
has been issued within the past year
- Verify their identity,
contact details and interest in the player(s) with the club they are
representing to ensure they are genuine.
If you doubt the authenticity of anyone acting as a scout, or the
above details do not check out you should report the matter to the
police. We would also ask that you inform the Scottish FA
Wellbeing and Protection team on
Childrenswellbeing@scottishfa.co.uk
Can you please ensure that you share this with your heads of academies,
coaching staff, and anyone else you feel is appropriate at your club.
In addition, we would also ask that you take time to highlight to children
and young people, parents and carers:
- The correct procedures for Scouts
- What children and young people
and parents and carers should do if they are approached directly by a
Scout
- A reminder of the Child Wellbeing
and Protection Officer contact details
|
6th August 2024 |
Update from ESSDA Disciplinary Secretary
Please read the full update from Darren McGinnis
(ESSDA Disciplinary Secretary) on the Referee Page.
Referees for ESSDA 9v9 games are optional, but where clubs opt to use a
referee, please follow the new process agreed between ESSDA and
Edinburgh &
District Referees.
See the the Referee Page for
- 9v9 update - In 2024 First Half we had
unprecedented volume of disciplinary incidents at 9v9 games. This has to
stop!!
- Booking a Referee - details on how to book a
referee, dates and timelines
https://www.edinburghanddistrictreferees.co.uk/appointments/
agreed by ESSDA and Edinburgh Referees.
- Team Lines - 9v9 games with
a referee. Both teams must give Team Lines to the referee.
See how to produce team-lines using the new SFA Comet system
- Red cards - read about new
disciplinary process for players and officials who receive a red card from
an SFA Referee
All 2013 year group teams
playing 9v9s in 2024 Second Half must familiarise themselves with the
process above and detailed on
Referee Page
|
12th January 2024 |
Social Media & Club
Websites
The SYFA small sided games rules on the SYFA website (see
https://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk) prohibit the publication of results on
websites and social media.
Results
It is unacceptable for a league and/or club to
post results from development matches on to any website or publish in any
newsletter or newspaper.
Please ensure nobody connected to your club publishes the results of any of
your development football games.
All small sided football games are development football. All ESSDA games are
development football.
|
1st January 2024 |
ESSDA News
Archive
To see old ESSDA news, go to the
ESSDA News Archive Page
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