NORFOLK FA WINS AT 2020 COUNTY FA RECOGNITION AWARDS

Norfolk County Football Association has landed the Respect and Insight & Data awards at the 2020 County FA Recognition Awards for the #NorfolkFootballisPositive Campaign and the Regulatory Services Dashboard respectively.

The Awards, which were hosted online for the first time due to Covid-19 restrictions, recognise and endorse the best projects, products and services launched by County FAs over the past season while sharing best practice and learning from around the country.

Over 125 submissions were entered from the 50 County FAs operating across England, highlighting continuous improvements and showcasing how they are innovating to improve football and increase participation across all levels of the game.

The ten categories recognised at the awards were:

• Brand Engagement
• Digital Engagement
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Football Development
• Insight & Data
• Partnership
• Women & Girls
• Respect
• Youth Council
• Special Recognition

Norfolk County FA were handed the Respect and Insight & Data Awards for the #NorfolkFootballisPositive Campaign and the Regulatory Services Dashboard respectively.

The #NorfolkFootballisPositive campaign is a joint project with the five Youth Football Leagues in Norfolk; The Mid Norfolk Youth League, The Norfolk Combined Youth League, The Norfolk Christian League, The Norfolk & Suffolk Youth League and the Norfolk Women’s & Girls’ Football League. The purpose of the campaign was to tackle negative behavior and to encourage coaches, spectators and volunteers to create fun, safe and inclusive environments for all.

The way Norfolk FA administers discipline has been improved drastically through the use of the Regulatory Services Dashboard. All the extraordinary incidents that are reported to us by all participants in the local game are logged within this Dashboard allowing us to keep track of all cases.

Norfolk FA’s Chief Executive, Gavin Lemmon said: "I am delighted that our workforce has been recognised nationally for all of their hard work in what has been a challenging time of late.

“The Norfolk Football is Positive campaign has been a real organisation-wide project with all of our departments helping to highlight and create awareness of respect within the grassroots football community; whereas the Regulatory Services Dashboard has revolutionised and improved how we administer disciplinary processes and has been utilised by many other County FAs, once again proving that Norfolk FA are leading the way.

“I’m really proud of the staff we have working for us here at Norfolk FA, and this is just another example of the commitment and dedication they consistently demonstrate in supporting and growing local grassroots football.”

The FA’s Director of Football Development, James Kendall added: “It gives us great pleasure to recognise and reward our County FAs for the vital work they continue to deliver across their local communities, and I want to thank each and every one of them for the resilience and leadership they have shown over the course of the year.

"In what has been an unprecedented year of challenges, we now have the highest number of males playing affiliated football recorded to date, and we have delivered on our collective ambition to double participation in the female game. This is testament to the hard work of all our County FAs and everyone should be congratulated for these achievements.”

For more information on the work of County FAs, visit www.thefa.com.