League Referee Officer Funding Approved

The Kent FA is delighted to confirm that 3 Leagues within Kent have been granted additional funding by Sport England to assist with Referee Appointmen

The East Kent Youth League, the Kent Girls and Ladies League and the Medway Messenger Youth League have all been granted a maximum of £2,500 per League to assist with refereeing development. Via Sport England 13-17, the Football Association secured funding to support the appointment of a league referee appointment officer in leagues that have no, or below average levels of, referee coverage. This will then enable enhanced referee retention across the County. The allocation of funding is a maximum of £2,500 per league, or pool.

 

There were certain minimum criteria for each league to qualify for this funding, and Kent were asked to nominate one Charter Standard League, one National Referee Development Programme Partner League, or one pooling system, within the National Game, that would be able to deliver the most significant improvement in coverage and retention of young officials.

 

Three applications were submitted to the FA, and then were approved by senior members of FA staff, as well as being approved through the FA League Finance sub-committee.

 

Leigh Willis, Chairman of the Kent Girls and Ladies Football League, was delighted with the welcomed support; “I would like to thank Sport England for the much needed funding we have received. This will allow our league to develop further, by now being in a position to appoint qualified and accredited referee’s to matches in certain divisions. The funding will allow us to develop our referee’s and also offer the opportunity for our playing members to obtain their referee qualification.” 

 

The East Kent Youth Football League were also very happy to have received the funding from Sport England; “We at the East Kent Youth Football League look forward to being a partner league with the Kent FA.  It is important to recruit, and retain, additional referees to help cover our youth fixtures, every weekend, and so this is a huge step forward. We look forward to working with Nick on this exciting new project, and welcome this fantastic partnership”, Mim Barrett (Secretary of the EKYFL).

Referee Development Officer, Nick Dunn, sees this as a fantastic opportunity for these Leagues. “The additional funding that has now been approved, will allow these Leagues to focus on increasing the number of fixtures in the League to have a qualified referee. In Kent, we are looking for 100% coverage across all Leagues, and these three aforementioned Leagues were those noted as having below average coverage.”

 

Each League has a dedicated referee development plan, to coincide with the funding, and they will be responsible for monitoring an increase in coverage.

 

For further information on refereeing in Kent, or relating to becoming a National Referee Development Programme partner League, please contact Referee Development Officer, Nick Dunn – Nick.Dunn@KentFA.com

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