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Sylvans Youth have been presented with the inaugural Specsavers Guernsey Football Association (GFA) Fair Play award for sportsmanship in the 2021/22 season. The children were presented with the ‘Specsavers Fair Play Award Winner’ plaque, 75 footballs, and a selection of training bibs, t-shirts, armbands, travel mugs, hats, umbrellas and Respect signage to use at the club. The Award is a joint venture between Specsavers and the GFA which encourages Guernsey’s youth teams to play football in a respectful and inclusive way. The award is being supported again this year by Specsavers.
The way the award works is after every youth match in a season, both clubs score the opposing club on how they conducted themselves during the game. This includes the club’s youth players, its coaches, and even the parents watching from the side-lines. These scores earn clubs points which count towards two in-season awards, and a final end-of-season award. This year, the end-of-season award will earn the winning club £500 pounds worth of football equipment.
Sylvans committee member and coach, Anna Gauvain, says: ‘Our club prioritises fair play and respect within our codes of conducts starting with our coaches and players through to our supporters to ensure everyone has an enjoyable and positive experience when they attend Sylvans.
‘We encourage people to stay in the game for as long as possible and this will only happen if they are enjoying themselves. The prizes will help us to keep the message clear and a bonus of extra footballs always helps!’
The Fair Play Award links the FA’s (Football Association) national ‘Respect’ program. This program was launched in 2008 as an initiative aimed at improving behaviour around the grassroots football game. The Respect program was developed after extensive research in to youth football identified that 9 in 10 children play better with positive encouragement. It also highlighted the negative connotations that can arise for children when faced with negative experiences in football. Ultimately, the Respect program focusses on creating and maintaining the right environments for young players which support fun, safe and inclusive experiences. The Specsavers Fair Play Award is aimed at recognising those clubs that best reflect the Respect program, which we hope will raise the profile of the program, whilst also rewarding positive behaviours.
GFA Chief Executive Officer & Director Gary Roberts comments: ‘Firstly, we would like to thank Specsavers for the generous partnership to support the Fair Play Award, with this support enabling us to recognise and reward Sylvans for the positive environment the club has fostered.
‘Respect is the FA campaign designed to promote positive behaviours and Sylvans as a club have been recognised by their peers throughout the 21/22 season as having most consistently displayed the behaviours and values embodied within this campaign. The GFA would like to congratulate Sylvans, whilst also recognising the positive work undertaken across all local clubs to ensure football is an inclusive, respectful and enjoyable sport.’
Specsavers Managing Director UK/ROI Paul Marshall concludes: ‘This is a great opportunity for Specsavers to get involved in the local community and help to contribute to our positive culture in football.’
