IMPORTANT: TACKLE AND FLAG NEWS Dear All, What an amazing year 2014 has been for womens football in Britain! Participation and performance levels have increased substantially and we have reached and exceeded all the targets set for the year. More teams and more players; The First Sapphire Series delivered; First Diamond Series delivered; First full-international (and win) for the GBW tackle team; 2nd (bigger and better) Opal Series delivered; two beautiful new trophies for womens football unveiled. So what will 2015 bring? Well, quite a lot. Even more than 2014, by the looks of it! Competition Organisers Needed We very much need new people to step forward and assist with the running of the competitions. The growth of womens football activity has now outstripped the ability of our few original volunteers to cope. We would like every team to put-forward at least one person willing to help with competition organisation through 2015. We will struggle to deliver all the plans and opportunities without your help. So if you or someone you know is willing to volunteer, just send name and contact details to this email address: [email protected] Game Official Training Opportunities Early in the New Year, BAFA and BAFRA will be providing opportunities for individuals to train as a game official for 5 v 5 football. With the challenges we have faced over the last year, we definitely need more people capable of assisting with officiating when BAFRA officials are not available. We would like to see all teams have at least one person qualified to officiate. This is also a useful resource to teams for training purposes. Individuals training for 5 v 5 tackle officiating will also need to have a Level 1 coaching qualification before they can officiate. This is not required for flag football. Training will be achieved through attendance at a one-day training event. Provisional dates are 24th January and 7th February. The training days will be free to attend. To register interest, please send an email with name and a contact email address to: [email protected] Sapphire Series Application Please see the link below for application for the 2015 Sapphire Series - womens tackle football. https://adobeformscentral/?f=zwQRxMnt3VBvOcbJtKArkw Please note the deadline date of 12th January for submission. Do feel free to submit before then, if you wish. Also note that entering teams are required to register at least eight (8) players with BAFA by 14th January. This is to ensure that as we start planning the competition structure we have some level of confidence that teams will be able to fulfil their fixture obligations. We are looking at a new structure this year with more, but smaller, regional groupings, so this is very important. Details for registration of players and coaches will be distributed soon. 17th January Meeting Please also note there will be an open womens football development meeting on Saturday 17th January at the Wooldale Centre, Wooton, Northampton NN2 6TP. The meeting will run from 2pm to 5pm. We expect all teams to have at least one representative there, preferably two. Decisions will be made by those in attendance that could effect the structure of the competitions going forward, including formats and fixtures. This meeting will discuss both tackle and flag football, so flag only teams should also be represented. Agenda will be distributed soon. Diamond Series The 11 v11 Tackle football Series will return this year, with three game-day events planned. Structure of teams will depend on the number of players and coaches signed-up for the series. GB Womens Tackle Football Team The opportunity for our GBW Tackle Team to compete in the first ever Womens European Championships is too good to miss. The game against Sweden in September 2014 has been great for raising the profile of womens football and the WEC should do even more. The BAFA Board has agreed to support the team to enter and we now know this will require GB to qualify for the Finals Tournament, to be played in Spain in August 2015, by playing against the Russian womens team. Great Britain will host the qualifier game and plans are now in progress to stage this sometime in April or May, thus slotting in between the end of the Sapphire Series and start of the Diamond Series. All playing positions are open until team selection, which will be around the beginning of April. Many of the expanding staff roles are also open at present, including coaching positions. GB Womens Flag Football Team Discussion is still going on about the formation of a womens flag GB team. We hope to have more news on this very soon. Flag Football Tournament Days BAFA is planning flag football tournament events for student teams in the early summer. There is also the possibility of open flag tournament days around this time. We will need organisers to help deliver these events. Opal Series The Opal series will return again in autumn 2015 and we expect the number of teams to grow again. This will set new challenges and likely require dividing teams into additional regional conferences. There will very soon be an online survey available so that we can capture feedback from everyone to help plan the 2015 Opal Series. Please ensure this is distributed to all your players and staff. We really need maximum response to best shape the future of the Opal Series for everyone. We have an exciting and very full year ahead of us. We hope you will all be part of it. So it just remains to wish you all a fabulous festive period and an amazing 2015! (Please address any questions to: [email protected]) Jim Messenger Head Coach, Great Britain Womens American Football
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 09:57:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015