Community award is Harrow bound
Friday 05 August 2011
Andy Lowe from the Harrow Youth League, will be making his way to Wembley Stadium to attend The FA Community Awards, presented by McDonald’s, after the League was named winner of the prestigious Charter Standard League of the Year Award in the annual grassroots football awards ceremony.
The Harrow Youth Football League was formed almost 70 years ago, in 1942 – and since that time has fulfilled its mission to provide opportunities for the “benefit of boys and girls where the benefit is on enjoyment, team participation and the development of footballing skills and techniques”. True to its mission, the League is also liaising with a local Junior Sunday League so that it can continue to provide playing opportunities and support to those wishing to continue in the sport beyond their youth football days.
In 2010 the League was one of the first organisations in Middlesex County to become an accredited FA Charter Standard League. This year alone the League has shown significant growth and currently has 336 member teams and 5,939 registered players. In this time, the League has been a keen advocate of the FA’s Respect campaign ensuring that teams complete match cards which record a wide range of elements including player and spectator behaviour and pitch conditions – to the benefit of all those that play within it.
On the day, Andy will be collecting the award in front of football legends to include Sir Geoff Hurst, Ian Rush and Pat Jennings, as well as getting the chance to watch The FA Community Shield match between Manchester City and Manchester United as a guest of The FA and McDonald’s.
The FA and McDonald’s Community Football Awards were created to recognise and reward individuals and clubs across the country who make a difference to grassroots football in their local community – the people who dedicate their time to developing tomorrow’s young talent and help ensure safety and best practice in tens of thousands of clubs up and down the country.
McDonald’s Director of Football, Sir Geoff Hurst, part of the judging panel comments: “When we read the League’s entry it was clear that together, a great number of dedicated volunteers demonstrate a huge passion for the grassroots game – and their ambition to grow the League even further is truly commendable. I am looking forward to meeting Andy on Sunday to express my congratulations on his award!”
As The FA’s Community Partner and the nation’s biggest supporter of grassroots football, McDonald’s has once again partnered with The FA to promote the Community Awards. Over the last eight years, McDonald’s has helped drive the training and recruitment of over 20,000 community coaches and aims to improve standards at grassroots level to help coaches and clubs play an even greater role in community football.
The eight award categories are: