The winners of The FA Mars Just Play awards for 2016 have been unveiled.
Football occupies a unique place in the country with over 11 million people regularly participating and the Just Play Awards recognise those who are driving forward participation in the game at grassroots level.
Since launching in 2011, FA Mars Just Play has provided fun, flexible formats to play football on a casual basis.
Great 2 be recognised as one of the top 4 just play centres in the Country. Congrats to #blokesunited #worthywinners pic.twitter.com/lP3teY4o5m
— Neil Jolliffe (@LondonFA_RFDO) June 6, 2016
And Andy Dyke, The FA’s national participation manager for Recreation Football was joined by FA director for participation and development Kelly Simmons and representatives of Mars UK to greet the winners at the Houses for Parliament.
The Bedfordshire FA was named County of the Year and among individuals winners were #BlokesUnited, an initiative set up in Hull and East Riding to support men who suffer with mental health issues in the local area. They were named Centre of the Year for using football as a means to engage people at a time of need.
Newcastle-based Blue Flames received the Legacy Award in recognition of their on-going efforts to boost football participation numbers at Just Play sessions which resulted in a boost in local participation from 20 players to more than 130.
Organiser of the year went to Liverpool’s Anthony Smith who took it upon himself to apply for funding to get the Just Play sessions off the ground for asylum seekers, having recognised a lack of opportunities to get involved in organised sport locally. Starting with just 12 men in its first week, the session has now grown to attract 40-45 players on a regular basis.
And Leicestershire’s Mel Baker was named Player of the Year. Mel joined a local female futsal session to aide her recover from illness and she found it to be a great way to keep active and fit during her recovery.
Since joining her team in Enderby, a now fully-fit Mel has never missed a session and is a core member of the team and has been particularly proactive in publicising the session on social media and encouraging others to attend.
“It’s great that through Mars Just Play, The FA can recognise the achievements of a few of them each year, while supporting the work of the entire 400,000 volunteer workforce that is crucial to the lifeblood of football." said Dyke.
And Kelly Simmons added: "All the winners deserve huge credit; they are some excellent examples of the work that is done by volunteers all across the country.
"We have in place a country wide strategy to support the work of football volunteers and we are working hard to offer them the best possible environment to work and thrive."
