Nominations are open for the 2017 Respect Awards, which this year are bigger than ever with 11 categories.

http://www.cambridgeshirefa.com/news/2017/may/the-fa-respect-awards-are-back-for-2017

Not only are the awards bigger than ever, but arguably they have never been more important. It struck me recently that it remains the case that negative stories still get much more coverage than good news. Grassroots Cup Finals in our area are a great example of this.

We have enjoyed a hugely successful Cup Final season, having seen first-hand the positive engagement by players, club officials and spectators across a variety of social media channels who have clearly enjoyed the experiences created.

On field discipline has been what you would expect, generally good with the odd isolated incident. In a neighbouring area, sadly there were reports of a serious misconduct between the 2 finalists, which can happen, but cannot be condoned.

The point here is that out of all of the 1000s of Cup Finals around the country to celebrate the season’s achievements of grassroots teams, guess which story lead to radio phone ins?

We’ll continue to promote what is good about the game, and the Respect Awards are an integral part of that message.

Girls’ Advanced Coaching Centre season comes to a successful end

It is really rewarding when a programme works superbly, delivering outcomes for all stakeholders. One such example for us is the Girls Advanced Coaching Centre (ACC), which has just completed its second season.

The key for us has been the ability to work on talent identification without affecting the participation considerations as girls are permitted to play for their clubs and take part in the programme. It has worked, as we have succeeded in developing players, with Mia Cinque coming through to the England U17s, and maintain record numbers in our S-Tech Girls league.

It has been a great effort by all involved. It was also brilliant to see the sponsors of the programme, Adcock UK, tweet with such pride about their association with the Centre.

Bring on next season!

Champions League door open to United

Man Utd edged past Celta Vigo in what was billed by Jose as the ‘biggest game in the history of the club’. It was certainly a big game for him, as he appears to be putting all of his Champions League qualification eggs in the Europa League basket. Knowing Mourinho, he may well pull it off.

I was struck by the news however of the ticket allocation the 2 finalists will receive.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39894023

A paltry 9,500 tickets each out of the 50,000 capacity is pitiful. It looks again that the fans have been short changed. The BBC story suggests that the majority of tickets have gone on ‘general sale and to local organisers, national associations, commercial partners, broadcasters and corporate hospitality.’

I get that the needs of sponsors etc. need to be catered for, but surely with advanced systems for selling tickets with short lead times more tickets, at least 15,000 each, could have been sold to fans of both clubs to make the final more of an event?

Until next time.
Chris