Hunt Underway for Worthy Football Volunteers
The 2017 FA Community Awards, presented by McDonald’s, recognise and celebrate volunteers who make a real difference to their communities, and the search is now on to find local grassroots heroes in Essex.
Nominations are now open, with the aim of recognising and rewarding grassroots clubs, coaches and volunteers who keep the national game alive. Nominees can be from any walk of life and the Essex County FA are calling on locals to put forward their unsung heroes who have gone above and beyond in the name of football. This year the categories are as follows:
o FA Charter Standard Community Club Award
o FA Charter Standard Development Club Award
o FA Charter Standard Club Award
o FA Charter Standard League of the Year Award
o Best Inclusive Project Award (new for 2017)
o Coach of the Year (new for 2017)
o People’s Award – Outstanding Contribution to Community Football
o Young Volunteer of the Year Award
Nominations close on Thursday 13th April, while the national award winners will be announced at The FA Community Awards presented by McDonald’s. The National winners will be chosen by a National Award judging panel featuring 1966 World Cup winner and McDonald’s Director of Football, Sir Geoff Hurst.
Essex County FA Chief Executive, Brendan Walshe, is keen to see as many nominations as possible from Essex. He commented: “The FA and McDonald’s Community Awards are an absolutely brilliant way to celebrate the selflessness of all those volunteers, clubs and leagues and the innumerable hours they put into supporting grassroots football.”
“Last year’s awards shone the spotlight on some incredible individuals and the work they do in Essex, and I’d encourage everyone involved in grassroots football to vote for someone who they think truly deserves an award. It would be great to see hundreds of nominations from Essex, and perhaps even some national finalists.”
To learn more about the awards, find out about last year’s winners and nominate for this year, log onto www.thefa.com/communityawards or E-Mail Danielle Warnes at danielle.warnes@essexfa.com. For further details on grassroots football in Essex, visit www.essexfa.com, follow @EssexCountyFA on Twitter and search for ‘EssexFootball’ on Facebook.
