This season Norfolk FA and all five youth football leagues in the County are working in conjunction to deliver a localised Respect campaign #NorfolkFootballisPositive. As part of the campaign every youth team competing in the County have been asked four additional questions relating to their matches.

Over the past three months we have worked hard in the background to produce reports showcasing the data collected from the four questions and we are now at a stage where we can announce the results from the first half of the 2019/2020 season.

The questions which have been asked allows us to paint a picture of current behaviour across Norfolk. The data has been input into two reports for youth leagues and clubs. The league report will show a summary of every team which competes in that league listing each age group from Role Model to Needs Improvement and the club report will contain the same information, plus additional details bespoke to each club.

The aim of these reports is to positively influence behaviour to improve the overall standard of Norfolk Football with an aspiration of every team achieving the ‘Role Model’ standard.

Matt Carpenter, Football Services Manage, said: “The #NorfolkFootballIsPositive campaign provides a really exciting opportunity for everybody involved in youth football to pull together to raise the overall standards of behaviour in the County. By having all of our sanctioned leagues working together towards this common goal, with the buy in and support of all of our Clubs we can positively influence the footballing experience of everybody involved in game, including, most importantly, the young players and they ultimately are the ones that youth football is all about.”

Ian Grange, Facilities, Investment & Development Manager, said: “We must always remember football is the players game, and the #NorfolkFootballisPositive campaign provides a fantastic opportunity to improve the playing experience for hundreds of young players across Norfolk.  I am delighted that all of Norfolk’s affiliated youth leagues have come together in support of this campaign, which has the potential to drive significant positive change in relation to the behaviour of coaches, players and supporters.”