New Covid Restrictions

Good Afternoon,

This email has been sent to all league, club and team secretaries, and contains updates and reminders for the festive period and the new year.

Festive Hours

The SYFA office will close at 1pm on Wednesday 23rd December and reopen at 9am on Tuesday 5th January. Staff will respond to any correspondence sent during that period, on their return to work.

We would remind all members that if you have any immediate concerns about the safety of a child, you should contact Police Scotland on 101; or 999 in an emergency situation. You can also contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000. The NSPCC helpline will be open every day over the festive period (Monday to Friday 8am – 10pm and 9am – 6pm at weekends).

Level Four Restrictions

The First Minister announced on Saturday that the whole of mainland Scotland will be placed in level 4 for at least three weeks, meaning it will be 16th January at the earliest before any matches (including friendlies) can resume.

The Return to Football Hub has the details of what is permitted within each of the levels: please ensure to familiarise yourselves with the information on there. As before, the only permitted football activity within level 4 is non-contact training within your own local authority. This applies to all age groups. The guidance on permitted activity within each level can be found here.

2021 Registrations

The renewal window for small-sided teams opened at the beginning of December and remains open over the festive period and into the new year. Small-sided teams must ensure to renew their membership for the new season before recommencing any football activities next year. Thanks to the generous donation from Mr James Anderson, teams only need to pay for their insurance cover and do not need to pay for SYFA affiliation this year.

2009 teams do not need to renew, their registration will be reinstated automatically in the first week in January. Eleven- a- side teams also do not need to take any action during this renewal window.

Thank you

I would like to express our utmost thanks to all of you, for your continued commitment to the development of youth football in Scotland, especially throughout this strange year.

We continue to live in extremely challenging times, however here’s hoping for progress, positivity and a resumption of normality in 2021.

Kind regards,

Florence

Florence Witherow

National Secretary

Scottish Youth FA

Hampden Park G42 9BF

www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk