At a time of pause with the beach soccer calendar and the daily challenge we all face with Covid-19 I thought it would be a good time to update our beach soccer community with the work going on behind the scenes here at EBSA across the Men’s and Women’s senior teams along with the NATIONAL LEAGUE and YOUTH development.
NATIONAL LEAGUE & YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
For 2020 we welcome two new tour legs, one an existing leg at Dorset where we have been working with the BCP Council on returning the national league to Canford Cliffs with the purchase of new beach soccer goals with an aim to provide more beach soccer activity there and at an additional site too with Sand banks.
The plan is to see a national league tour back in Dorset along with activating ongoing youth events with local providers and engagement with community football club foundations.
The second exciting area is the emergence of the Northern Beach Soccer League with the aim to align beach soccer with Lancashire FA and bring a new northern men’s and women’s set of teams to compete at the national league finals later this year.
The aim will be to centralise both North and South teams in an annual playoff after a season of activity to decide who will be English Women’s and Men’s Champions and further represent England at the annual European Cup along with unearthing national league talent for international team selection and trials.
We have also been in planning with Exeter City FC who will continue to host the Devon Schools Championships building upon the success seen in 2019 at Ocean Fest with 14 schools from across the county taking part in Premier League Primary Schools Stars Cup.
The Isle of Wight continue to lead the way with youth development and are planning yet more youth events later this year despite the recent postponement of the Men’s and Women’s UK Super Cup’s.
Our national league now operates across Devon (Gold Coast Festival) Dorset (BCP Council) Isle of Wight (Wight Wave Beach Fest) London (Lee Valley Olympic Centre) and Blackpool (Northern Beach Soccer), these venues will play an important role in the reintroduction of Beach Soccer in the coming months and seasons ahead, there is no doubt that the EBSA board see the national league playing an important role in the growth of beach soccer in England as it has done in other countries like Switzerland, Poland and Spain.
With the national league we have also been working closely with FORZA and in conjunction with them we have developed a national league ball and youth ball to be launched soon along with new beach soccer equipment packages with both youth and senior goals available, having FORZA as a provider is an exciting new partnership for us and will be great addition for beach soccer in England in the coming seasons.
We are still looking for additional venues for the sport to be played and continue talks with Cornwall Council, Portsmouth City Council, Blackpool FC, Bournemouth AFC, Chelsea FC, Tottenham Hotspurs and Arsenal.
INTERNATIONAL TEAMS
On the men’s and women’s scene right up to lock down both teams were training for season 2020 at Lee Valley with the team’s preparing across all fronts for the forth coming beach soccer international season, both Aaron Clarke and Perry Northeast have been collaborating on efforts to prepare the teams for forth coming events and continue to be in contact with BSWW on updates.
Behind the scenes the EBSA board are preparing a new structure and strategy which will be communicated to all international players and national league clubs in the coming weeks on how beach soccer is taking steps to build upon its existing strategy on how the game is run in England with clear growth steps and activation projects with key nationwide providers, clubs, community groups, local authorities and county FA’s.
We have also recently seen the new England Beach Soccer site go live and we will continue to develop as the months progress with new content take a look www.englandbeachsoccer.org
In the meantime, STAY SAFE, STAY HOME and STAY CONNECTED with us via our social media platforms.
Twitter @EngBeachSoccer Instrgram national teams @OfficalEnglandBSC instragram national league @BeachSoccerEngland and on facebook with @englandbeachsoccer
Luke Kerr – Head of National Development Email info@englandbeachsoccer.org