Plan for Dedicated Football Development Officer for Scarborough

Following the dissolution of the local junior leagues earlier this year, stakeholders are actively pursuing the recruitment of a dedicated football development officer for the area.

The move comes after the Scarborough District Minor Football League merged with the York Junior League, a step taken to ensure the continued delivery of junior football in the area.

The collapse of the local league system was reportedly not due to a shortage of facilities, but rather a deficit in the necessary organizational infrastructure and support. Councillor Rich Maw raised the issue, highlighting the impact on grassroots sport.

Councillor Maw stated:

"The Scarborough District Minor Football League, that's now folded and we've lost a key part of local junior football, and that's not because of a lack of pitches, but it's actually a lack of support in running the league.

As the playing pitch strategy feeds into the new local plan, what is the council doing to make sure grassroots sport isn't just about facilities, but also about keeping local leagues alive, especially for young people in coastal towns like Scarborough?"

Matt Hewison, North Yorkshire Council's Head of Sport and former member of the Scarborough Junior League Committee, detailed the proactive steps being taken to support local clubs and address the lack of volunteer retainment.

Mr Hewison acknowledged the difficulty faced by the committee in winding up the league:

"This was  an issue that was very close to me because I was actually on the committee of the Scarborough & District Minor League, I served as their league welfare officer for a number of years and obviously supported it through a work process as well.

So it was a very difficult decision for that committee to take in terms of the league not being in existence anymore.

So it was a real difficult decision but it was probably the best one that  the league could have taken to ensure that junior football was still delivered in Scarborough".

Recruitment Drive for Development Officer

Having secured an immediate future for local junior clubs through the merger with the York league the focus has now shifted towards bolstering the support systems available to Scarborough based junior teams.

Matt Hewison says that involves appointing a dedicated development officer for the area.:

"Pitches are not the issue, it's the infrastructure around it, so the support mechanisms, the volunteer retainment.

So we've had a conversation with the North Riding County FA and we're trying to recruit a football development officer just for Scarborough.

We have to be realistic that person's probably not going to establish new leagues in the next 2 or 3 years, but they can at least start to build some connection between local teams, local schools, help with a bit of the coach development aspect so that volunteers are trained.

If we can't recruit within Scarborough, there might be an opportunity to join a role again with York, so they work across both leagues, it supports the mechanics of that.

But we're just trying to be proactive in supporting the clubs".

Mr Hewison confirmed that the ongoing support strategy involves "working with the national government body to ensure that leagues in Scarborough are supported and hopefully can develop in the future when we build more capacity within clubs".

The decision to join the York Junior League was described by Mr Hewison as the "only option" available. 

"The option to effectively become part of the York Junior League was the only option we had because the league was quite strong in the younger age groups when, people wanted to play under sevens, under eight nines.

But it was just as they got into the older age groups, we lost teams and we all know about our isolation in terms of where we are

Appreciate that a lot of them have got the added impact of travel, which is always a huge issue, but what we try to do is make sure it was divisional. So the Scarborough teams tend to go to the East York team .

We are just trying to be proactive in supporting the clubs, but also working with the national government body to ensure that leagues in Scarborough are supported and hopefully can develop in the future when we build more capacity within clubs.

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