News & EventsLatest NewsCalendar
The FA Silent Weekend Initiative - 29th February 2020

The FA Silent Weekend Initiative - 29th February 2020

Jamie Johnson28 Feb 2020 - 11:29
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.achoylake.com/news

This weekend will see a new FA initiative introduced which we ask our followers to fully get behind...

What is the Silent Weekend?

The Silent Weekend will help highlight the impact that spectator and coach communication can have on players and match officials during matchday. By asking for silence from the side lines we hope the focus across the league will become on letting players play and help remove the additional pressures sometimes put on our match officials.

We will be asking for all verbal communication to stop for the duration of all matches in selected leagues, requesting that encouragement is shown by applause for goals and excellent play instead.

We appreciate that many people watching football will already do so in a positive manner, providing the necessary encouragement to help players perform to their best and that this is a big change from normal fixtures. That said, we believe this is a great opportunity to gain feedback from players and allow managers to experiment with new ways of coaching their players.

How do I know if my team is part of the Silent Weekend?

The initiative will apply to all U7 – U11 age groups with the Cheshire Girls Football league Wirral Division

If your team is in any of these age groups, then they are expected to be part of the Silent Weekend. If you are in any doubt, please speak to your Coach team.

What happens if other people do not follow the guidelines to remain silent?

Whilst this would be disappointing and go against the ethos of the weekend, we will not be able to monitor all games and cannot force individuals to remain completely quiet.
We recognise that football can be a very tense, exciting and passionate game at times and that some level of noise will be audible whether intended or otherwise.

Persistent infringements of the guidelines will be addressed by the referee with a sensible conversation during an appropriate break in play to remind of the purpose of the weekend.

There will also be representatives from the league and Cheshire FA attending matches to help answer queries and where required remind people of the purpose of the weekend should they need it.

Where can I find out more about the Respect campaign?

If you would like to find out more about how the national Respect campaign is impacting the grassroots game then please visit www.thefa.com/get-involved/respect where you can watch the latest promotional video, download resources for your club/ league and even take short online courses to promote the creation of fun, safe and inclusive matchday environments.

As with all FA initiatives, we at AC Hoylake fully endorse this approach and would ask that our followers get behind it too. #letthemplay #weonlydopositive

Further reading