Inclusion

Football is open and accessible for all.

The FA and Hertfordshire FA are here to ensure everyone who is involved in football has a great experience – regardless of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, ability or disability, faith or age.

Both The FA and the County FAs are working to ensure everyone has the opportunity to be part of the game.

We will all work together on our inclusion priorities over the coming years. These are underpinned by three principles of change:

Ensuring governance and leadership is diverse and modern;
Removing any obstacles to access and progression in coaching, talent development or personal development pathways;
Enshrining equality, diversity and inclusion in our day to day operations.

In order to make a difference, The FA is running and supporting leadership programmes for women, BAME and young people and will adhere to the Government’s code for governance in sport.

We will also examine pathways and promote inclusion and access for coaches, welfare officers, club officials, league officials, players, coaches and tutors; and we will challenge ourselves with measurable targets that deliver on diversity and inclusion outcomes. We will also work with a variety of stakeholders on topics such as mental health and LGB&T to ensure that people feel safe and included in football.

Meanwhile, there also many programmes across football which support our aims as part of The FA and County FAs wider inclusion programmes which we will continue to deliver.

Our disability football programmes are some of the best in the world; we have an Asian football plan called ‘Bringing Opportunities to Communities’; our women’s strategy ‘Gameplan for Growth’ aims to double female participation by 2020; and we continue to work to encourage football across different faiths and communities.

Learn more here

Hertfordshire FA Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG)

We recently established an Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG) to help drive the opportunities for everyone to become involved in football.

The IAG will support English Football’s Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Plan, which brings together varied stakeholders from across football to promote inclusion and tackle discrimination in all forms.

The plan encourages greater inclusion in the game, and ensures that the services Hertfordshire FA provides are relevant to the needs of all football communities in the county.

Hertfordshire FA’s Inclusion Advisory Group has 4 key goals:

Widen football’s talent pool-by recruiting volunteer IAG members to support Hertfordshire FA develop inclusive county development plans.
Clarify anti-discrimination regulations and sanctions by assisting with raising awareness of the minimum five match ban for abusive or discriminatory behaviour; and mandatory equality education
Encourage reporting of discrimination within football community on how to report discrimination, and advising on tactics to instil confidence in the reporting and disciplinary process
Increase knowledge and awareness-by supporting CFAs with embedding inclusive practices within existing development programmes, and promoting education in equality and diversity