Working in partnership in Mayo
A brief background
The Mayo Local Football Partnership was launched on 19th January 2006 by John Delaney, Chief Executive Officer, Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and Packie Bonner, Technical Director FAI.
The pilot brought together the main soccer bodies in the county, viz; Mayo Schoolboys & Youths League, Mayo Women’s League and Mayo Association Football League and the Mayo Branch Irish Soccer Referees Society. Representatives from external agencies such as Mayo Sports Partnership, V.E.C., Mayo County Council, Health Service Executive and Meitheal Muigheo, all contributed as stakeholders in the pilot phase of the partnership.
The main area of focus for the pilot partnership was to establish how to co-ordinate efforts to contribute to the overall development of football in the country.
All programmes were rolled out in line with the FAI’s Technical Development Plan, which spans five distinct categories:
(a) FAI Education.
(b) Player Development.
(c) Grassroots Development.
(d) Women’s Football Development.
(e) Facility Development.
Following a review (June 2007) it was decided to continue to develop the partnership concept in Mayo and the streamlined Board was renamed ‘Mayo Football Development Partnership’.
Mayo Football Development Partnership
The following are the main objectives of the Mayo Football Development Partnership;
• Maximise participation from all sections of the community.
• Ensure that sufficient pathways are in place for players of all standards.
• Ensure the facilitation of training and education opportunities for all
• stakeholders.
• To put in place a new generation of modern football facilities in parks, sports centres, local leagues, clubs and schools.
• To provide revenue support for new schemes or programmes introduced to promote the development of football in the county.
• To strengthen the links between the football community.
• To maximise the level of funding for football development within the county.
The initial focus for MFDP was the hosting of the FAI AGM and the development of e-Activity processes to support the promotion and administration of the game, gaining as many efficiencies as possible to assist the volunteer workforce in the county.
In due course, the FDP will be looking to generate a strategic plan for the development of the game in the county. The first phase will be to establish and maintain the number of players, number of qualified coaches, number of clubs and teams, referees and their grades, leagues operating in the county including competitions, numbers participating in Buntus programme, list of current international players and a Facilities audit to list Football Amenities in Mayo, including club pitches including Local Authority owned pitches, schools with their own grounds and clubs with their own grounds.
While Mayo FDP comprises members of the three leagues, it is not involved in the “day to day” running or operations of any of the leagues.
Anyone involved in the game in the county can provide ideas / proposals to the FDP.
In the course of generating the development plan for the county, leagues, clubs and individuals within the game and the relevant statutory agencies will be invited to contribute to influence the future direction of the game here in Mayo.
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