The FA National Youth Council (FANYC) held their first meeting of the season last weekend at St George's Park, home of all the England teams.

It was a fantastic meeting in which the new team were able to get to know each other better, explore their expectations of each other and agree on how they can make a phenomenal impact across the game this season.

The FANYC are guided by their Gameplan which can be found below and through the link here. The Gameplan displays the Youth Council's vision which is 'For All young people to have meaningful & inclusive opportunities to develop themselves and positively impact their football community'. This is the guiding principle of the FANYC that we want all young people to have the opportunity to be involved in the game meaningfully in a way that is inclusive and accessible for them.

The FANYC's vision is supported by 3 pillars:

• To Increase the Representation of U25s across the game
• To Immerse Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (EDIB)

• To Prioritise Personal Development

These pillars guide the FANYC's work in the Youth Leadership Ecosystem and ensure it is intentional to achieving the Gameplan. Across the season, please look out for examples on the FANYC's social media (@thefa_nyc on Instagram & TikTok and The FA National Youth Council on LinkedIn) for examples of how we are achieving the Gameplan.

How can you work towards the Gameplan?

If you are creating more meaningful opportunities for young people, or you are volunteering in the game as an U25 young person, you are already working towards the Gameplan!! Encouraging those in the game to ensure young people's voices are used in their decision making is extremely vital to creating more meaningful opportunities for young people. 

You could be encouraging the creation of a youth council in your local club, or coaching your local U12s - all of this works towards the Gameplan as you are ensuring that young people are valued and having meaningful roles in the game to develop themselves and their football community. Maybe you are creating a new space for young people to volunteer in your club or funding referee course for young people - all of this is amazing work!

If you would like to find out how you could support the creation of further meaningful opportunities, please get in contact with FANYC Chairperson Joel Moore through the nationalyouthcouncil@thefa.com email address.

Thank you for all you are already doing to support youth leadership and young people in the game!