National Juvenile Committee is set to bolster the management and revamping of juvenile football across the country.  The Committee recently adopted new conventions, with emphasis on removing bottlenecks in the administration and management of youth football.

The meeting, which was held in Accra, paved the way for pivotal decisions regarding the future of juvenile football competitions. The agenda included concrete decisions ranging from registration to disciplinary issues, as well as the general layout of matches for the U-13, U-15 and U-17 groups.

The main decisions:

1. All Colts Clubs and competitions shall be officially referred to as Juvenile Clubs and Juvenile Competitions.

2. National Juvenile Competitions

a. The National Juvenile Competition will emanate from the district level to regional and national.

b. District Juvenile Committees shall organise the following competitions under the supervision of the Regional Football Association:

i. Gala

ii. Leagues

iii. Knock Out

iv. Champion of Champions and such others as may be determined by NJC

3. All Juvenile Clubs shall consist of all three (3) categories namely U-13, 15 and U-17. The U-15 and U-17 will play every weekend during the league season with the U-13 playing every other weekend.

4. Duration Of Matches And Match Balls

a. U-13 matches shall travel sixty minutes, which is two halves of thirty minutes each with at least fifteen minutes rest.

b. U-15 and 17 matches shall last seventy minutes and ninety minutes respectively. There shall be two halves of thirty-five and forty- five minutes respectively with at least fifteen minutes rest.

c. U-13 and U-15 shall use size 4 balls while the U-17 players with size five (5) balls.

5. That it shall together with the RFA introduce a registration procedure that shall streamline player registration across the country.

6. It shall, together with the RFAs run capacity building programmes for Club Administrators and Coaches at the juvenile level.

7. That no juvenile club shall pay any additional admission fees apart from the prescribed affiliation fee approved by the GFA Congress to join the Association at District Levels but shall however, have criteria to meet before being admitted.

8. The 2019/20 Football League Season shall be preceded with a two (2–day Gala Competition on the weekend of 27th to 29th March, 2020.

9. Juvenile FA Cup Competition is to start on the weekend of 10th/11th /12th April 2020.

10. The Juvenile League will commence on the weekend of 17th/18/19th April 2020.

11. That it will also introduce the following competitions

a. National U-17 Inter Club Championship – August 2020

b. Inter- Regional U-17 Challenge Cup  – November 2020

12. All academies in the country are to register and take part in the juvenile U-13, U-15, and U-17 leagues in whatever district they are located.

All our RFAs are advised to ensure that the National Secretariat receives the list of all GAME CENTRES where all juvenile games will take place.

-GFA