The Huntingdonshire Football Association has landed the Diversity and Inclusion award at the inaugural County FA Recognition Awards for its Shia Muslim Coaches project.

The Awards were introduced this year to recognise and endorse the best projects, products and services launched by County FAs over the past season while sharing best practice and learnings from around the country.

From the 50 County FAs operating across England, 39 of them entered over 150 submissions, highlighting continuous improvements and showcasing how they are innovating to improve football and increase participation across all levels of the game. 

The eight categories recognised on the night were: 

• Brand Engagement
• Digital Engagement
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Football Development
• Insight & Data
• Partnership
• Women & Girls
• Special Recognition.



Hunts FA was handed the Diversity and Inclusion for its project which in partnership with the Council of European Jamaats (CoEJ) we organised and delivered an FA Level 1 course in January 2018 specifically for Shai Muslims from around the Country.

The course addressed the low number of Shai Muslim/BAME coaches in our game nationally and resulted in 13 newly qualified BAME coaches from on course. Despite participants being from across England, they have kept close links with the CoEJ and receive updates on how the coaches are progressing. Overall the 13 participants on the course are now coaching close to 200 children and young people on a weekly basis.

Hunts FA County Secretary, Dean Watson said: "It was an honour to receive this recognition and I’m proud of the hard work our entire team puts in towards improving the level of football and increasing participation across the region. Hopefully we can continue to build on this for many years to come."

FA Chief Executive Martin Glenn added: "It gives us great pleasure to recognise and reward our County FAs. The work they do in their local communities to inspire a lifelong journey in football are absolutely vital in ensuring we continue to develop, promote and protect the game. 

"It’s testament to their work that we now have the highest number of boys playing affiliated football recorded to date, and we are well on track to deliver on our ambition to double participation in the female game."

For more information on the work of County FAs, visit www.thefa.com

Congratulations to all of the County FA's who won at The Inaugural County FA Recognition Awards