Please see below a full statement from RCTSFA regarding the status of the current season and our outline plans for the 20/21 season:
Season 19/20:
During these unprecedented times, football has become secondary while the communities of RCT have been battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Our thoughts are with all those who have been impacted by this dreadful virus.
The WSFA has made the difficult decision to curtail the current season due to the ongoing restrictions imposed on society due to the pandemic.
As an Association, we have much to celebrate this season. Having played over 70 county fixtures during the season, our commitment to the season has been absolute. To place this into context, we were only 2 weeks away from the fixture deadline of March 27th at the point when we locked down, so we had completed 29 weeks of the 31 qualification week season. The Association has a moral and sporting obligation to recognise the achievement of all our players with a suitable 19/20 presentation day when it is safe to do so; we will also recognise the achievement of squads where they have clearly won their qualifying group. The current season will also qualify for county caps. Our message is clear – we recognise the endeavour, commitment and success of our players and coaches during this remarkable season.
We are conscious that as a result of the decision of the WSFA to curtail the season, many parents will have questions regarding membership fees. We were 2 weeks away from the conclusion of the qualifying groups when lockdown struck, so it is incumbent on the Association to discount the 20/21 membership fees accordingly to compensate for the early conclusion. For the players within the U16s Boys and U15s Girls squads who will leave us this season, we will make an additional gesture on presentation day. The Association has asked the WSFA to significantly discount entry and registration fees for the 20/21 season to compensate for the minimal outgoings that it has incurred in concluding the current season – this will undoubtedly assist all Associations to achieve sustainability during these difficult times for parents and guardians.
Season 20/21
With the current season now at an end. All attention will now turn to next season.
We had tentatively rescheduled our county trials to be held in July 2020, but we must now accept that this will not be feasible. Therefore all trials are postponed until further notice. The new season will not start until we have completed the trials, so all being equal we will be in a position to trial during September 2020, and that will allow our county squads to return to training from October 1st 2020. Obviously all plans are dependent on government advice and the Association will review these decisions next during early August 2020.
Due to the inevitable pressure on time and facilities when the new season returns, we have made the decision that only new nominees will be asked to trial. All players currently in a 19/20 County Squad will now be invited back to join the 20/21 squads without the need to trial
Next Steps:
The Association will contact all 20/21 county trial nominees with updates on trial dates when they are confirmed.
For those who are part of a 19/20 County Squad, your Team Manager will be in touch in due course to discuss the plans for the 20/21 season.
If you need to contact the Association regarding trials, then please email trials.rctsfa@gmail.com
For all other enquiries, please email our general email address at rctschoolsfa@gmail.com
We would like to place on record our gratitude for the outstanding support that we have received throughout the 19/20 season from our sponsors, parents/guardians, schools, our coaching teams, our committee, RCT CBC, the University of South Wales and, last but not least, the other school football associations across Wales and South West of England.
Finally, we wish you all good health as together we battle this destructive pandemic. We hope to see you all back on or around the football pitch in due course!
Yours in football
RCTSFA
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