Football Association of Maldives will be introducing under 12 youth league next year. There is already a under 13 youth league introduced by FAM this year which turned out to be a brilliant one. A lot of players shared a platform where they enjoyed the game and shared the experiences, more over coaches and parents were cheerful about it.

 

 

Youth league is a league aimed and held for football academies based in Maldives to provide an opportunity to play in a more organised, disciplined, friendly yet competitive way. This year also there were 8 teams from 8 academies based in Male' City which Early Touch Football Academy (ETFA) was the league winners.

 

Right after this year's league, FAM has already sent the announcement to all the related football academies about the new under 12 league. It is believed that notifying the football academies so soon about the new under 12 league, FAM aims to give the required time to get ready for the league.

The new under 12 youth league will be played in the same format as under 13 youth league. Next year also there will be the senior youth age category league same like this year. But the league will be taking a step up in age category. Instead of under 13, next year it will be played as under 14.

 

It is believed that the change from under 13 to under 14 in the age catogry was to give chance to this year's players to play in the next year tournament also. The same players those who played in this year's under 13 league will be fully eligible to play in next year's under 14 league. 

 

As FAM has decided to stand on a more standard rule from next year onward regarding the age requirement for all the youth development programs, the same rules will apply to next year's under 12 and under 14 youth leagues. Same like inter school football, in youth league also, the participating players must be born during a given birth year. All the academies have being already notified about this rule.

 

This year FAM started their big development project under the banner of #towardsfuture and since then FAM has taken numerous of steps forward to their this visionary plan. Introducing a minor youth league this year, and adding another league from next year onward, has and will provide a platform, unlike in the past, to academy players to show their talent and great opportunities for academy sides to evaluate and develop their players in much propped way.

 

FAM also has conducted numbers of coaching education programs during the year. Specially recruiting coaches from grassroot level to AFC standards, giving chances and training female coaches, holding grassroots festivals around Maldives has being the highlights of the works by FAM during the year.

 

As the words it self says, Towards the future, FAM is moving forward concurrently the result has shown it's positive signs.