MCDONALDS FOOTBALLPLUS FOR KIDS GOES TO VILLAGE CORE

Back in February the Malta Football Association, in collaboration with the Youth Football Association and with the support of McDonalds (Malta) Limited announced the launch of a new educational football programme for boys and girls. The programme which will run over the next three years, was named The McDONALDS FOOTBALLPLUS For Kids.  The next activity in this programme will take the shape of STREET FOOTBALL and will go to one of the local village cores, the LIJA PARISH SQUARE, and will be held on Saturday 30th April 2016. This month’s activity is being held in collaboration with Lija Ahletic F.C, Lija/Iklin Football Nursery and the Lija Local Council. The McDonalds FOOTBALLPLUS For Kids is one of MFA’s Grassroots Programmes, which formspart of MFA’s Strategy for Growth & Retention in local football participation, and was laid out as a result of the outcomes from our association’s participation in a UEFA Pilot Project amongst six chosen European National Football Associations, to offer marketing support to these NAs, with the ultimate aim for these associations to: Improve the image of football across Europe;Grow participation;Grow Fan Engagement;Grow and optimise revenues from second inventory, and;Strandardise measurement. MFA, with the support of it’s partners is stepping  up its efforts to tackle the key challenges affecting the game and has committed to encouraging more people to play football more often across a range of formats, and to invest further in our educational programmes, targeting young footbalL players, coaches, administrators and parentsAbove all we seek to IMPROVE THE IMAGE OF THE GAME OF THE PEOPLE The McDonalds FOOTBALLPLUS For Kids programme kicked off last February and so far Educational Football Festivals Were held in Mgarr, Zebbug and Dingli. This year’s programme also incorporates the McDonalds Player Escort Campaign for the EURO 2016 Finals, which will take place in France later this year. With applications closing on 18th April, It is now time for the winners to be announced. Two local kidsfrom amongst the hundreds of boys and girls who applied, will get the chance to earn a place to act as player escorts in the Semi Final Match being held at Lyon and the Final match of the EURO 2016. The MFA has added value to this campaign by offering no less than 75 other boys and girls the chance to act as player escorts in three international matches being played locally in the next months. The three matches will be;ITALY vs SCOTLAND  -  29th May 2016MALTA vs SCOTLAND  -  4th September 2016, andMALTA vs SLOVENIA  -  11th November 2016 Saturday’s Event Programme is attached THE EVENT PROGRAMME Participants  -  77 Boys & Girls Shorlisted from amongst the McDonalds Player Escorts Campaign applicants +  23 Lija/Iklin Nursery boys/girls08:00hrs- Meeting & Registration - near Lija Tower08:15hrs- Start of Programme -  Walk to Lija Parish Square accompanied by  Mini Brass Band provided by S. Pio X Band Club08:30hrs - MASS  -  celebrated at the Parish Square09:30hrs to 12:00hrs - Start of Activities5v5 mini football matchesTennis footballPenalty Shoot Outs10:15hrs- Short Talk for Parents + Other Adults (Health Tips & Football Safety)11:15hrs- Short Talk for Parents + Other Adults (Parent Ethics in football)12:00hrs- Draws/Announcement of Player Escort Winners2to act as player escorts at EURO 2016 Finals25 + 25 + 25to act as player escorts at important International Matches held locally12:45hrs– End of Programme EVERBODY IS WELCOME