THE Football Association National Youth Council wants to hear the voices of young people aged 14 to 25 years, through a new "Youth Diversity in Football" survey.

The FA and National Youth Council are conducting research to gain a better understanding of the diversity of their current and future volunteer workforce and young people involved in football across England.

The FA National Youth Council is a group of 14 young people with the aim to unite, inspire and provide a voice for all children and young people to influence change, and develop a lasting legacy in football within this country. In order to help the council achieve its aims it wants to know the views of all young people aged 14-25, whether as players, volunteers or those who watch football.

Even young people not currently involved in football are invited to make their views known.

Sarah Nickless, chairperson of The National Youth Council, said: "As the representative voice for children and young people within football, it is important that we as a Youth Council are supporting every young person in the game to have a positive experience and get from it what they wish.

"The ’Youth Diversity Survey’ allows us to monitor how well we are doing this and how we can better support the diverse range groups that we wish to support.

"Your responses to this survey are greatly received and we look forward to hearing the results.”

Linking with English Football’s Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Action Plan, the survey aims to increase the council’s understanding of the diversity of its volunteer workforce and young people involved in the game.

The council believes it is a fantastic opportunity to better understand young people in addition to raising awareness of diversity and equality in football.

The survey, it is hoped, will enable the council to understand why young people do or don’t play, watch and volunteer in football. It is a great opportunity for young people to make their voices heard.

The survey should only take approximately five to 10 minutes to complete and answers will be completely anonymous.

By completing the survey, those taking part will have the chance to win two England tickets to a game at Wembley Stadium!

The survey will run through to December 14 and can be found at: http://surveys.thefa.com/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=760H8536 .

Alan Quick