Youth FA president Fr Hilary Tagliaferro said the football organisation was moving in the right direction, highlighting the fact that new incentives introduced last season drew more children to the sport.

Fr Hilary was addressing club delegates during an annual general meeting held last week at the Centenary Hall, Ta’ Qali. He said the Youth FA had opted for different concepts in 2011-12 and the move left its desired dividends as most of the innovations proved quite popular with clubs.

“The Under-13 Inħobb il-Futbol events were a complete success. We defied the odds as 360 more children came to practice football thanks to this incentive,” Fr Hilary said.

“The courses we organised in conjunction with KMS were also well received and so were the new ground inspectors and medical assistance. They provided a more professional service to our clubs who were led by guidelines published by the Technical Centre that brought uniformity in our set-ups.”

APS Bank has been backing the Youth FA leagues for the past 10 years and last week it was confirmed that they had agreed to sign a new deal for another three years.

Fr Hilary thanked APS and also reserved words of praise for the Malta FA, Kunsill Malti għall-Isport, Farsons, Panini and the authorities concerned for their constant support.

In his address, general secretary Joe Micallef gave a detailed account of the past season where over 1,150 matches, under the tutelage of the Youth FA, were played from the various championships and U-9 football festivals.

Micallef agreed with Fr Hilary and said the Youth FA was moving along with the times and on a steady keel.

The general secretary then announced the winners of the Most Promising Youngsters awards for 2011-12. These went to Juan Corbolan (Floriana, U-15) and Ryan Spiteri (Ħamrun Spartans, U-17).