Two well respected football officials are lending their support to South Yorkshire leisure provider BPL, as it launches its own football leagues.

Ex-international referee Steve Lodge and Premier League assistant referee Scott Ledger have recognised how the initiative will encourage even more interest in amateur football locally, as part of increasing health and well being in the region.

The league games, which involve both adult, seven-a-side and five-a-side football, will be held three times a week at Dorothy Hyman Sports Centre in Cudworth, Darton Community Sports Centre and Athersley Leisure Centre.

The Monday Night League started on 26 April at Dorothy Hyman Sports Centre (seven-a-side), the Tuesday Night League starts on 13 May at Darton Community Sports Centre (seven-a-side) and the five-a-side league will take place on the newly refurbished astro-turf at Athersley Leisure Centre, starting on 25 May.

Steve Lodge, who is also company secretary at BPL, explains: "I am pleased to lend my support to this initiative and am looking forward to seeing many new teams starting to form in the region. The three locations that we have are just perfect for games and training - and it is a great reason for even more local people to get involved in a sport they enjoy."

In recent years, there have been other leagues organised by BPL in Barnsley but were exclusively for Barnsley Council employees as part of the Healthy Workplace programme, which encouraged staff to lead healthy and well balanced lifestyles through diet and exercise.

Tom Ramsay, facility manager at Darton Community Sports Centre, explains: "It has been my dream for a while to start our own football league here at BPL. We have the facilities to suit the style and size of the 5 and 7-a-side game and have had a great deal of interest from members at our leisure centres in recent months. Following the success of the Barnsley Council league that we set up through the Healthy Workplace initiative, we jumped at the chance to use this tried and trusted format to open up a number of new leagues to teams across South Yorkshire."

He continues: "More people than ever before are playing five and seven-a-side, rather than the traditional 11-a-side game. Our league will be very professionally run, with its own experienced referees, with proper fixtures organised and scheduled, balls, pitch and nets provided and presentation evenings held at the end of the season to celebrate the successes. We are really excited about what this means for amateur football in the area and ask anyone interested to get in touch to find out more!"

To join the league, each team must register at least eight players with each being over the age of 16. Teams do not have to be from the Barnsley area, as the league is open to the whole of South Yorkshire - making it one of the largest local leagues currently in operation.

Julia Sykes, workplace health project manager for Barnsley Council explains: "I was involved with setting up the first football league in Barnsley for Council staff and this just went from strength to strength. We are fully supportive of BPL in establishing these new leagues and from our experience, we are sure they will not be short of teams willing to play. We look forward to seeing the success of this latest initiative."