Professional football clubs run Football in the Community schemes, which provide a wide range of opportunities for children to get involved with playing football. Professional football clubs, encourage fun and participation for all by welcoming boys and girls, able-bodied and disabled and people of all ethnic backgrounds.
A career as a professional footballer is one that many children dream of from an early age. It can be one of the most glamorous and attractive careers a young person can hope to enter after leaving school. Unlike many jobs, the road to becoming a professional footballer starts from an early age, sometimes as young as 8, through involvement with a club. All F.A. Premier League and Football League clubs have extensive networks in their local areas, with talent scouts watching games at every level. They develop their own contacts with local football, with a particular focus on schools and junior clubs. All professional clubs now run Football Academies or Centres of Excellence, where the most talented youngsters in their areas gain access to the best training and support, from the age of nine upwards. Almost all boys who go on to become professional footballers will come through their local Academy or Centre of Excellence. In order to attract the attention of scouts, young players should be playing football at the highest possible level: with their school, district or club.
As you develop your football career you go and play at different levels. You would start at Primary school and then play for a club/ or for secondary school, and then as your thirst for football grows, you begin to go to Academies/ Center of Excellence where standards are very high. You don’t have to go through this order, but most children do. Sometimes if children have exceptional skill at a young age they are able to go to Academies at 9 years old or even get scouted at a young age. It depends on numerous factors; whether your club/ school is successful, or if a scout has spotted you by chance. You would have a higher chance of getting scouted if your team is successful and your league is talented. As you prolong from Primary school football to Academies you will notice changes in equipment, and higher standards, for example;
Football Academies:
Academies combine the best facilities and training with detailed programmes tailored to the needs of young players, emphasising the need to balance the amount of football played with education and welfare support. Boys can join from as young as nine years old, and throughout their time with the Academy will combine football training with expert tuition, medical provision and educational support, leading to A level standard education for those who are successful in making it through to Scholarship status (for players aged 16-19). Academies have dedicated and fully-qualified staff covering coaching, medical, development, education and welfare.
Centres of Excellence: These offer comprehensive programmes to improve and develop young players, under strict guidelines regarding the amount of football played, facilities and access to qualified staff. Boys can attend Centres from the age of nine, and those successful in moving forward beyond the age of 16 into the professional game can join a Youth Training Scheme, where they will follow a comprehensive programme of education and football development.
Even though players attend Academies and Centres of Excellence it doesn’t mean that he/she will become a professional. Some will be released by their clubs. Boys and parents/guardians need to be realistic and know that there is a small chance for their child to become a professional. A key part of their involvement should be to enjoy the experience and learn from it. Clubs also wont just dump a player that doesn’t make it. They will focus on continuing their education.
Access of football:
More than 2 million people play organised football on a regular basis at all levels, from the stars of the profesional game to youngsters taking their first steps onto the pitch. Football is open to all ages and abilities - for men and women, boys and girls. Increasing strides are being made in also offering opportunities for people with disabilities too.
Football is now officially the biggest girls' and women's sport in England - and it's also the most exciting game at that! Research has shown that girls who want to play sport, want to play football.
Since the FA took over stewardship of the women's game in England in 1993 great strides have been made, indeed women's soccer is the fastest growing sport in the country.
There are over 800 women's teams across England, playing 11-a-side competitive football every week throughout the August-May season.
As you can see womens football is getting more popular and will get a wider range of audience in the future.
- Opportunities for Disabled Players:
The Football Association and the English Federation of Disability Sport have developed the Ability Counts programme, which provides training and playing opportunities for disabled adults and children. This provision is provided through either a professional football club, Football in the Community scheme or by a County Football Association.
The Football Association and the specific National disability Sports organisations have responsibility to develop the disability player pathway, which enables players to reach their potential. Currently The Football Association support six squads:
1. Amputees
2. Blind
3. Cerebral Palsy
4. Deaf
5. Learning Diability
6. Partially Sighted
I think this is brilliant because disabled people who love the game football are able to actually play the game with there disabilities not getting in the way. They cannot play the whole 90 minutes, and play with slightly different rules which correlate to their problem.
Many professional teams aswell as the FA are trying to popularize ethnic football, for example;
“Liverpool is on red alert to see a new wave of Asian footballing talent following the announcement that the city will stage the UK's first National Ethnic Football Tournament. The Asia Europe Football Festival is to showcase the best Asian players in the UK, in Liverpool, from September 27-28, and has already attracted the interest of scouts from every Premier League football club as well as European giants Real Madrid. And plans are in place to create the first Asian football academy in Liverpool by 2004 to capitalize on the event.”
There are Ethnic teams located in leagues, and even Ethnic leagues. I know because some friends I have played with used to belong to a Turkish team in a Turkish league. Not all the players of the team were Turkish but the majority. I think this is quiet good, because it gives Ethnics the chance to mix with each other, and gives them a chance to play football/ in a team and play other teams from different leagues, whether it be in cups or tournaments. This would show that some Ethnics are very skillful at football. For example I know of only one Asian player in the Premiership.
One of the problems that we have concerning the lack of Asian players is that there are so few role models for them to look up to so if there are leagues of Asian teams, their skill/ confidence will increase and eventually there would be a higher percentage going to Academies and becoming professionals. Certainly, there are no natural reasons why young Asian players can't make a significant breakthrough in the game. I’m still waiting for Asian footballers to make the impact that black footballers have made since the early 70s. Also, even though black players are represented at all levels of the game, black and minority ethnic communities are significantly under-represented in all other areas of football: management, refereeing, committees etc
Conclusion:
I think football is such a great game and now that women have made an impact, as well as ethnics and disabled people, it has become even greater.
Football must be open to everyone regardless of their ethnicity and I look forward to the time when we have Asian players and other ethnics playing in the Premier League and competing with the best.
This year the women`s world cup got the biggest audience ever for a women’s football game ( quoted from euro sport). This shows that women`s football is growing and may eventually be a popular sport for future women all over the world.
In conclusion I think football is open to everyone/ or eventually will. Ethnics and all races, as well as both sexes will be able to play football on a professional level. And will have equal respect from all fans, and players alike.
Appendix:
Sites I have used for information in my coursework;
