Local and National Provision of Football.

An overview of elite development in association football

The diagram represents a section of Great Britain which is currently benefiting from the Charter for Quality Program. Many football teams in this section of the country will receive funds in order to improve their facilities, training and coaching skills so that children and young talent benefit from the new standards of football. You can also see the McDonalds logo in the diagram. Many big companies like McDonalds sponsor different programmes presented by people like the FA and so also play a big part in funding for different programmes.

One of the biggest influences on ‘Grass-roots’ football comes from one of the largest and most important departments within the FA. It many only consist of about forty staff but the National Game Division of the FA has a serious budget on football’s grass-roots. The National Game Division channels over £30million a year into the game’s grass-roots which is a huge influence on the sport of football. The result is little short of a revolution for grass-roots football. Higher standards and better pitches are just a part of it; better changing rooms and facilities for clubs across the land all benefit from it. Grass-roots football in the United Kingdom is the responsibility of the 43 County Football Associations.  These are independent bodies, which are affiliated to the Football Association, and are responsible for all aspects of the game at local level. One of the key tasks undertaken by County Football Associations is the affiliation of local competitions and leagues, registering players to clubs and the organisation of match officials and the administration of discipline. Mini Soccer is The FA's approved form of football for the under 10s, using small-sided non-competitive games to encourage a fun introduction to football. With no winners or losers, teams play a maximum of 1 hour of football each. The emphasis is on enjoyment and participation. To help encourage good grassroots development the F.A developed a charter. This seeks to reward and encourage good practice so that parents and children can demand a minimum standard of provision from schools, clubs and holiday courses.

The National Game covers all football below the Football League, from the Conference, to the parks. One of their main concerns is the galloping growth of women’s football. Women’s football is now the biggest sport for women in the country. There are currently 90,000 registered women and girls playing football, whereas only 70,000 playing netball. They hope and are sure that the sport of Women’s Sports’ could easily double in the next 5-10years! The FA also has another programme call FA Top Sport Football. The programme was designed to benefit every school child across Britain. The FA is investing £6m over three years to provide all primary and secondary schools with football equipment, teacher training and resources thus helping the growth of women’s football and grass-roots. But out of all these programmes one of the biggest has to be the Ability Counts Football Development Programme.

Over the years many opportunities for people with disabilities to play football have been developed but without any central co-ordination. To help address this issue, and to provide quality playing and coaching opportunities for people with different disabilities, the FA linked up with the English Federation of Disability Sport – who are responsible for the developing sport for disabled people in England. Some of their main aims are to prove football is a game which can be played by anyone and also to show that disabled people should not be excluded from playing football or treated less seriously. This programme runs various activities which consist of regular training sessions at football clubs throughout the country. It helps increase communication between the disabled participants and the FA. The FA have many projects underway at the moment in all of the programmes and hope to achieve all their aims in making the sport of football become more popular and respected throughout the world.

The campaign for children’s football is one the best across the country, as it is the 'people's game' which anyone who wants to can participate in. There are boys and girls leagues, professional and amateur men's and women's leagues, and leagues for the disabled. As the facilities do not need to differ for most groups, the facilities available are open to all, to practice as a team, to kick-about as a group of friends or to play competitive matches. It is however the development of players which lets the provision down, as not enough players get through to the academy systems or centres of excellence as needed to build up the success of football internationally. There are however teams which show that young players can be brought through, like Manchester United (Beckham, Scholes, Neville G & P, etc), while others like Chelsea buy in their talent from abroad hoping for success. It is some consolation that Manchester United have been Premiership champions so many times while Chelsea do not seem to have that success. However, as a country more players need to be brought through the ranks of football, either through academies, or by scouts signing them up to professional clubs where their talent can be nurtured through to playing professionally

Bibliography

Galligan et al. (2000), Advanced P.E for Edexcel, Heineman, Oxford, UK

Teach P.E. (2004), Teach P.E, www.teachpe.com, Jan. 2004

WRCFA. (2004), West Riding County Football Association, www.wrcfa.com, Jan. 2004

The Home of English Football. (2003), the Football Association, www.thefa.com, Jan. 2004

McDonalds Co. (2004), McDonalds, www.McDonalds.com, Jan. 2004