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
Local provision In my area football is catered for quite well, not because all you need is an empty field and two goals. The main club in my area that encourages football involvement at primary school level is Brentford football club. Brentford have set up schemes such as ‘football in the community’. In these schemes coaches’ go to centres, such as schools and provide children the opportunity to have training. These schemes aim is to encourage enjoyment and help kids improve their game with the use of skill exercises and small-sided games.
National provision All League clubs, except those with Academies must have Centres of Excellence. 53 are in operation offering young players high standards of training and development. A new charter for Quality has introduced recently to enhanced standards. Women’s centres of excellence have only recently been set up. There are now 31 Centres of Excellence around the country, most of which are based at professional men’s clubs. The most talented girls aged between 10 and 16 get top level training and access to the best facilities.
Football Academies are centres of excellence that are full time and bring together the best young players to give them top quality coaching, development, education and medical care. Thirty-nine are currently in operation. It is mandatory for all clubs in the premiership to have an Academy. Hierarchical structure of football involvement Football has a hierarchical involvement structure. In order to progress through these stages players will be scouted out from clubs that will then invite the to trials. If they impress the coach then they will be asked to play football for that team which may mean a progression up to a better standard of football. Below is hierarchical football structure.
School level- players of mixed abilities. At this stage you don’t have to be good you just need to be committed. The Football Association, a non-profit making body, is the major source of financial support for the development of football. Much of The FA’s funding work takes place at the grassroots levels of the game, and concentrates on clubs and organisations for whom developing and improving facilities is the priority. The money comes primarily from the government but also from some donations and sponsorship.
The national lottery is also a source of funding often giving one off donations to help set up new facilities or to help rejuvenate old ones. Also Money is gained by sponsorship of teams, clubs competitions and players. The highest revenue comes from TV right s from the premiership and the national divisions which pays for player wages, grounds and some is given to the FA to distribute. Also money comes from ticket sales and team merchandise.
Coaching The FA and UEFA now run several recognized football coaching qualifications so that British teams can get quality coaching from a qualified coach who knows what they are talking about.
Women’s football The Football Association have established a National Player Development Centre for elite English female footballers. There are now three women’s leagues with a total of 34 teams. The top division is the AXA FA Carolling premier league with the top 10 teams in it. The two lower divisions, the Northern and the Southern, each with 12 teams. The FA Women’s Premier League has been running since 1992.
Fulham are the first women’s team to turn professional. Provision for Disabled participants Provision for disabled participants and supporters is poor at the moment. Only 17percent of professional clubs provide opportunities for disabled adults to play football. At the moment, disabled football in England suffers from the absence of any structured. Players have to resort to informal games with other disabled teams. The FA is backing a scheme administered by the English Federation of Disability Sport, whose aim is to maximise participation and opportunities and support. The FA wants to establish a proper competitive structure based on club competitions and tournaments.
Analysis
Although Football has the most funding and provision in the country I think that we are far behind other countries. Countries like Holland start scouting and training children as young as five and continually develop them till they’re technically brilliant. To help us do this I think the government and the premiership should give more money to the FA, so those football academies can recruit more talent from younger age and from a wider range of groups.
Also we need to improve facilities so disabilities people have more access to play football and more specially trained coaches. The FA should set up a national league so that disabled people can have a chance to play football competitively which will improve the disabled game.