The Premier League, UK government and Football Association have committed to a new £102m fund to be spent improving grassroots football facilities. The Premier League & the FA Facilities Fund will provide financial support in the three years from January 2014. Sports Minister Helen Grant said: "Sport has such a power to change lives, and this will make a positive contribution to many communities." The scheme aims to develop improved pitches and more quality coaching. It will be managed by the Football Foundation on behalf of the funding partners, and is designed to raise the standard of English-born footballers by improving the experience of playing the game at the lowest levels. The government's role in the organisation is via Sport England. The fresh investment will help continue the development of new or refurbished community sports facilities. State-of-the-art facilities in the most deprived areas will also be targeted through the professional clubs' community trusts' outreach work. "Premier League clubs are committed to playing an active role as hubs of their communities, particularly in the area of sports participation, from the grassroots level through to their academies," Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said. "By committing £36m over the three years to developing more and better public sports sites, we hope to continue that regeneration." The Football Foundation is the United Kingdom's largest sports charity. It was set up in 2000, and has awarded 9,600 grants worth £412m. More than £560m of additional partnership funding has also been provided to the grassroots game. In 2012, 741,801 people played sport at Foundation sites, with 63,702 sporting qualifications also gained at the new facilities. "The funding that the FA has invested through the Football Foundation has dramatically improved local football facilities up and down the country and is a key part of the FA's four-year National Game Strategy, a £200m investment into the grassroots game," FA general secretary Alex Horne said. "These enhanced facilities increase opportunities for young people to become involved in football, whether as players or coaches, and it is this work which feeds into helping to produce the next generation of English football talent." The announcement follows the creation of the FA commission, which will consider how to increase the number of England-qualified players appearing for the country's top clubs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Load of nonsense and a waste of money imo. The clubs and coaches within their structure and a fresh outlook on how the game is played is what will make a difference, the removal of coaches without this forward thinking and the silly politics within clubs would also help. Big and strong is still what coaches are looking for and technical players are constantly overlooked.
Excellent news. Lets hope it is spent wisely. 102 mill is quite a bit for grass roots infrastructure. Its not though if we're talking major infrastructure - that will go very quickly. I hope this is spent on coaching and sorting out the smaller public pitches around the country and decent services for them. I.e a toilet at least! Hope this is not taken as another chance by the media to criticize every step that is being made to improve things. It will take time and will need attention at all levels. Good to see that there is serious commitment though.
So, from the £3b TV deal, they've decided to invest a massive 3.4% of it on youth, the future of the product they are getting money for That figure should be in excess of 10% at least! Personally, I'd like to see as much as 20% going back into the grassroots. Why not?
Is £102m enough? I'm not too sure - the FA need to address a few things: 1) More indoor pitches so kids can play all the time (these should be smaller pitches and futsal should be encouraged - no more knocking the ball against the barriers!). 2) Better coaching - at the moment, it's like garbage in garbage out. We need a better standard of coaching so kids are learning the right skills. Either we get foreign coaches to train the British ones or we send our best young coaches abroad to learn different styles and broaden their minds. 3) Introduce B teams in the lower leagues. The big clubs have a wealth of talent and will eventually end up with the most talented youngsters. These youngsters need to be playing regular football - loans can be beneficial but it's better keeping youngsters at the current club where they are being taught by quality coaches that they are familiar with, in the same philosophy and style they've been taught and in a top quality environment. Giving them exposure to playing in decent crowds and competitive football is the only way we will improve the standards.
You could improve grass roots football and save money at the same time by scrapping all competition for under 14's thus saving money on the administration, and then teach them how to kick a ball along the ground rather than lumping it to the genetic anomaly upfront instead to get results.
And, some of this money going towards grassroots football should be paying for youngsters to be able to play rather than charging parent £5 per half hour sessions twice a week!!!!! #parentheadon
All i saw was that they want to buy facilities, dont think I read using that money to help fund coaches get the proper education and setting up the correct coaching structure. Brazil, Argies, Spanish play on dirt half the time..... but the coaching and way they teach the fundamentals and appropriate curriculum for the age groups makes the difference.
If you can play on a **** surface that you'll be able to play on the best. If you can dribble of ball on a beach you shouldn't have a problem doing it on the spirit-leveled surfaces we see in the Premier League!
Not sure the FA think coaching is a problem. They're the ones who splashed out on St Georges park despite the fact that the same coaches are working there. You can have the best facilities in the world but if they're being coached by some halfwit, it's not gonna make any difference. Also agree with Gerrez that the money put towards it is pathetic. 102mill sounds alot, until you realise how much they actually make.
How about this for great grassroots thinking (I don't know if this is the same in England) Kids play U12's, 14's and 16's for 2 years so in their first year they are playing at times whole teams of kids older than them and just can't cope with the difference in size and strength. Then apply that to the UEFA and PL Academies they don't do this, that's good? Nope they just don't have any competitive football for kids in the 13, 14, and 15's catagory. Couldn't make it up.
Is it nice to have the shiny facilities? Of course but if you don't have the education than you are just dutch-lite as they have the best of both.
I am, getting my A this summer unless a UEFA one comes around that I can do quickly ( can't afford the flight there and back 2x within a 3 month period). Problem is the licenses here are more on the organization of the training sessions, seeing the coaching points, quickly making them,etc. It is very their way or the highway too which sucks but I just bite the bullet, get it done, and then apply my philosophies.
Question, how did you get started in coaching? Send me a PM if you can, it's something I'm interested in.
Had to sacrifice two virgins to the blood moon god!!! As with anything in life..... NETWORK!! I will PM you soon.
A problem we have here is the pay to play. It is what pays coaches ( like me) to do it full time but it is the wrong way and has been as you miss out on a lot of kids as they just can't pay it ( although clubs are now adding more and more "scholarship" programs to help this). When you get to the Development academies ( normally MLS teams) I don't believe you have to pay as that is funded by the MLS and USSF. It is fun, does have its drawbacks ( especially with youth and over-zealous parents) but it is rewarding.
