Football 'at the heart of the community'

Representatives and coaches from the French, Norwegian and Maltese Football Associations are currently in England for the 41st UEFA Study Group Scheme which concerns itself with grassroots football.

This three-day visit is being hosted by The FA and key members of FA staff will focus on some of the aspects of the grassroots game, including the English delivery of the Level One and Two Coaching Courses, the often unheralded work of the County FAs and three important FA programmes, the Club Coaching programme, the Tesco Skills programme and the Disability programme.

On Tuesday Les Howie, The FA’s National Development Manager for Clubs and Coaches, introduced the three Associations to grassroots football in England before the Study Group began in earnest on Wednesday morning at the Leicestershire & Rutland County FA.

County Chief Executive Laurence Jones and Football Development Manager, Kelly Ellis welcomed the overseas guests to Leicester and explained the role of the County FA in grassroots football and how they aim to increase their tally of 25,000 players, 500 referees and 1,600 teams across the region in the next three years.

"As Chief Executive of Leicestershire & Rutland FA, I was delighted to host this UEFA Study Group," Jones said.

"I think it’s great that grassroots football is receiving such an in-depth focus and hopefully the three Associations will each learn something during their visit.

"A large number of people have committed a lifetime to the grassroots game and without their hard work football would not be where it is today."

Howie introduced the game of Mini-Soccer and the reasons behind its inception, before The FA Tesco Skills programme took centre stage. 830,000 young people have already enjoyed the benefits of these sessions and the visitors witnessed a Skills session that was taking place at the Leicestershire & Rutland HQ, giving them an insight into how English coaching of five to eleven year-olds has evolved in the past few seasons.

Another major aspect of grassroots football which was covered on the day was the running of Football in the Community schemes by Premier League and Football League clubs, and a trip to Rushcliffe Comprehensive School allowed Nigel Woolley to demonstrate a Nottingham Forest Community session in full swing, with over 100 children in attendance.

The day concluded with a visit to Forest’s City Ground, where former Leicester City, Fulham and Brighton & Hove Albion defender Simon Morgan, now Head of Community Development at the Premier League, highlighted the efforts of England’s elite clubs in offering football to their local communities.

Mike Evans did the same on behalf of the Football League, and four key messages emanated from these two presentations; that football can be a great tool for:

• Improving health
• Increasing participation in sport
• Promoting social cohesion
• Improving education

Taking Nottingham as an example, it is the 12th most deprived city in England and 52 per cent of its population are not actively involved in sport, so for Forest to run football and education sessions on the Clifton and the Meadows housing estates will only enhance both Forest’s and football’s ability to improve a young person’s social condition.

"We run three sessions a week," said Graham Moran from Forest’s FITC scheme.

"We have given young people in this city something to look forward to and hopefully most of these will stay within the game in one way or another. It is important that Forest, and football on the whole, is at the heart of the community."

These sentiments were echoed by Howie:

"These three Associations will have seen the passion that exists within our Counties and our clubs to deliver and improve football locally," he said.

"Football is the carrot that attracts young people. Then the Counties and the Community Schemes come into their own, helping to increase participation, promoting social cohesion and improving the health and education of all involved.

"I don’t think you can underestimate the power of football for the greater good."

The remaining two days of the visit will concentrate on The FA's Coaching Strategy, the development of a Disability programme and the coaching of Disabled players.

This is the third time The FA has hosted a UEFA Study Group Scheme having previously demonstrated its work in Women's and Girls' football and youth football.

Stay logged on to TheFA.com for the thoughts of Sir Trevor Brooking on the latest UEFA Study Group.