Wednesday, 19 May 2004.
As part of its latest educational initiative, FA Learning has launched an exciting new series of books designed to promote football development to people involved in grassroots football.
Trevor Brooking, The FA Director of Football Development, outlined the value of the guides stating: "The books are especially aimed at those involved in grassroots football, who may not have the back-up and help that they might need to realise the full potential of their involvement in the game."
Celebrating a series of firsts, the launch demonstrates how FA Learning is committed to promoting football development through education. It is the first time that The FA has released such a series of books and it is the first time in over a decade that a new coaching manual has been brought out.
The series includes the following titles:
Basic Team Coaching,
Football Parents,
Fitness for Football,
Running a Club,
Basic Refereeing and
Psychology for Football.
The official guides to success on and off the pitch is a series of six books that provides essential advice and information about key football skills for anyone involved in football.
Basic Team Coaching covers all aspects of coaching and managing players. The coaching guide is vital for those who coach amateur football or who are considering becoming a coach. The book includes team strategies and tactics, leadership and management and match analysis.
Basic Refereeing includes the laws of the game and how to apply them, recognising free kick and offside offences as well as important advice about managing players.
Football Parents is a great guide for parents of young footballers who want to get involved and help their child do their best and give practical advice about how to be supportive and encouraging to young players.
If people feel that they want to do more to get involved but don’t want to play the game,
Running a Club is aimed at anyone who would like to learn about the administration side of the game and gives advice on finance, administration, PR and marketing.
Psychology for Football is an excellent guide for anyone who wants to understand the needs of young players. The book includes understanding the motivation, learning and development of players and is an excellent supplement to the newly launched, Online Psychology for Soccer Level 1.
The final book in the series,
Fitness for Football, offers practical advice on basic physiology and nutrition and training strategies, warm-ups and cooling down routines and advice on the fitness training of young players.
Robin Russell, FA Learning Project Director, explained the format of the books: "The style, layout, language, use of stats, best practice examples, images and diagrams mean the books are easy to understand, interactive and can be used by anyone, from an experienced player to a parent getting involved in football because their son or daughter wants to play."
The official guides provide an accessible companion for anyone involved in football on or off the pitch. The design of the books means that they can be read from cover to cover but also used as quick reference books before a game.
So far there has been an excellent reaction to the series and FA Learning hopes that The FA guides will prove to be an excellent resource for years to come.
The books will be available from all leading high street bookshops and online retailers from mid May, priced at £8.99 each. They can also be purchased online from the beginning of June from FA Learning’s new online store www.FALearningShop.com.