FA changes at Grass Roots level

[Father Ted]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18236981

The FA today made changes to the way Grass Roots football should be played in this country. Under 7's and 8's will be playing 5-a-side and 11-a-side won't start until under 13's.

League systems have also changed for the youngest levels with '6-week tournaments' as opposed to season long leagues.

IMO, this is a MASSIVE step in the right direction.

The FA are spot on, in Spain, they don't play 11-a-side until the age of 14. Smaller pitches and teams mean more touches of the ball and hence quicker progression and improvement from an early age. It's no good having a left back at the age of 10, playing on a full sized adult pitch and only get 10 or so touches, most of which are throw-ins or clearances - it does nothing to improve a player.

Last summer, I went to a one-day coaching course with a group called DutchUK Soccer who promote small sided games in training, with little 4-a-side, 5-a-side conditioned games with varying rules (eg two touch or playing with a size 3 football, etc) which get the players much more involved and work on the most important basics in football - control, passing, dribbling and composure on the ball. And this is my one gripe with the youth system in this country, training is simply not good enough, drills are boring and isolated and do nothing to improve anything. My Sunday League side have been doing these training sessions for a season now, and we have seen massive improvements in everybody's game and have been called by one team as 'the best footballing side we've seen on a Sunday'.

Lets hope the FA have some bollocks now and invest in improving coaching and to solve the perennial problem that is often that the manager is a child's father - the child is shit yet is still the 'Star Striker'... too much political conflict and kids deserve to enjoy it more.

[Dan]

And whilst working at 5 a side they need to encourage the kids to enjoy the football and try the extraodinary, develop their technical skills from a young age because we're so far behind even the mediocre sides in Europe it's untrue.

[ramadaone]

There is a meeting at the King Power next Wed night with an FA representative to discuss this - see Leics FA website as anyone can go along

As usual we are about 10 years behind everyone else but at least we have got there in the end

Ultimately it will make no difference whatsoever if the managers/coaches aren't taught how to teach the right things to the kids - thats where the FA should be concentrating their efforts

[Libertine Dream]

A step in the right direction but coaching needs to improve for anything significant to happen. 5 a side and smaller pitches is all very well if you have the pitches, goals and surface to do so aswell as the kids actually learning how to play the game and it not just becoming a smaller version of kick and rush.

[Voll Blau]

Good. Now if they could just change the way its run from the top down we'll be laughing...

[Guest Bilo]

Massive step forward.

They should also focus on making football at young levels about skills and learning rather than winning. When the stakes are high, many a coach will instill win at all costs football that again does nothing to build technical ability and can impede the enjoyment for the young player.

As Father Ted has alluded to, playing football on smaller pitches at a younger age is far more conducive to building technical ability and skills; skills which are patently lacking in too many English footballers at the moment.

Clearly the FA has been listening to those who've said the Germans and Spanish have got it right at last, don't expect anything major to change for England on the international side for at least a decade though; even if this welcome step does make the difference.

[Tomassi]

Its a good step forward for the kids and will only benefit them. But this will have detrimental effect in some quarters of the local adult leagues with less 11 a side pitches available. This is already evident in places like Aylestone Park where there used to be 6 pitches. Now just 2 to accomodate the changes. Less pitches = higher premiums = more costs of the same blade of grass. Leicester council have already spent 11 million over the last couple years implementing changes at some council parks. So we will probably see a further decline in adult local leagues but it will have its advantages in developing youngsters for sure.

[Guest shearfox]

This is a massive step forward indeed, stop the big strong kids from dominating and allow for the more technically and skillful players to come through more often. Certainly will improve our chances of maybe winning a major within the next 20 years!

[STEVIE B]

There is a meeting at the King Power next Wed night with an FA representative to discuss this - see Leics FA website as anyone can go along

As usual we are about 10 years behind everyone else but at least we have got there in the end

Ultimately it will make no difference whatsoever if the managers/coaches aren't taught how to teach the right things to the kids - thats where the FA should be concentrating their efforts

I'm going to this,should be interesting. Haven't the Dutch been playing 4/5 a-side games for 20 years or more ? they regularly reach the latter stages of tournaments and play lovely stuff. Must be the way forward. As you say though, coaching is the key.