One Two Magazine Edition 1 December 2015 One Two Magazine Edition 1 December 2015 | Page 15
Game Startegy
FA Announce New National Game Strategy
The FA will invest more
than a quarter of a
billion pounds in
grassroots football over
the next four years as
ambitious new plans are
unveiled for the nation’s
favourite sport.
The figure will be supplemented by a
further multi-million pound investment
supported by Government in the creation of
30 new city hubs across England.
The National Game Strategy for Participation
and Development, launched by FA Chief
Executive Martin Glenn in Preston on
Wednesday, will target four key areas of the
amateur game for investment between
now and 2019.
Speaking at the announcement, which was
hosted by Lancashire FA, Glenn said: “There
are challenges facing grassroots football
both in terms of facilities and coaching.
Today we have set out how we will tackle
the challenges head on.
“We have identified four key areas in which
we have committed to investing £260
million over the next four years – facilities,
coaching, participation and developing the
football workforce. Our goals are ambitious,
but achievable.”
Kelly Simmons MBE, FA Director for
Participation and Development, said: “It is
no secret that facilities need to get better –
today we set out clearly how we can make
that happen – not only through the creation
of city hubs, but also investing in improving
what already exists. Our relationship with
the Premier League and DCMS through our
commitment to the Football Foundation is
key to achieving this.
“Having recognised the benefits of
achieving Charter Standard status, 85 per
cent of youth teams in England now have a
qualified coach, which accounts for nearly
one million Under 16s benefiting from such
access. Alongside that we have seen the
growth of youth football by 5,000 new
teams since 2011.
“We have come a long way in youth
football and it is a similar story in women’s
and disability football. We know that 40,000
more girls and women are playing football
regularly in the past two years and this is
without the increased profile thee England
women’s team have brought to the sport.”
The four areas where the new strategy will
impact are:
Boosting Participation: Building on the
increases in boys and girls participation and
growth in disability football, while
delivering more varied formats of the game
to address the drop in traditional 11v11
weekend football among adult males.
Developing better players: £4 million per
year will be invested in grassroots coaching.
There will be a network of County Coaches –
tasked with improving and supporting
coaching across grassroots football with club
mentoring programmes. The extension of
coach bursaries will get more women and
people from diverse backgrounds into the
profession and there will be a drive to get
more top level grassroots coaches into the
game.
Better training and facilities: The FA is
committing £48 million to improving
facilities directly through its funding of the
Football Foundation as well as investment in
100 new turf pitches and improvements to
a further 2,000 as part of The FA’s Pitch
Improvement Plan. Further funds have also
been dedicated to building 30 new football
hubs across key cities - with a pilot scheme
already underway in Sheffield – with the
Government committed to matching The
FA’s contribution.
Football workforce: Football will become
more representative of the communities it
serves through inclusion initiatives. The FA is
also rolling out technology to run the game
more efficiently and create direct lines of
communication with players across all
grassroots leagues making football truly
integrated.
Read more at
http://www.birminghamfa.com/news/2
015/aug/new-fa-national-gamestrategy#KbO3G8w0RBAjt1K7.99
September 2015
15