FA Vote Through Youth Development Proposals

[White Noise]

http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/NewsAndFeatures/2012/youth-development-review-shareholders.aspx


Youth Development proposals get go-ahead

Monday, 28 May, 2012

FA Shareholders vote in new proposals which will move youth football forward.

FA Shareholders today voted in new Youth Development proposals by an overwhelming 87 per cent majority.

The Shareholders, present at today's AGM at Wembley, voted to bring in a new player pathway for football to include a mandatory 5v5 format of football for U7s and U8s and a 9v9 format for U11 and U12s to be phased in by season 2014-15.

The changes passed have been developed over a number of years, with research and over two years of consultation across the game.

Nick Levett, National Development Manager, said: "After 138 roadshows nationwide it was fantastic to get the endorsement of the majority of the grassroots football community.

"These changes are a massive step forward for the future of children's football in this country."

Introducing 5v5 for U7s and U8s, with progression to 7v7 and then 9v9, allows the children to play on appropriate size pitches and with appropriate size goals.

The smaller pitch and number of players allows greater number of touches of the ball and involvement in the game, helping develop greater technical skills at a lower age.

The move will also bring a more child friendly approach to competition, breaking up the eight-month long adult based season into smaller periods of competition which encourage increased learning.

The proposed changes to the player pathway and competition framework if approved go hand in hand with the FA Coaching philosophy, as outlined in the FA Future Game, which gives clear guidance on how the game should be played and coached, this philosophy is embedded in The FA coaching courses, and in our own FA Tesco skills coaching programme

[White Noise]

And the background to it. Great to see our own Nick Levett at the forefront of such important changes -


http://www.englandfootballblog.com/2012/05/28/youth-development-review-england-grassroots/


Today marks the day of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders at The Football Association. Representatives from each of the county and regional FA's will meet at Wembley to vote on various changes to the English game – one of which will be the Youth Development Review (2 years in the making).

Led by Nick Levett (FA National Development Manager) and Gareth Southgate (Head of Elite Development), the Youth Development Review will transform the landscape of English football from here on out. Put it this way – the Germans started doing something similar in 2000 and it transformed their entire footballing ethos as a nation, right through to their Senior setup. Today – England awaits a vote of similar earth shattering magnitude.

If approved it would put England on par with Holland, Spain, Germany and within a year of France and Italy.

The FA Council approved in principle a revised player pathway and a new approach to child-friendly competition back on April 3...now 75% have to vote in favour of these new proposals in order to see them guaranteed permanent introduction at the start of the 2013-14 season.


At the core of the Youth Development Review are the following recommendations (we also cover the ENTIRE proposal here!):

Transforming youth football into appropriate small sided matches.
U7s and U8s = 5 v 5
U9s and U10s = 7 v 7
U11s and U12s = 9 v 9
U13+ = 11 v 11

Encouraging more touches on the ball, ergo more technical development at a younger age.

No publishing of league tables until the U12 age group, because your winning (or losing) 15-0 should not matter at 8 years old!

Movement over to a 6 week rotational 'tournament' style system, matching skill levels (read: higher degrees of engagement and enjoyment).

Encouragement of non-competitive matches (outside the aforementioned 6 week system) that allow a young player the freedom to express his/herself and enjoy the game.

No more 4 foot goalkeepers standing in full size goals! Children will play in games, and on pitches, appropriate for their size and age.

The ultimate prize: development of 'the child' within the national game.

[leonffc]

Good news and about time!!
Last year when our boys made the step to 9 or 11 aside Herts FA gave everyone the choice, and very late on meaning that facilities wouldn't be ready.
We wanted to go 9's for the development  but couldn't see where the pitches would spring up from and were right. Some 9 aside teams played on size appropriate pitches, some made do on 11 aside intermediate pitches which defeated the object - too much space, still encouraged long balls into space, still had kids standing around for too long. We made a decision to go 11's but like to think we have the right philosophy of passing rather than hoofing - something that was proved when we dropped down to 9 for county cups.
The guy I coach with who doubles up as club development officer emailed Nick Levett at the time saying it had to be driven from the top and enforced rather than giving county FAs the choice so everyone was going in the same direction. I think feathers were ruffled at Herts FA!!