FA Small Sided Football Good Pratice Guide.
15th May 2011

In an attempt to improve the quality of youth football in England the FA have produced a comprehensive report, which is a good practice guide for small sided football. The report covers small sided football taking place across the FA county structure, and encompasses football providers and partnerships, including clubs, leagues, schools, colleges and universities.

The report highlights a number of successful small sided football projects and shows the positive impact the County Associations have achieved in developing the small sided game.  

The aim of developing small sided football is to attract more players into the sport and in particular those players who have dropped out of 11-a-side football, mainly covering players over 16.  

The FA believes that appropriately managed, small sided football can help the development of 11-a-side football. It hopes to increase the number of small sided teams from 25,000 to 37,500 by 2012.  

The hope is that once a player is participating in 5-a-side and Futsal they are more likely to want to play the full game, and it is believed this is particularly true for players between 14-18 years of age.  

The FA Small Sided Football Good Practice Guide is intended to advise, support and inspire all key delivery partners to continue to develop further small sided football projects that can have a lasting impact and further enhance the football landscape within this country.

Find more details at the FA.

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