Leading into this weekend’s FA National Futsal League Grand Finals, anticipation was high with everybody expecting a special couple of days.

The magnificent Sporthouse in Barking was the venue for what many were calling the best Grand Finals line up to date, a real sign of the progress that English Futsal is making. Straight from the kick-off on Saturday morning, it was clear that this was going to be a special weekend.

The entire weekend was a superb advert for the game and anyone in and around the building across the two days will have been instantly drawn by the thrills, spills and high octane drama of the game.

The competition was intense, the standard of Futsal on show was fantastic and the game was played in the best of spirits throughout the entire weekend.

As well as the main competition, the weekend was home to both of the Southern U18s Championships. West London U18s and Team Newbury were victorious on their respective days and both will return to Barking in two weekend’s time to battle it out for national honours prior to the England and Denmark international fixture.

In the senior event, Saturday’s group games epitomised Futsal. The games were end-to-end, the tactical war fierce and the drama of the fly goalkeeper gave supporters a real opportunity to see what makes Futsal special.

Group A was as close as it gets. Debuting Oxford Lions were victorious over northern kings Manchester in game one, before defeat to local boys Genesis in game number two left the group wide open.

Genesis needed a point, Oxford needed a Manchester win and Marcos Leon’s men needed an eight goal victory to qualify for the Grand Final. Against all of the odds they very nearly got their wish, eventually winning 7-3 after putting in a frighteningly good first-half display. That put the Lions in The Final in their debut National League season.

Group B was not as close but equally as dramatic. A spirited Middlesbrough side were undone by the experience of the champions in Group B’s opener, as Helvecia ran out 8-3 winners.

It was a disappointing result for Damon Shaw’s side, whose fantastic fan base made the long journey down from Teesside. With Helvecia carrying a noisy following of their own, the atmosphere in this game was the best of the weekend.

16-year-old Bradley Mills became one of the youngest goalscorers in Grand Finals history when he netted one of Boro’s three and his performance was such that he played a big part in their second game, an 8-4 victory over Team Bath.

Boro’s win left both teams needing a victory for Sion Kitson’s yellow army in the final game of the day to unseat the champions. It was not to be, as a dominant Helvecia display saw them run out 5-1 winners, booking their place in Sunday’s finale.

The Final was simply fantastic. It had everything as both teams put it all on the line in their fight for glory. In the end, despite the best efforts of player-of-the-tournament Lucas Totti Ferras and co, it was Helvecia who reigned supreme, lifting a fifth English title with a 5-2 victory and booking their place in next season’s UEFA Futsal Cup.

Their win, in what was a fabulous finale, kept their domination of English Futsal intact and ensured that Coach, Ronaldo Negrao will get another opportunity at the UEFA Futsal Cup in 2012-13.

Goals from Hereira (2), Raoni Medina (2) and Lima proved enough to beat off the valiant Lions side, whose goals came from Luke Ballinger and Lucas Totti to lift The Cup again.

Manchester’s Sam Richardson’s five goals across their two group games were enough to see him lift the Golden Boot, whilst Ronaldo Negrao’s champions were also Fair Play kings across a two day event that will live long in the memory.

Source: TheFA.com

If you want to get into Futsal, find out more on thefa.com/GetIntoFootball.

With the domestic football season coming to an end and Euro 2012 fast approaching, football is once again gripping the nation.

And while Roy Hodgson and his squad will carry England’s hopes to the Finals in Poland and the Ukraine, a ground-breaking report has been published showing a burgeoning grassroots football scene in England.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Report – the first of its kind – shows the true impact of the Foundation’s 12 years of investment in state-of-the-art facilities, with football participation figures continuing to rise across the country at its sites.

The FA’s Head of Elite Development Gareth Southgate and Football Foundation Chief Executive Paul Thorogood will be discussing the report, the importance of grassroots football and what it means for the future of the game in in England in a live web TV chat.

The show kicks off at 10.15am on Friday 11 May and you can log on right here on Club Website. If you want to submit a question to the panel either during or in advance of the show, you can do so using the form below.

The Football Foundation is funded by The FA, the Premier League and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport.

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Watch the video stream and post your questions here!

The live webcast has now finished, but will be available to view shortly below this message. Any viewing problems please click here.

PFA Young Player of the Year Kyle Walker and England Women’s striker Ellen White launched the new initiative from the FA and Vauxhall Motors aimed at tackling the dropout of footballers in the 14-17 age group.

The England players visited the Vauxhall Recreation Centre in Luton to kick start The FA Vauxhall Youth programme, renamed to the more youthful Football Mash Up.

The initiative follows an extensive study by HPI, commissioned by The FA and England Team Sponsor and FA Youth Partner Vauxhall Motors, to determine the factors affecting dropout within this age group.

The Football Mash Up sessions aim to tackle these issues head on by offering a recreational form of football in after-school clubs, played in quality small-sided facilities and run by specialist FA Vauxhall Youth officers.

Having taken part in a session with a group of young players, England and Tottenham defender Walker said: “I really enjoyed the Football Mash Up sessions this afternoon. It is a fantastic programme aimed at keeping players in the game.

“No matter what level you reach there is nothing better than having a game of football with your mates and the Football Mash Up programme gives teenagers the opportunity to take control and play on their terms.”

Arsenal and England Striker Ellen White was also supportive of the programme. “It is great to see The FA and Vauxhall launching Football Mash Up,” the 22-year old said.

“Teenagers need a fun and friendly environment to play after school with their friends and the sessions that we took part in today are really inclusive, which means boys and girls can play whatever their ability may be and I think this will really make a difference.”

The FA and Vauxhall – helped by £100,000 of Sport England funding – have appointed eight full-time specialist officers with a target of facilitating Football Mash Up sessions for over 50,000 teenage footballers throughout the year.

14-17 year-olds can sign up for a ten week block of sessions, which will cater for all abilities and fitness levels. It is hoped that these sessions will inspire teenagers to get back into affiliated football in either small-sided or 11 v 11 formats.

The coaches will also help support teenage football in schools and clubs, helping to re-instil young people’s affection for playing the game and deliver high quality training.

Jonathan Hall, Director of Football Services at the FA, hopes the initiative will help stem the tide of youngsters leaving the game in their teenage years.

“The FA Vauxhall Youth Football Mash Up programme will really help us tackle the issues that are currently affecting the 14-17 age range,” he said.

“We really believe the programme will open up football to a whole new audience of teenagers, whatever their ability or fitness level. We hope this is the first step in getting those that are disengaged back into affiliated football.”

More than 30,000 players in 1,502 teams have competed in the various age groups – all dreaming of holding aloft the Scottish Cup and so be able to claim they are the best team of their age in Scotland. With so many competitors this is the largest participant sporting event in Scotland demonstrating that football is still very much the national sport.

Interestingly, there appears to be a geographical divide with the East Region and Edinburgh teams in particular dominating the younger age groups, whilst teams from the West region proving the strongest in the older age groups.

The middle age groups have a history of teams from the North Region doing well – the Under 16s age group has been won on the previous five occasions by teams from Aberdeen.

This year also sees Ayrshire well represented with Kilmarnock side Bellfield Royals and Bonnyton Thistle competing in the 17s and 19s finals respectively.

Cameron Buchan of Banchory Boys FC will be going for a unique personal record having been a member of the successful Dyce BC team that won consecutive cups from Under 14s to Under 16s in the last three seasons.

He will be hoping his experience tilts the balance in favour of his team from Royal Deeside against Bellfield Royals in the Under 17s final.

Best of luck to all the teams competing from everyone here at Club Website!

Scottish Youth Football Association Age Group Challenge Cup Finals

Saturday 5 May
Under 13s (1999s): Hutchison Vale FC v Musselburgh Windsor (1pm)
Under 21s (1991s): Campsie Black Watch v Harmony Row FC (3.30pm)

Sunday 6 May
Under 17s (1995s): Bellfield Royals BC v Banchory Boys FC (1pm)
Under 19s (1993s): Goldenhill BC v Bonnyton Thistle FC (3.45pm)

Sunday 13 May
Under 14s (1998s) Dundee United SC v Hutchison Vale FC (11am)
Under 15s (1997s) Antonine Blacks v Tynecastle FC (1.30pm)
Under 16s (1996s) Albion Boys Club v Tynecastle FC (4pm)

For more information on the finals, download the latest edition of SYFA Kickabout.

Courtesy of the SYFA.

The Premier League Players’ Kit Scheme has reopened for the 2012/13 season, with teams up to Under 16s level urged to get involved so that they can have brand new kit for the season ahead.

Launched at the start of this season, the scheme provides U16 clubs, schools and youth organisations in England and Wales with free Nike football kit and equipment, funded by players of all 20 Barclays Premier League clubs.

£500,000 worth of kit has been made available by every Premier League squad donating £25,000 to the scheme, which aims to particularly benefit those who come from areas in most need of assistance.

So far over 700 teams have been selected to receive the kits – a full set of strips and training equipment – including some Club Website users.

Birmingham side Sporting FC were delighted to receive a new away kit for their Under 14s side having read about the scheme here on Club Website at the start of the season.

“Our team has loved winning this kit,” club press officer and fundraiser Paula Clarke told Club Website.

“They prefer it to their home kit and would wear it to every match if possible. They have worn it to all tournaments that we have entered and a lot of other teams have asked them where they have got it from.”

Sporting successfully applied for the scheme during one of the first two application periods earlier this season. A third and final application phase is now open and teams can apply via the Premier League website.

Everton defender Leighton Baines helped launch the latest application phase when he visited his old primary school in Kirkby, Merseyside to hand over the free football kit and training equipment in person.

Baines said: “It feels great to help the school out with the kit. I’ve got a cousin who works at the school who said they needed it.

“I’m not sure if they were still using the same kit from the time when I was here but by the sounds of it they might have been. The kids seem really happy. I’m sure it will go to good use over the coming years.”

Can I apply for the scheme?

The Premier League Players’ Kit Scheme is open to any club, school or youth organistation that meet the following criteria. To be eligible groups must:

• Be within the qualifying age group: Under 7s – Under 16s
• Include a scanned copy of their Safeguarding Children policy and appropriate Public Liability Insurance.
• Be affiliated to an English or Welsh league and provide the current affiliation number (if unknown this number can be provided by the relevant County FA or Schools FA)
• NOT have received a Premier League Players’ Kit Scheme kit in a previous window

To apply for the Premier League Players’ Kit Scheme, please click here. The final application phase is open until 8 June.

Please note: As there are only a limited number of strips available, the scheme is a competitive application process and bodies applying for the kit will only be eligible to receive one team strip, irrespective of the number of teams they operate.

Team strips will only be awarded to those who fulfil all of the criteria. Priority will be given to those that come from areas that are deemed to be in most need of assistance.

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “We welcome the news that Roy Hodgson has been appointed as manager of the England national team. He brings experience of managing teams in domestic and international leagues, as well as at international tournaments.

“It is particularly encouraging that The FA has said that it looked at the experience of other leading football nations who have built from the grassroots up to achieve success when making this appointment.

“It is, therefore, very encouraging for the millions of grassroots footballers who play football every week on parks across the country. A strong grassroots game with quality facilities and excellent, age-appropriate coaching can only help to improve the delivery of home-grown talent to the professional game and the national team.”

Since 2000 the Foundation has worked closely with its core funding partners – The FA, the Premier League and Government (via Sport England) – to improve grassroots football.

Working in partnership with County FAs, it has provided grants totalling £420m that help fund the development of better community sports facilities, or smaller grants towards club development and the creation of new grassroots teams.

It has attracted a further £520m of investment through partnership funding into grassroots sport, meaning that the Football Foundation has been responsible for delivering grassroots projects worth just under £1billion in that time.

Football participation has increased by an average of 8% in facilities upgraded by Football Foundation grants, while multi-sport participation has increased by an average of 10.1%.

The youth development proposals include a revised player pathway focused on small-sided football – including new 5v5 and 9v9 formats – up to the under 12s age group and a child-friendly approach to competition up to under 11s.

The ambitious plans received the approval of the FA Council earlier this month, leaving just one more hurdle to negotiate – a vote by FA shareholders at the AGM on 28 May – before work can begin on implementing the proposals.

If 75% of FA shareholders approve the rule changes relating to the revised player pathway and new competition formats then they will become mandatory practice, being phased in from the youngest age groups from the 2013/14 season onwards.

The most controversial element of the original proposals – a de-coupling of school and grassroots football age groups to combat the Relative Age Effect – was omitted from the proposals put to FA Council, although the FA will revisit this issue in due course.

For Nick Levett, the FA’s National Development Manager for Youth and Mini Soccer and the man behind the proposals, the AGM vote represents the final hurdle of a two and a half year project featuring extensive research and a nationwide consultation procedure, including over 125 events and engaging over 4,000 parents and coaches.

“I think we’re in a good place,” Levett told Club Website. “I hope that we’ve done enough. This is the next 15 to 20 years of youth football we’re talking about here.”

“[LMA Chairman and author of the FA's 1997 Charter for Quality] Howard Wilkinson stood up at the Council meeting and said that this was the most exciting and aspirational piece of work that he’d seen the FA do in years.

“If he recognises that it’s the right thing to do for the development and support of young players in the game, then we must be on the right track.”

The omission of the Relative Age Effect element of the proposals represents the biggest change to the FA’s final recommendations published in January.

This exclusion, says Levett, was due to “some concerns around it being the right solution, so it was decided it was best not to take that forward.

“That doesn’t mean that it’s off the agenda. It’s still a hugely important thing that we need to address. We can’t pretend it doesn’t exist, but maybe that wasn’t the right solution.”

Levett concedes that, were it down to him, the proposals being put forward to FA stakeholders might look slightly different, but he is happy that they represent the views of the majority of the grassroots community – the very point behind the FA’s extensive consultation.

Whilst the original plans may have been whittled down, the two proposals being put to the vote on 28 May still represent the biggest change to youth football since the introduction of mini soccer in 1999 – and they arguably go way beyond that.

If voted in, for the first time ever children will only begin to play on full size pitches at under 13s level while, for teams up to under 11s, the traditional league format will be replaced by three six-week ‘trophy events’, allowing all teams to play ‘competitive’ football for 18 weeks of a 26 week season, rather than all compete for a single league trophy over an entire season.

Club Website will bring you further details of the two elements of the proposals before the AGM on 28 May, so watch this space over the coming weeks for more details of what’s in store.

Got a question? Let us have it!

If you have any questions on the final proposals, please leave us a comment below. We’ll collate your feedback and will put your queries to Nick Levett and his team.

Seven of the 20 teams in the English Premier League are managed by Scotsmen, five of whom were at Hampden Park this month to pass on some of their knowledge to aspiring coaches in a managerial master class.

David Moyes (Everton), Paul Lambert (Norwich City), Owen Coyle (Bolton Wanderers), Steve Kean (Blackburn Rovers) and Alex McLeish (Aston Villa) were joined by national team coach Craig Levein to deliver a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) seminar to SFA coaching licence holders.

The six managers paired off to deliver three frank Question & Answer sessions in which they shared knowledge, advice and anecdotes about their time in coaching and management, much to the enjoyment of the 150 coaches in attendance.

Speaking ahead of the masterclass, Everton boss Moyes said he was happy to offer advice to aspiring coaches in the same way that he received help from others.

“I was really fortunate when I done my badges the people who gave up time for me,” Moyes told the SFA website.

“Andy Roxburgh was in charge, but people like Alex Ferguson, Walter Smith, Craig Brown, Archie Knox – really experienced people who were on those courses and taking the courses.

“So now I’m a bit more experienced than some of the boys who are coming on the courses, I think for them to hear some of the problems I have or some of the situations in management that I’ve got to deal with, I think it’s always good for their development.”

The return north of the border of some of Scotland’s most prominent coaches follows recent CPD presentations by former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas and Italy’s legendary World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi.

These bookings demonstrate the SFA’s commitment to CPD – a UEFA initiative that requires all coaching licence holders to undertake 15 hours of professional development outside of their normal employment in a three-year period.

Scottish FA Director of Football Development Jim Fleeting said: “There is a thriving coaching community in this country and the fact that all of the managers had no hesitation in agreeing to take part – despite having some of the most high-pressured and intense jobs in world football – shows the mutual respect that exists between them.

“CPD has given coaches the opportunity to learn regardless of their levels of experience or employment.

“It is the beauty of coaching that whether you are Sir Alex [Ferguson] – who has been a long-standing supporter of our programmes – or a new coach starting out, there is always something that can be learned from another coach’s experiences.”

This is a view endorsed by Moyes, who still regards himself as a student of the game.

“I’ve always looked to see if I can pick anything up from games,” he added. “I really enjoy watching football. It’s probably my hobby as well.

“It’s my job, but I’ve always seen it as great to go to games and watch football being played. I think when you do that you end up seeing something – good players or something different that a coach has done.

“Recently I went to see the German national team play and saw something that they done which I tried to implement at my own club, so I think you can learn from everybody. You always have to go out there and see if you can find it.”

The full interview with David Moyes, in which he talks about his experiences of coach education, how he operates at Goodison Park and his love of studying the game, is available to view on the SFA website. Images courtesy of the SFA.

Many mums and dads love it when their children say they want to play football because it can teach their children valuable life skills.

It teaches them how to work as a team where they can develop their hand to eye co-ordination, make lots of like-minded friends, have fresh air, exercise and, more importantly, have fun.

Some parents are happy to take their children along to practice and games and are not too bothered if their child plays well, has a bad day or if their child’s team wins or loses. Other parents are less relaxed, are more vocal and want to be part of the game.

These parents might shout instructions from the sidelines to their children, shout at the ref or make criticisms of other players – from either team – so that other parents and children around them can hear.

Is it a good thing to be so vocal? What is the message that we are sending our children when they hear a parent, possibly their own, verbally abusing the ref or another player? What does it say to them?

What can you do if you are not one of those parents who is being disrespectful but the person next to you is? What could you say to get them to tone down their language?

Is it fair for a parent to be shouting instructions at their child when the coach is watching the game and using encouraging language to get them to play better, stronger?

Think about your child and what kind of adult you would like them to be when they get older. What kind of life skills would you like them to have? Would you like them to have respect for others and respect for authority?

Would you like your children to be kind and respectful to the other players during the game?

If so, then we need to consider the way we act and speak to people during and after a training session or game.

Respect is about asking someone to do something instead of shouting. It’s about talking nicely to people and thinking about other’s needs. How would you like to be spoken to? How do you feel when you are criticised?

It is also about listening to others and accepting the decisions sometimes that other people make. As parents we need to model that behaviour and teach our children to ‘do as we do’.

We have to live our values and if one of those is respect, then we’ve got to behave in a respectful way.

We need to set a good example to our children as we are their role models. If they grow up seeing us treat others with manners then they will want to do the same. This is particularly important when we are communicating with other parents who are watching the game who are not setting the best example.

If we only tell them to respect others and don’t do it ourselves, then they will learn how to be a hypocrite.

Naomi Richards is The Kids Coach – a life coach for children, helping them address behavioural and emotional issues an interactive, creative and supportive way using both face-to-face sessions and workshops.

Naomi’s first book, ‘The Parents Toolkit’, was published by Vermilion in February 2012. To find out more visit www.thekidscoach.org.uk. You can also follow Naomi on Twitter at @thekidscoach.

Put your questions to The Kids Coach

If you’re a youth team coach or football parent and would like some help dealing with an unhappy young footballer or overcoming a particular issue, you can put a question to Naomi in our comments section below.

Whether it’s dealing with confidence issues, peer pressure between children or how to give kids the freedom to try out new approaches during the game, Naomi will be back next month to offer advice on another topic, so tell us what you’d like to read about.

No need to use real names if you want to protect your identity – just get a question in!

The former Wales international visited Graig y Rhacca FC – whose website is powered by Club Website – and helped local primary school children and other volunteers put the finishing touches to a £7,500 project to erect a new fence around the club’s home pitch as part of the Transform Your Patch scheme.

The Caerphilly club’s pitch has been in a near-permanent state of disrepair in recent years as a result of vandalism caused by vehicles driving across the playing surface.

The village club has seen its four teams reduced to just one and was on the verge of folding before the scheme – run by Britvic and PepsiCo in collaboration with Groundwork, the UK’s leading environmental regeneration charity – came to their aid.

Before & after - the pitch at Graig y Rhacca

“We had to get the pitch repaired on many occasions and had to play the games away so that the repairs could be made.

“About six months ago I was on the point of quitting because of the problems we were having, but with this now we can hopefully build the football club up again.”

The club were offered a fresh start with a project grant of £5,000 from the drinks giants along with £2,500 provided by Groundwork Caerphilly, Bedwas Trethomas, Machen Community Council and the Communities First Council.

Things are now looking up for the club both on and off the pitch.

Not only have they managed to sell nine of the 10 advertising slots on the perimeter fence but, earlier this month, the team reached the final of the Senior Cup with a 4-0 win over local rivals and league champions Ponthir.

There are also plans to start an under 18s side next season. “We can re-start the building process safe in the knowledge we have a decent pitch to play on,” said Bailey.

After visiting for the day, the star of Strictly Come Dancing and host of football phone-in 6-0-6 described the initiative as “fantastic”.

“You can just see how much it means for football in this area,” he said.

“The turnout from the community is amazing. I’m delighted to put my name to this campaign.”

Transform your patch is helping to transform outdoor spaces across the UK. As well as football pitches, communal parks, picnic areas and skate parks will also benefit from the initiative. To find out more visit transformyourpatch.com.