ARE YOUNG PEOPLE GIVEN A SPORTING CHANCE?
As a young person that is part of the community of Kingston Upon Thames, in the southwest pocket of Greater London, I recently noticed a succinct lack of free sporting opportunities, and in particular, grassroots footballing opportunities. Yes, there are local parks with football fields, basketball courts and likewise, however, I believe young people - specifically, young children - remain at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing free, local sport, as these facilities are usually busy, dirty and in poor condition. Therefore, I believe that action from larger bodies is critical, to provide equal free sporting opportunities, primarily for the youngest of our community.
Fortunately one of the main roles of the English Football Association, the FA, is to promote grassroots football both at underage and amateur levels. Just this week, on the 23rd October 2024, the FA announced their new “landmark” strategy, which aims to implement 300 new artificial pitches across the nation, with the ultimate goal being to get over 200,000 more people invested in the beautiful game.
The FA have outlined five areas that they have deemed pivotal for the transformation of grassroots football, the primary of which is to improve playing choice and opportunity. This is key in providing equal opportunities for those looking to pursue their sporting ambitions at a local level, namely women and young girls. Measures are also being taken to ensure that every woman and girl who wants to play the beautiful game can do so in a safe environment. Not only this, the FA has set a keen focus on tackling poor behaviour, which stems from grassroots football. A key part of this is the reporting of discrimination, and its subsequent management.
Furthermore, the FA are striving to build more footballing facilities at a grassroots level, while also seeking to improve on those that have already been established, and to broaden the network of coaches, volunteers and referees, allowing all to participate in the game we all know and love. More information of the FA’s plan to extend the influence of grassroots football can be found on their official website (thefa.com/news).
The Football Association aims to have met these targets by 2028, however I believe it is key that action is taken as soon as possible. This is because, with all the growing conversation surrounding health - both mental and physical - I think it is key to recognise the importance of sport in remaining both physically and mentally healthy.
Having been an avid football fan and sports enthusiast from a young age, I can confidently say that partaking in sport through school has benefited my physical and mental health, and I believe that more children would feel compelled to participate in competitive local sport if they had the opportunity to do so for free. Not only this, participating in competitive sport improves resilience, punctuality and determination, and sharpens key soft skills such as decision-making.
The FA makes a vital point that, without the help of grassroots football, the senior mens and womens England teams would never have experienced continental success on the scale that they have done over the last few years, with the mens team achieving second place in back to back EUROs finals (in 2020 and 2024) and the women achieving success in the same competition in the summer of 2022. Therefore, I believe it is critical that action is taken imminently to improve footballing opportunities at a grassroots level, because a future England star is waiting among us, and they simply need a stage to shine on.
