33rd Ordinary UEFA Congress in Copenhagen 03 11 ... - UEFA.com

Pitchsideobservations…… andclassroompresentations.8th UEFAGrassroots Workshopin HamburgChildren’s footballas central pillarIF ONE WORD HAD TO BE CHOSEN TO SUMMARISE THE 8TH UEFA GRASSROOTSWORKSHOP WHICH WAS HELD FROM 16 TO 20 MARCH IN HAMBURG, IT WOULDSURELY BE ENERGY – WITH A CAPITAL E. FROM THE MOMENT THE BALL WAS SETROLLING BY GERHARD MAYER-VORFELDER, UEFA VICE-PRESIDENT, THEOZWANZIGER, PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AND KARINVON WELCK, SPORTS SENATOR FOR THE CITY OF HAMBURG, THE EVENT, INVOLVING130 PARTICIPANTS FROM ALL 53 MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS, TOOK OFF LIKE AROLLER COASTER, RUNNING AT BREATHTAKING SPEED, UPLIFTING ENOUGH TO DEFYTHE LAWS OF GRAVITY. THE SHEER IMPETUS REFLECTED THE FAST-GROWINGACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE IMPORTANCE OF GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL, NOT ONLYTO THE SPORT ITSELF, BUT ALSO TO THE SOCIETY IT LIVES IN.In terms of enthusiasm, thehosts led by example – with the nationaland regional associations contributing,together with the two major clubs inthe city of Hamburg. The Grand Elyséehotel was the focal point for presentationsand discussions, but HamburgerSV’s stadium was the venue for practicalsessions on the opening afternoon,with groups of Under-12s providingbest-practice examples of age-appropriatetraining sessions. The venue on thefollowing day was the St. Pauli club,whose special personality was illustratedby the motto at the entrance to thestadium: Non Established Since 1910.The sessions dovetailed perfectly. Theboys and girls at St. Pauli might not havebeen able to match the HSV boys fortechnical excellence but they certainlymatched them in terms of enjoyment.The first session featured Under-10 girlsfrom the city’s migrant communities,whose parents needed to be persuadedto allow their daughters to take part.This was not about talent development– it was about using football as aninstrument for social integration.Focus on enjoymentThe fact that the practicalsessions focused on such a young agegroup was no accident. The rollercoasterevent pointed its nose in everyconceivable direction but it turnedaround a central pillar: children’s football.UEFA’s technical director, AndyRoxburgh, set the scene by examiningall aspects of ‘child’s play’ on theopening morning, emphasising theneed to focus on enjoyment of thegame in age brackets where footballshould be ‘serious fun’ with, in thiscase, ‘serious’ being the opposite tofrivolous.This was underlined whenWilli Hink described the developmentplan launched in Germany in 2007 andwhen former international star SteffiJones, who now presides the organisingcommittee for the 2011 FIFAWomen’s World Cup, explained howthe big event will be used as a sociallever to persuade even more girls toplay football.But the workshop coveredthe whole spectrum. Piet Hubers, forexample, revealed the Dutch plan topromote football for the 45+ agegroup. Jeff Davis of the English FA leda review of how disability football isbeing developed in various countries.Jim Fleeting of Scotland discussedfunding issues – including a fascinatinginsight into how the Scottish authoritiesare even supporting grassroots projects.The relationships between professionalclubs and the grassroots game werereviewed by Jörn Spuida, Roger Hasenbeinand Roberto Samaden of HSV,St. Pauli and FC Internazionale Milanorespectively. There was even time forformer German internationals UweSeeler and Hansi Müller to discuss theirexperiences as child players and theircurrent roles as ambassadors within thegrassroots game. Andy Roxburghsigned off by reviewing the astonishingprogress made since UEFA first startedto develop a grassroots programme14 years ago, including the GrassrootsCharter, which already has 37 signatories.But that’s another story. The sheerenergy of the event in Hamburg graphicallyillustrated the momentum of thegrassroots game and its increasing relevancein a cosmopolitan Europe.Children’sfootballin thespotlight.Photos: Sportsfile09