1-2 Colts News

FA TO INVEST IN GRASSROOTS FOOTBALLThe FA will invest more than a quarter of a billion pounds in grassroots football over thenext four years as ambitious new plans are unveiled for the nation’s favourite sport.The figure will be supplemented by a further multimillionpound investment supported by government inthe creation of new city hubs across 30 cities inEngland.The National Game Strategy for Participation andDevelopment, will target four key areas of the amateurgame for investment between now and 2019.The four areas where the new strategy will impact are:Boosting Participation: Building on the increasesin boys and girls participation and growth in disability football, while delivering more varied formats of thegame to address the drop in traditional 11v11 weekend football among adult males.Developing better players: £4million per year – including an annual £2million investment from thegovernment – will be invested in grassroots coaching. There will be a network of County Coaches –tasked with improving and supporting coaching acrossgrassroots football with club mentoring programmes.The extension of coach bursaries will get more womenand people from diverse backgrounds into theprofession and there will be a drive to get more toplevel grassroots coaches into the game.Better training and facilities: The FA iscommitting £48million – directly through its funding ofthe Football Foundation as well as investment in 100new turf pitches and improvements to a further 2,000as part of The FA’s Pitch Improvement Plan. Furtherfunds have also been dedicated to building 30 new football hubs across key cities.Football workforce: Football will become more representative of the communities it serves throughinclusion initiatives. The FA is also rolling out technology to run the game more efficiently and create directlines of communication with players across all grassroots leagues making football truly integrated.9