PUBLISHED BY UEFA’S FOOTBALL

DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

N O . 2MAY 2005

GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL NEWSLETTER

Editorial :Why Play Football?

• • •The Oslo Experience

• • •Grassroots Football :

What Is Success?• • •

Mini-PitchesA Maxi-Project

• • •Ability Defies

Disability• • •

Photo Contest

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UEFA’s Technical Director, Andy Roxburgh, working with some young footballers during the grassroots conference in Oslo.

I M P R E S S U MEDITORIAL GROUP PRODUCTIONAndy Roxburgh André VieliGraham Turner Atema Communication SA

Printed by Cavin SA

COVER PHOTO: UEFA

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Why Play Football?

Parents want to know why, grassrootscoaches need to know why, while children, by playing, learn to know why.It’s a powerful, fundamental questionfor those promoting the game: Whyplay football? Yes, it is the most popularsport in the world, both in terms of participants and spectators, but why?Why, as a child, did Ronaldinho ofBrazil and Barcelona ‘live for football’?The reasons for football’s popularity are ingrained into the psyche of the game’s ardent participants and followers, but they are often taken forgranted and rarely articulated.

The simplicity of the game certainlyplays a part in its mass appeal – it canbe played with any kind of ball and on any type of surface. When streetfootball was commonplace, before traffic noise replaced children’s laughter,spontaneous small-sided games offereda wonderful learning environment foryoung players. Fully engrossed in the‘here and now’, youngsters would expe-rience games full of imagination andtrickery, unbridled joy, friendly compe-tition with no mismatching, self-regu-lating order, and a constant repetition of football skills and moves. As the late,great Rinus Michels stated at a UEFAconference: “Good coaches use thebasic criteria of street football for theirvision of grassroots development; theyrealise that these elements produce a natural process which gives the mostefficient training for young kids.” Thestreet football environment may haveall but disappeared, but the spirit whichunderpinned it lives on at progressive,club-based football schools.

But why should parents be encour-aged to send their children to footballrather than another sport? Dr MichelD’Hooghe (a member of FIFA’sExecutive Committee, Chairman of theFIFA Medical Committee, and memberof UEFA’s Working Group on FootballDevelopment) has strong views on the subject: “I would direct youngstersto a team sport because they will learnvalues which they will not encounter inindividual sports. Football, the number 1international sport, is primarily a socialevent. In my view, the best way for a child to integrate into a region or city is to join the local football club.” Beingpart of a football club is therefore a way of life which encourages socialintegration and inclusion, and offerschildren the opportunity to developtheir skills, to build friendships and toenjoy themselves. For children, partici-pation is more important than winning.Miljan Miljanic, the former Real Madridcoach, endorses that view: “Goals arethe most beautiful thing in football –not trophies or money – and childrenunderstand this.”

Football is not a sport for the elite. It is available for everyone, irrespectiveof size, shape, colour or faith. It is a real sporting democracy, which offerseducational values, health benefits,social opportunities, and sportingworth. The game is a wonderful vehicle for personal and sportingdevelopment.

Although it is a simple game, it is also fascinating because of the varietyof skills and movements which arepossible. During the ‘golden age’ oflearning between 9 and 12 years of age, youngsters can become passionate about the ball and manyspend hours perfecting the basic tech-niques (juggling, dribbling, passing,shooting, etc.). Acquiring the funda-mental concepts of the game, throughfree play and guided discovery, is alsoa feature of this phase.

E D I T O R I A LBY ANDY ROXBURGH,UEFA TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

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The ball in flight, the bulging net, the green grass, the colourful jerseys,the pitch-defining flagpoles, the enthu-siastic opponents and the friendlyteam-mates are all motivating ele-ments for young players. Expressionand creativity are prized in footballand children enjoy problem-solvingand experimentation. However, to progress, they need to be fullyengaged in the action, learn from others, and show a great deal of self-reliance. As Marco van Basten says:“Players must invest in themselves.”

Why play football? Watch children playing the game and the reasons willbe self-evident: you will see a fasci-nation for the ball, fluid movement, playfulness, cooperation, competition,challenge, commitment, celebrations,commiserations, enjoyment and anabundance of energy. Children love to play; to experience, through foot-ball, a joyous way of life – Ronaldinhocan testify to that.

Ronaldinho brings joy to the game.

It was about philosophy, strategy,UEFA’s ‘Summer of Grassroots Football’programme, technical training for children, practical sessions for the dis-abled, holiday football camps, govern-ment funding for grassroots projects,the challenges to be met in girls’ foot-ball, a fun football training session,input from various national associationson the formulae they are adopting toboost grassroots schemes, discussiongroups aimed at shaping future strategyand even the inauguration of one of the mini-pitches gifted by UEFA as part

of the HatTrick programme and thejubilee celebrations. The miracle wasthat it was all squeezed into somethingless than 72 hours. The participants –from all 52 of UEFA’s member asso-ciations – went home with plenty tothink about. For example…

Quantity or quality? Both!

Question: How do you reconcile two of UEFA’s basic grassroot premises – onthe one hand to recruit more footballplayers at all grassroots levels and keep

them active for as long as possible;while, on the other hand, recognising,endorsing and promoting ‘best-practice’standards? The answer is that it is byno means mission impossible to com-bine quantity with quality if we startfrom the premise that grassroots foot-ball is primarily a social activity and that many sectors of the communitycan become involved.

This was one of the points compellinglyexpressed by UEFA vice-president PerRavn Omdal who, as a former presi-dent of the Norwegian FA and hailed asone of the prime movers in the grass-roots world, was mein host during the conference in Oslo. He is a firmadvocate of aiming for sustainedgrowth by setting targets. “In Norway,”he explained, “we set ourselves a targetof a 10% annual increase in partici-pation.” There was relish in his voice as he added, “this creates dynamics!”

In point of fact, Norwegian dynamicsare based on 5% growth in the boys’sector and 15% in the participation of girls. In other national associationswhere the girls’ game is not as fullyfledged as in Norway, the targets couldlegitimately vary even more widely.

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WHAT IS GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL?

ANY READERS WHO FANCY THEIR CHANCES OF WRITING A DEFINITION ON THE BACK

OF A POSTAGE STAMP OBVIOUSLY WEREN’T AT THE 5TH UEFA GRASSROOTS COURSE STAGED

IN OSLO TOWARDS THE BACK END OF 2004.

THE OSLOEXPERIENCE

Grassroots football is extremely popular in Norway.

UEFA VICE-PRESIDENT

PER RAVN OMDAL

IS A PASSIONATE PROMOTER

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As a point of reference, the number of registered players in Norway repre-sents 8.4% of the country’s populationand the audit for 2004 will probablyconfirm a further increase.

But Per Ravn Omdal emphasised thatclear and ambitious targets not onlyencourage hard work and dynamismon the part of the national association.Participation in football, he pointed out, makes individuals happy, helps tounite families within the school andcommunity contexts, helps to establishlifelong friendships, and can play a sig-nificant role in promoting social values.

What is more, football can play anequally significant role in the battle toovercome racism and any other form of discrimination, it can offer healthyalternatives to those who might other-wise be lured into alcohol, tobacco

or drug abuse, and it can serve as asolid educational platform for basicsocial and human values, such as toler-ance and respect. In terms of physicalwell-being, football can also make a contribution in societies where 30%of the 5-16 age group are consideredto be overweight and 16% could beofficially classed as ‘obese’. It is esti-mated that, unless something is done,the percentages will double in the nextdecade. On a different tangent, theconference in Oslo included practicalsessions in the impressive indoor arenabelonging to Vålerenga IF, a club whoseyouth teams embrace players of 47 different nationalities. As Per Omdalcommented, “only football can do that.”

There are other positive knock-oneffects in sporting, financial and evenpolitical spheres. Encouraging moreyoungsters to play football enhances

the possibilities of nurturing anddeveloping the stars of tomorrow.Involving more families can help todiscover more coaches, monitors,referees and volunteers. Participatingin football then helps to lay down a strong power base of fans who willwatch top-level professional matchesat the stadium, on TV, or both. Inturn, the greater the role of footballwithin communities and societies,the easier it becomes to obtain polit-ical backing while, at the same time,attracting more and more youngstersand their parents into the grassrootsfold provides compelling motives for sponsors to become commerciallyinterested in offering support. Inother words, there are many, manygood reasons for setting ambitioustargets and helping more and moremembers of society to discover thatplaying football is great fun.

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THE CONFERENCE IN OSLO.

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One of the primary objectives is toavoid subjecting youngsters to ‘perfor-mance pressure’ (with parents formingan important part of this particularequation) and to allow them to simplyenjoy a game of football which entails,at most, the normal, ephemeral pleasures or displeasures associatedwith winning or losing.

So, at the tenderest ages – up until 11 or 12 – ‘success’ can be measuredby the level of participation, the funand friendships created in the foot-balling environment, the availability – or the construction – of training andplaying facilities within walking distanceof the children’s homes, and the number of parents or volunteers whofeel that they want to join in the fun.

From that point onwards, there are various yardsticks for measuring ‘suc-cess’. They are all based on havingdeveloped diversified training and com-petition structures that will allow eachand every individual optimal chances of satisfying his or her needs and ambi-

IN GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL

WHAT ISSUCCESS?

YOUNGSTERS ACQUIRING

THE BASICS.

CONCENTRATION

ON THE BALL.

IF THAT QUESTION IS POSED TO THE PRESIDENT

OF AN ELITE PROFESSIONAL CLUB, HE WILL PROBABLY LEAD YOU

TO THE TROPHY ROOM AND TELL YOU THAT SUCCESS CAN

BE ACCURATELY MEASURED BY THE WEIGHT OF THE SILVERWARE.

IN GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL, THERE IS NO ROOM

FOR A TROPHY ROOM OR EVEN A TROPHY CABINET.

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tions and which provide the perfectplatform for the development of indi-vidual skills within a team framework.Putting that long sentence into prac-tice entails a great deal of expertise on sporting and administrative fronts. In other words, it is easier said thandone – but it is very well worth doing.

If we ask the coaches at clubs andnational associations to give us theirperception of ‘success’, it will surely be the ability to detect, nurture andnourish the most promising talentsfrom the grassroots. This means thatthere should be opportunities for thepotential stars of the future to traintheir skills (a minimum of five timesper week), to compete in eleven-a-sidematches at regional or national level,and, of course, to be guided by coachesof the highest possible quality. A rungfurther down the ladder of dreams,‘success’ means offering youth footballopportunities in eleven-a-side or seven-a-side matches to players who may not possess such obvious claims to afuture among the elite, but who will

enjoy local league football and train-ing two, three or four times a week. For others, ‘success’ might be encour-aging them to stay in the game, trainonce a week, play seven-a-side or five-a-side games on a local basis andorganise their own schedules, possiblywith help from their parents. And then, within the framework of amateurfootball for adults, ‘success’ means giving everybody opportunities to playclub football and to take part in social activities built upon the founda-tions of team spirit.

In other words, a ‘successful’ grassrootsstructure is not just about setting upleague and cup competitions. It’s allabout pinpointing needs and investingtime and effort in catering for thoseneeds in a way that will allow as manypeople as possible to continue enjoyinga game of football for as much of theirlives as possible. ‘Success’ is, quite simply, helping people to fall in lovewith the beautiful game and keepingthe flames of affection burning for aslong as possible.

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EVEN ELITE YOUNG

PLAYERS STARTED

AT GRASSROOTS LEVEL.

Bend me,shape me!

Catering for everybody’s needs meansthat rigid structures are not the answer.Flexibility is the key word. At the Osloconference, Per Ravn Omdal asked apertinent question: “Are you preparedto deny eight girls in a small commu-nity the chance to play football justbecause they can’t field a team of 11?”

Most people would instinctively answer‘no’ – but the only valid answer is onthe field of play. So how do you do it?As Per Omdal explained, the solutioncould be easy. Imagine an area whereeight teams can field a full side but twoothers have only eight players. Thelocal league could easily embrace allten teams with all the fixtures involvingthe two ‘short-handed’ sides played aseight-a-side matches.

The same applies to training sessions.A club with 50 players in the same age bracket might, for example, estab-lish a 16-player squad who can trainfive times a week; a second squad who– maybe because of studies – can train only twice a week; a third, smallersquad who train once a week; andanother small squad of players whopractise futsal or another form ofindoor football.

Research has shown that many playershave given up football because theywere substitutes in their clubs and weregiven few opportunities to play. But,when they left, their friends – some ofwhom were talented players – left withthem and were lost to the game.

It has to be recognised that, in thisenvironment, friendship is often moreimportant than football and that theonly valid answer is equal opportunitiesfor one and all.

In other words, rules and regulationsshould not be insurmountable barrierson the grassroots track. Solutionsshould be based on allowing as manypeople to play as possible – and if this means juggling with the size of teams, so be it.

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GARY NEVILLE

(MANCHESTER UNITED)

LENDING HIS

SUPPORT TO A FOOTBALL

SCHOOL IN MALTA.

In some of UEFA’s member associa-tions, the ‘Holiday Football Camp’ hasbecome an established part of thegrassroots scene. Some are run by former players. Other footballers allowtheir names to be used in exchange fora sum of money. Other camps are runas purely commercial concerns. Othersare sponsored by clubs or local authori-ties. So how can we ensure that certainstandards are met and maintained?How can we assure parents that theyare sending their children on safe, well-organised footballing holidays?

In Oslo, Robin Russell, Technical Coord-inator at the English FA, provided someanswers, using extensive research inthe UK market as a starting point. Thestudy analysed the strengths and weak-nesses of the holiday courses and the

Happy holiday!

Coaching the coaches

threats from other sports which arekeen to muscle in on a major market.

The FA then introduced a CharterStandard Holiday Course Award aimedat assuring parents that standards werebeing met.

The criteria included checks on thequalifications of coaches (holiday campsare currently the largest employers ofcoaches in the UK), standards of childprotection and first aid, plus monitoringof health and safety facilities. Thecoach-player ratio must not exceed 1:16, the children must be appropriatelygrouped, there must be equal opportu-nities for all, work must come up tothe FA’s Code of Conduct standards,and the programme must be based onat least 80% of practical football.

By the summer of 2004, a total of 90 organisations had been grantedthe award and over 3,500 FA CharterStandard Holiday Courses were run.This gave over a quarter of a millionchildren the chance to spend a funsummer holiday in a football environ-ment and, at the same time, provideda financial injection of seven millioneuros into the game.

If you are setting targets and aiming to encourage more people to becomeinvolved, year after year, in the grass-roots game, it goes without saying thatmore and more coaches are requiredto take care of them. Or are they? It depends on the definition of theword ‘coach’, as very often monitors,tutors or coordinators could be alterna-tive descriptions. At the base of thefootballing pyramid, ability to work withchildren is usually more important than knowledge of football. It is not untilwe climb the pyramid that the impor-tance of specialised coaching acumenreally kicks in.

The Dutch FA (KNVB) is one of thenational associations which encouragesparents to become involved in grass-roots football through 3,700 amateurclubs. They stage regular ‘clinics’ and

have a ‘KNVB Road Show’ which tours the country in a big truck, visiting75 clubs per season. This involves –apart from a driver at the wheel, ofcourse – two of the KNVB’s grassrootscoaches and 25 club volunteers. At the beginning of each season, theystage kick-off meetings and courses in 50 regions, with each course con-sisting of four three-hour meetings,with the content reinforced via a package that includes a book and a CD-ROM. The participants are thepeople – mostly parents – who will actas coaches in the 9-13 age bracket.

These volunteer coaches receive guidance from youth coordinators atclub level and, another rung up thecoaching ladder, from 50 part-timeregional coaches who liaise with theKNVB’s 20 full-time district coaches.

While their children practise on the field,parents receive instructions in the stand.

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THE DRAW FOR THE EUROPEAN WOMEN’S

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL ROUND IN MANCHESTER WAS PRESIDED

OVER BY KAREN ESPELUND, CHAIRWOMAN

OF THE UEFA WOMEN’S FOOTBALL COMMITTEE, AND

ENGLAND’S COACH SVEN-GÖRAN ERIKSSON.

The sheer intensity and dimensions of the meeting in Oslo meant thatparticipants travelled home withreams of information, opinions andpractical demonstrations which couldhelp to shape grassroot philosophieswithin their own national associations.But, before they headed for the airport, they posted some ideas onUEFA’s notice board, such as:■ For UEFA to build on the summerpromotional campaign that was a success in 2004.■ For UEFA to promote the flow of information on grassroots topicsbetween member associations and to encourage ‘partnerships’.■ For European football to makepolitical leaders aware of the socialimportance of grassroots projects.■ For UEFA to help with educationaltools, such as DVDs, CD-ROMS, etc.■ For UEFA to help national asso-ciations to enlist the aid of former topplayers to act as role models andambassadors.Some of these proposals have already become reality. But there is still a lot of work to do.

With the European Women’s Champ-ionship finals in the offing, women’sfootball is set to receive yet anotherboost during 2005 to add to the explo-sive growth of the game in recenttimes. In terms of the number of activeplayers, there is still a major differencebetween masculine and feminine, yetover two thirds of UEFA’s member asso-ciations have drawn up developmentblueprints for the women’s game and,of course, they start at grassroots level.

Apart from sheer numbers, there are other significant disparities in termsof resources, administrative ‘punchingpower’, league structures, playing oppor-tunities and, at the top of the pyramid,earning potential. But Karen Espelund,Chairwoman of UEFA’s Women’sFootball Committee, reported in Oslo

What about the girls?

Whatnext?

that the number of Norwegian girls’teams had increased by 18.4% in justthree years, with the number of partic-ipants rising by 16.9%.

The explosive growth raises importantquestions. For example, until what ageis it positive for girls to play in mixedteams? If the experience is extendedtoo far, it runs the risk of leading to‘survival of the toughest’ situations,with the majority of girls opting toback out of a game which has becomephysically too demanding for them.Clubs therefore need to phase in separate girls’ teams and give maxi-mum opportunities to play, with small-sided games included on the cur-riculum alongside the eleven-a-sidematches. Karen Espelund’s experiencesuggests that girls would benefit from

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playing in separate teams as early assix or seven years old.

However, the proliferation of girls’teams has highlighted a shortage offemale coaches, referees and admin-istrators and a lack of former playersprepared to stay in the game as rolemodels for the grassroot generations.The girls are moving fast, but there is still a lot of work to be done…

UEFA rates the mini-pitch as such a good idea that it gifted one to eachnational association during its jubileeyear, and readers of uefadirect will have noticed story after story pennedby associations which have been morethan happy to take up the offer.

In fact the scheme was so wellreceived that it seemed a crying shameto make it a one-off affair. UEFA hastherefore decided to offer financial sup-port for additional mini-pitch projects as part of the four-year HatTrick pro-

gramme and, although national asso-ciations have until 2008 to submit theirproposals, many have already movedinto top gear. By the end of January,UEFA had already endorsed projects to build some 1,200 mini-pitches andhad pledged over 16 million Swissfrancs in support.

UEFA’s initial idea in the jubilee yearwas to offer a million francs to eachmember association to help with mini-pitch projects. The response has beenrefreshingly enthusiastic and, in many

cases, creative. The Slovakian asso-ciation, for example, has aimed tomaximise the number of mini-pitchesby using UEFA’s commitment as a persuasive argument in other sectors.In consequence, their mini-pitches are being funded by 20% injectionsfrom UEFA, the government, localauthorities, the national associationand sponsors.

In the Netherlands, the KNVB hasopted to dovetail UEFA’s offer withefforts being made by the JohanCruyff Foundation, with 200 mini-pitches as the end result. The Dutchhave gone for a model of mini-pitchthat is slightly larger than average,allowing games to be played length-wise or, alternatively, across each halfof the pitch, thereby allowing fourteams to enjoy some football simul-taneously. In Scotland, the design has been modified so that basketballand volleyball can also get a look in.

The Finns are also doing some designexperiments by conducting a pilotscheme involving several suppliers.After an evaluation process, the ‘best’mini-pitches will start to spring up likemushrooms all over the country. TheNordic countries, of course, are whatwe might call market leaders in mini-

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MINI-PITCHES HAVE BECOME A BIG THING. ALMOST EVERYBODY INVOLVED

IN GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL IS FAMILIAR WITH THE IDEA OF OFFERING PEOPLE

A CHANCE TO RE-CREATE THE OLD STREET-FOOTBALLING DAYS BY KICKING A BALL AROUND

ON A ‘PITCH’ WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF HOME.

MINI-PITCHESA MAXI-PROJECT

An ideal surface for Slovakian youngsters to play on.

A MINI-PITCH

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pitch projects, with government grantsor contributions from state lotterieshelping to fund the installation of thou-sands of pitches in areas where the climate prevents the game from beingplayed on ‘normal’ pitches for most of the year.

In England, UEFA’s contribution hasbeen supplemented by government funding for mini-pitch schemes whichtarget under-privileged areas in majorcities, and the English have also been very proactive in sending trainedleaders into these areas and per-

suading people to get on to the pitchand start playing.

Others might have been slightly slower off the mark but, having seenhow popular mini-pitch football isbecoming, are now getting their run-ning shoes on. The Welsh associationis now installing 44 mini-pitches,while the Ukrainians – after UEFA hadhelped them install 60 mini-pitches –have now persuaded the governmentto build another 400. The Polishnational association constructed anexperimental mini-pitch close to aschool where 400 children werereceiving their education and, whenthey saw for themselves that mini-pitch objectives were being perfectlyfulfilled, began to draw up blueprintsfor a major national project. Othercountries have taken the mini-pitchconcept a step further. The Georgians,for example, have built one in eachregion and, alongside it, have con-structed offices for each regional association whose administrators hadpreviously worked from their homes.The mini-pitch project has a long way to go, but it has been fast out ofthe blocks and is moving very rapidlyin the right direction.

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Girls and boys playing together on the same mini-pitch in Lithuania.

Johan Cruyff welcomes Ernest Walker,

former chairman of UEFA’s Stadium and

Security Committee, to the inauguration of a

mini-pitch, part of a joint operation between UEFA,

the Dutch FA and the Johan Cruyff Welfare

Foundation.

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It played a prominent part in the theoretical and practical sessions at theGrassroots Course in Oslo and this was followed up when the DisabilityFootball Panel held its second meetingat UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon at theend of January.

The participants in Oslo were movedby the first-hand account of disabledfootballer/organiser Stig Martin Sandvikof Norway regarding his own experi-ences in developing grassroots football.Stig’s presentation triggered the ques-

tion of how much effort DisabilityFootball should put into the pursuit of success. One school of thought issceptical about channelling resourcestowards a relatively small number of elite performers in national teams.The other emphasises the importanceof creating role models capable of convincing disabled people that theycan compete.

The English FA is one national asso-ciation that has put a lot of thought intoaiming for the right balance. At the

base of the pyramid, enormousprogress has been made since anoverall strategy for Disability Footballwas published in 2002 and substantialfunding was allocated to a two-yearprogramme. One of the first stepswhich the English and other nationalassociations had to take was to pin-point the appropriate contact groups,as Disability Sport can often be foundunder several different umbrellas. In England, the number of clubsinvolved in Disability Football grewfrom 25 to 45 within three yearswhile, in parallel, work was being donewith a view to improving the quality of training and administration, withspecific training centres being estab-lished. The longer term aims were toimplant local, regional and nationalcompetitions while, at the same time,national teams were being formed andtreated in exactly the same way asyouth teams in terms of resources andlogistical support. Winning a worldchampionship was the reward for theirefforts, and the English feel that thishas certainly boosted interest in thegame at lower levels within the worldof Disability Football.

However, the term ‘Disability Football’covers a multitude of categories andsub-categories based on six different

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ANYBODY WHO HAS WATCHED DISABLED PEOPLE ENJOYING A GAME OF FOOTBALL

WILL KNOW THAT THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE EXPRESSIONS

OF SHEER JOY ON THE PLAYERS’ FACES. THAT IS WHY UEFA HAS PUT DISABILITY FOOTBALL

WELL AND TRULY ON ITS AGENDA.

ABILITYDEFIES DISABILITY

A five-a-side disabled football tournament organised by UEFA in Manchester.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS ATHLETES IN POLAND.SO P

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demonstrated by UEFA has added substance and impetus to the disabilitycause and helped to open doors ondomestic fronts. UEFA is more than willing to step up its efforts in terms of endorsing projects and making its Grassroots Ambassadors available to support Disability Football events.

Disability Football has also been in-cluded in the Grassroots Programmefor 2005 and each national associationhas been invited to nominate a ‘BestDisabled Football Event’, with the winners receiving 50 adidas footballsapiece by way of recognition. At thesame time, uefa.com is setting upInternet links with disability footballorganisations with a view to enhancingcommunication and cooperation.

The second meeting of UEFA’s DisabilityFootball Panel was, understandably,based on an exchange of informationand practical experiences. At the nextmeeting, the clear intention will be

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Visually-impaired players in competitive action.

Disabled football teams together in Oslo.

types of mental and physical disability.The presentations in Oslo made it clearthat the enormous diversity createschallenges, and this was underlinedwhen UEFA’s Disability Football Panelmet in Nyon. The agenda includedreports on, for example, UEFA’s long-standing relationship with the SpecialOlympics movement, the work beingdone by IBSA in the realm of footballfor the blind, the opportunities beingoffered in Russia for amputees to playfootball, an account of how the Czech

association is now including a DisabilityFootball module within its coachinglicence, and a follow-up to the DisabilityFootball Conference last December inLondon, where the attendance figureexceeded 300.

There is too much work to be done that there is no excuse for blowing theUEFA trumpet. However, there wasapplause for the inclusion of DisabilityFootball on the Oslo agenda, simplybecause the interest currently being

to scratch the surface much moredeeply and to focus on specific ques-tions and talking points. Similarly, this article has aimed to provide a general overview, with the intention of going into much more detail on specific subjects during future editions of the GrassrootsNewsletter.

UEFA’S DISABILITY FOOTBALL PANEL.

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PHOTO CONTEST

N E T H E R L A N D SP O R T U G A L

I T A L YA R M E N I A

R U S S I A

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In conjunction with last year’sUEFA Summer of GrassrootsFootball, the national associa-tions were invited to send UEFA a photograph depicting the fun of playing and the values of grassroots football.

The photos submitted were presented to the participantsattending the 5th UEFA Grassroots Course in Oslo, whopicked out the entry of theArmenian Football Association as their favourite.

The contest is being repeated thisyear, and each national association is invited to submit a photo, drawingor painting related to grassroots football to UEFA before the closingdate of 16 September. The winnerwill receive a special prize.

S L O V A K I A

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UEFARoute de Genève 46CH-1260 NyonSuisseTéléphone +41 22 994 44 44Télécopieur +41 22 994 37 34uefa.com

Union des associationseuropéennes de football