Latest news with #grassrootsfootball
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Ex-Lioness helping Faversham mums get into football coaching
A former Lioness star has teamed up with a grassroots football club in Kent to encourage more mothers into volunteer Asante, who made 71 appearances for the Lionesses and now manages Women's Championship side Bristol City, has launched the This Mum Campaign with Faversham Strike Force comes as figures show that 83% of mothers were not involved in their children's sports won the quadruple with Arsenal in 2007, said: "We know how important female coaches are as role models for girls, especially when it comes to staying in sport and being active into their teenage years. "It's vital we find ways to halt this decline in female volunteer coaching, especially at a time when more girls than ever are inspired by the Lionesses and other female sporting heroes." New research by sports charity UK Coaching revealed the total number of female volunteer coaches fell by 10% between 2022 and Ally Walters coaches the women's team at Strike Force. She started coaching at university and returned to it after having her daughters."Particularly since I've had girls, I want them to see women in sport," she said."I also want them to see that as a parent, as a mum in particular, you can also have your own hobbies."If women aren't volunteering, you're missing out on 50% of all the people who could be." UK Coaching provides resources and advice to support women and mums taking their first steps into volunteer drop in coaches, however, comes amid a huge increase in the number of people watching women's sports, with the Women's Euro due to kick off next month and the Women's Rugby World Cup in Handyside, a coach developer at UK Coaching, said: "The recent decline in the number of female volunteer coaches is a worrying trend."But this research shows that there's clearly a huge pool of mums out there who want to coach if those barriers can be overcome."
CNA
24-05-2025
- Sport
- CNA
Local grassroots football coaches undergo course run by English Premier League
To support the development of grassroots football, 34 local coaches have gone through a three-day course conducted by those in the English Premier League. Most of the coaches who took part teach children aged five to 18. It's a first-of-its-kind programme involving coaches from the Football Association of Singapore and the EPL. Noah Kong with more.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Our grassroots football club was living on a week-to-week basis'
"We were pretty much living on a week-to-week basis," says Paul Loding, captain and chairman of a grassroots football team in south-east London. "It was expensive to rent the pitch, which was poor quality. Having to find a referee that you've got to pay for, even supplying kits and footballs. It is too much without adequate funding."Grassroots football generates more than £1bn a year to London yet many clubs say they are lacking sufficient funds to support their to a survey conducted last year by Net World Sports, 70% of grassroots clubs across England and Wales were struggling to make ends meet. There are 950 grassroots football clubs in the capital, which make up about 5,500 teams. They engage approximately 70,000 registered players including 30,000 youth participants and 650 players with disabilities, according to the London Football Association (FA).The organisation estimates that they bring in a combined £605m in adult social care value and £105m in youth social value, along with the £1bn in direct economic value. Mr Loding said his team, which began in 2006 as London Romans, used to rely heavily on player contributions to stay afloat. However, in 2020 the LGBTQ+ inclusive football club partnered with Millwall Community Trust and is now known as Millwall Romans FC."The cost of everything has gone up so much in the last few years and we are now in a really lucky position that we do have the backing of Millwall," Mr Loding said."Providing a grassroots club is nearly impossible with the costs involved." The collaboration provides essential support, including access to better facilities and resources such as the use of Millwall FC kits and home ground. The club trains twice a week at St Paul's Sports Ground in the pitch, it engages with local schools and participates in events like London Pride to build community engagement. Rising pitch rental costs have strained other grassroots clubs' resources Bickerton, CEO of London FA, believes collective action is needed to support the sport."The big challenge that clubs come back to me with all the time is accessibility of facilities," Mr Bickerton said."Getting the right facility at the right time, and then the cost of it, that's undoubtedly the barrier." The London FA's strategy for 2024 to 2028, titled London For All, aims to enhance grassroots football across the capital. Objectives include developing and improving facilities, and boosting playing choice and experience."We've got a target by 2028 to get nine new 3G [third generation grass] facilities in, and we're making good progress against that target," Mr Bickerton strategy also focuses on building a network of volunteers, coaches, and referees to support the game's London FA hopes the strategy marks a step forward in tackling the challenges facing grassroots football in the capital.
