Plan to keep young footballers motivated - just keep quiet about big defeats...

Wednesday 07 October 2015

The JFA is defending the Island's non-competitive game plan for kids football after it scored attention from the UK media.

The Sun got the ball rolling with a shot at the Jersey Combination League who ‘don’t publicise any big defeats for under-14s and younger age groups in case the losing players become demoralised’.

But JFA Business Manager Bob Lawrence who also acts as the county welfare officer says the way youngsters learn to play football here isn’t unusual.

He said: “This is nothing new in football, it’s happening in the UK. What we’re talking about is kids playing development football. There aren’t any league tables.

“The under 14’s matches are very competitive – there’s a natural tendency to win at all costs but the FA back this grass roots strategy and I think it’s a good thing. It’s simply about not publishing the results.

“The kids know the scores but because it’s development football we don’t want them going to school and someone saying we beat you 15-0!

“They’ve got to learn the basics of the game, the skills, how to play in a team. Mostly they are playing seven v seven - young children can’t cope with full size matches."

The Sun went on to tackle how the Island's 'league bosses have also asked coaches to try to stop their players scoring too many times in one-sided matches' and that's kickstarted discussions on footballing forums on whether the game needs to be more competitive from the start.

But Mr Lawrence said it's not all about goal scoring and the training here gives youngsters experience playing in different positions on the pitch.

He said: "It's a much fairer system and we're seeing better players coming up."

He said it gives them the skills they need to move on to more competitive football when they are older.