Curly’s Corner Shop, the blog!

Brooking and the FA are wrong!

The decision by the FA to ban league tables for the under 8 leagues is simply wrong and will have no benefit in improving the technical skills of young footballers of either sex, which is their intention with this ludicrous decision.

Skills are taught through training, coaching, and practise, the enjoyment for kids comes from playing the game and pitting those skills against other teams, and the best way of measuring those skills is via results and a league table which verifies the application of those skills. The children need to know through their league tables what they are actually achieving under coaches.

As a country we are under competitive as it is, and to remove this element at such an early stage of life will not help to instil such an important life skill into our children. I often watch some the kids playing their matches in the parks in South Shields and although the parents can get a little over excited it’s nothing compared to the glee on the faces of my young nephews when they tell me that they are one spot off the top of the table, it means so much to them!

Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA’s Director of Football Development said yesterday:

“In the youngest age groups, there’s too much emphasis on winning leagues, often to satisfy parents and coaches. That’s what we’re looking to change.

“We need better, more skilful players coming through. Of course, we are not banning children from competing against each other in football.

“Every game played is competitive, but undoubtedly having league tables at this age is not helping their development.”

Wrong, wrong, wrong, the game is no longer competitive if it has no meaning, if the result does not help show progress (or lack of) in a league table it becomes essentially meaningless to those who take part. If the FA fail to put this right I can see parents and coaches forming their own leagues outside of the protective umbrella of the FA, and that will not be a good omen for the development of the junior game.

Once again we are seeing a “nanny knows best attitude”.

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