The event was organised as part of a national FA programme to teach young people, aged 16 or 17, about leadership in Football, which can then be translated into general life. Two young boys and two young girls were given nomination forms given to their School or Charter Club at the Step into Sport conference in February, and these were completed by the 17th of March to allow the young leaders to attend the camp. These were Conrad Alum, representing Eye Saints Youth F.C. and the Step into Sport Scheme, Chris Fuller, representing Bungay Town F.C., Sophie Allport, and Paige Henning, representing Kirkley and Pakefield F.C.
The scheme has been set up with the aim of teaching young, budding sportsmen and women the valuable skills of teamwork and leadership both on and off the pitch. Youngsters are encouraged to complete 50 hours of volunteering within Clubs, working with teams and key individuals, learning coaching, administration and organisational skills with the hope that they will use these to good effect, providing Grass roots Football with the next generation of coaches and administrators.
The FA Leadership programme is just one part of an overhaul of Grass Roots Football by the FA, aiming to produce the next Wayne Rooney or Kelly Smith. The skills learned are also applicable in school and the workplace, teaching young people to respect each other and their teachers or employers.
The youngsters arrived at the Camp in time for the eleven o’clock start. They were introduced to the day’s events by Darren Lawrence, the FA’s East Region Development Manager. The guest speaker for the day was the England international and Arsenal ladies defender Alex Scott, who has 38 caps, including appearances in a European Championship and a World Cup, and has scored 8 goals. During this introduction, the young leader’s nerves were settled as they found out the day’s itinerary. There was also a chance to find out exactly what would be happening from the viewpoint of three young leaders who were present at last year’s National Camp, who were on hand to answer any questions that this year’s leaders posed. The leaders were then placed into groups and took part in three sessions, each of duration one hour.
The sessions comprised of Refereeing, Coaching: 5-11 skills programme and Team Building. Each session was an opportunity for the leaders to gain valuable experience in that area. The Refereeing session is especially appropriate with the recent incidents involving high profile Premier League players and referees, and it is tremendous to see that young Footballers are being given the opportunity to gain an understanding of the thought processes and the difficulty and pressure experienced by referees. Hopefully this will help to introduce a higher level of respect in matches to referees, and this will continue throughout all levels of the beautiful game.
After the leaders had finished their three sessions, Darren Lawrence gave a summary of the Camp and explained that two leaders, one male and one female from each County will be nominated to go to the FA National Young Leaders Camp, at Nottingham Trent University in July, and, along with nine disabled leaders from across the Country will enjoy an exciting 4 days.
There will also be the opportunity for some of the leaders at the National Camp to be selected for the FA International Leadership programme, taking place in the next host nation of the World Cup, South Africa in the latter part of 2008. An exciting prospect for all the leaders involved.