Jrw

There is scarcely anything in goal post manufacture that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little more cheaply.
Do not become their lawful prey.
John Wilson, Managing Director.

Leading the way in goal post safety and innovation.

Retail Information
Goals are available through our retail partners or via our official online supplier, Soccertackle.com who have special offers on goalposts.

Enviro
Environmental Policy

9v9 FOOTBALL

Published on 02/02/2012

9v9 –FOOTBALL - In Sheffield .

When was 9v9 decided by the member clubs?
At the League meeting on the 8th June 2011. the membership voted
unanimously to introduce 9v9 at the U11 age-group for the 2012/2013
season. Since then, Sheffield & Hallamshire CFA have met with local
authorities, who have said that they can provide 9v9 pitches for next season
(2012/13)
Mechanics for the League
Squad size: Maximum of 14 – Minimum of 7 (This is to be voted on by the
member clubs, but this comes out of the questionnaire response – see below)
One team = one result
At the end of the current season (2011/12), teams will be promoted/relegated
as they would normally be. The teams will then be divided into divisions as
normal. At this stage, without knowing how many teams will be in the League
and how many clubs will be running 2 or more teams how the divisions will be
worked out. The concept of mirrored divisions has been considered, until the
applications are in, we can’t decide on this.
Timescales of change

Funding:
Sport England Small Grants Programme, 100% funding for goals
(http://www.sportengland.org/funding/small_grants.aspx)
Football Foundation: Grow The Game (potentially for additional 9v9 teams)
http://www.footballfoundation.org.uk/apply/grow-the-game/ and also Build the
game (http://www.footballfoundation.org.uk/apply/build-the-game/)
Questionnaire Response
The League and Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA sent out a questionnaire
to all member clubs approximately six weeks a go regarding 9v9 for next
season. Below is the response to that questionnaire.
1. Do you have the facilities to hold a 9v9 pitch, either through alternate
coloured lines on top of an 11v11 pitch or a stand alone pitch? (Suggested
size is 80x50 yards – Length max – 85, min – 70 and Width max – 55, min
– 45) Yes – 79% No – 21%
2. Is your club in a position to purchase a new set of 9v9 goals? (7x16ft) at
a cost of £384.00 (PVC) £804.00 (Aluminium)
Yes – 52% No – 48%
3. What support would your club require from your league and Sheffield
FA if 9v9 is implemented?
No Problems – 28% Finances – 59% Pitch – 13%
4. What are your team’s thoughts on Central Venue Facilities to conduct
9v9 games? Yes – 21% No – 79%
5. What are your thoughts on 9v9 and below i.e. Mini Soccer all being
played on Saturdays? (Only 11v11 is played on Sundays)
Yes – 38% No – 62%
6. Do you think it should be one game equals one result?
Yes - 80% No – 20%
7. Do you think clubs should have two games and the combined result of
both is the overall score?
Yes – 20% No – 80%
8. What sort of squad size do you think you should have?
12 players – 20%
13 players – 5%
14 players – 55%
15 players – 5%
16+ players - 15%
FA Frequently Asked Questions:
From:
http://www.thefa.com/Leagues/~/media/Files/PDF/Leagues/Your%20Kids%20
Your%20Say/FA%20Youth%20Development%20Proposals%20-
%20Frequently%20Asked%20Questions.ashx
Q. Why are The FA making changes?
A. The FA are constantly looking to evolve and develop the game of football
as the game changes. Many years ago the game was played in a WFormation
and since that time it has evolved into different set ups and today
we even see Barcelona playing a 1-4-6-0 formation with no recognised centre
forward. Other changes include much more of a possession-based approach
to being successful and we need to make sure our game evolves at the same
rate.
There hasn’t been a real in-depth look at youth football since the introduction
of Mini-Soccer in 1999 and it was timely that the system was given a
modernisation.
Q. Is this all because the England Senior team didn’t do very well at the last
World Cup?
A. The below expectation performance of the senior team at the World Cup
hasn’t been the catalyst for change; discussions were already taking place for
about 8 months before the world Cup in 2010.
It is also noted that if we win Euro 2012 that the youth system still requires a
modernisation, regardless of the performance of the national team. The
Spanish, despite winning the Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010 are still
changing and moving their grassroots system forwards, having just increased
the year group they play 9v9.
Q. Consultation has been done but you haven’t spoken to me or my clubs?
A. The consultation on what youth football should look like has taken place
over the last two years, including 35 individual County FA meetings where
they invited youth leagues in to the discussion along with 16 regional
roadshows involving lots of debate with clubs, leagues and coaches. The FA
is sorry if you haven’t made any of the events personally but is confident that
a broad enough crosssection of people within the game has been spoken to
for their views, which The FA has listened to.
Q. How did you capture the views of children?
A. 50 focus groups of children in the 8-12 years age range, from Devon to
Durham have been undertaken, which consist of groups of 10-14 players
coming together for 45 minute in-depth interviews about what they like and
don’t like about football, why they play the game and what changes they
would make. It was felt that it was vitally important we heard the views of the
children in this matter. The focus groups were parent and coach-free so as to
avoid any contamination of the data and conducted by a National
Development Manager with a Masters Degree unit in Research Methods in
Education, supported by County FA Development Staff, most of which have
Degrees in Sport, including research methods.
Q. But you haven’t spoken to every player?
A. Realistically that task would be impossible, however, simply ask your
children “why do you play football?” and we are confident the results won’t be
too far away! The focus groups were then followed up with academic research
which was found to support all the feedback from the children – that they are
driven to play for intrinsic reasons, such as loving the game and that trying
their hardest was important than winning, and not extrinsic things, such as
trophies and medals. For further reading, please see Daniel Pink – Drive as
an example.
Q. Changing the goalposts to be more appropriate makes sense, how are we
going to pay for it?
A. Of course, if new sets of goalposts are needed to be purchased for 9v9
there may be a cost incurred. Please go to Sport England’s Small Grants
Programme for 100% funding on the cost of goalposts. There is a further £1m
ring-fenced funding via the Football Foundation which will pay 50% towards
the cost of goalposts as well. Up and down the country, many youth leagues
and clubs have set up schemes to support purchasing these as well, and in
these economic times its vital we pull all of the sources of funding together so
that cost isn’t an added challenge. Please work with your local
County Development Manager, based at the County FA, to get advice with
funding. The goal sizes for 9v9 are 16x7’ or 21x7’ and we have deliberately
opted for two sizes. Based upon the current financial climate, it would be
remiss to state that children must use one size and with many school pitches
and sites having ‘youth’ size goals, many reflect this already and there is no
need to purchase additional goals.
Q. And what about pitches?
A. Not being blessed with a huge stock of pitches we can give up, we have to
be smarter with how we use existing space. Leagues that have already
implemented 9v9 have used a variety of different solutions. This includes
playing box-to-box on an existing pitch and coning-in either side of the pitch,
playing with different coloured lines marked on a pitch or across an existing
big 11v11 pitch. Some leagues have worked out they only needed 3 pitches to
service 12 clubs and not every club needed a home pitch to play on. Some
have been playing central venue and all teams comes to one place.
Q. Can we reallocate pitches across a town?
A. Of course, it might need a whole town approach to this and if there are
several sites with several different formats being played on, it might be worth
designating different sites for different formats of the game, your FA Regional
Facilities Manager and County Development Manager can help you with this.
Q. Can we use 3G artificial turf pitches?
A. Absolutely, these could be the best surface children ever learn to play the
game on as the ball always runs flat, doesn’t get stuck in mud and other than
snow, there is unlikely to be games called off. As with the above three
questions, work with your County Development Manager to help get access to
these pitches. If these pitches can be used for World Cup Qualifiers and
Champions League matches, they are certainly good enough for local youth
football! However, this refers to 3G pitches only, not sand-based artificial
pitches.
Q. So what does a pitch look like? How can we work with our Local
Authorities to get them?
A. The FA will provide diagrams of the pitch markings, size of penalty area
and all the things you need to know. The FA, through the network of Regional
Facilities Managers will work with the Local Authorities, Boroughs and other
pitch providers to ensure they get all the support they require.
Sheffield & Hallamshire Youth Forum
Would you like to help shape the future of youth football in South Yorkshire?
Sheffield & Hallamshire FA needs young people aged between 12 and 18
who play, coach or referee in youth football. This is your opportunity to have a
say on the future of the game.
The group will help young people in South Yorkshire, together with football
organisations, discuss local grassroots football changes, make
recommendations and bring to light any other issues they feel are important.
The group will give a voice to young people as to how youth leagues are run,
look at the key transition points from mini-soccer to 9v9 and 11-a-side, help
develop the Sheffield & Hallamshire FA programmes for youth players and
build relationships between the County FA and youth clubs and leagues.
Those wishing to apply need to be passionate about and committed to the
development of football at a local level, have some experience in grassroots
football and be a team-player. You will need to be able to commit to at least
two meetings per year.
In return,

information from sheffield & District Junior League despatched to member clubs

Back to all news