Making football more age appropriate

The FA’s Youth Review changes accelerate young players’ development.

Smaller teams mean more touches of the ball. Smaller pitches mean more skilful play. And smaller goals mean that small children won’t have to defend the same size goal as the likes of Joe Hart and Petr Cech anymore, says Nick Levett, FA National Development Manager.

The Respect League has implemented 100% of the recommendations including year round Futsal to improve players’ technique. We play 60 matches a season, broken up into blocks of 3-6 weeks and gradually introduce round-robin cups and the innovative Circle League.

Other changes include using a blue card (instant 2-min sin bin) rather than the adult yellow card and a ban on slide tackling until children are old enough to have more control: 25% of all serious injuries are from clumsy and reckless sliding tackles.

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