My son's Under 9s match has just been called off...

Pavilionaire · Feb 14, 2015

In a week when the Premier League have signed a megabucks deal that will further polarise the haves and have nots, and when Roy Hodgson will be picking an England squad woefully short of genuine world class players the lack of all-weather pitches means my son's football match has yet again been called off.

We've had one home match in 18 weeks. Games have been called off for a light dusting of snow and some overnight rain making the pitch a bit soggy, not just at our place but Hurstpierpoint, Horsham, Crawley.

Maybe if the Prem and FA bosses gave a sh1t they'd work with schools and councils to install some all-weather facilities. It's always the youngest kids that get their games called off, and at Under 9 level you can see this is exactly the age when they form their technique.

You want a decent England team? It won't happen until we start creating better facilities at grass roots level.

Driver8 · Feb 14, 2015

Perhaps kids football should be a summer sport. Better chance of playing then.

Pavilionaire · Feb 14, 2015

Summer is for friends and family to enjoy when the weather is at its best. This is purely about all-weather pitches.

turienzo's lovechild · Feb 14, 2015

i think (hope) the FA care about this kind of stuff...unfortunately it's the PL with the money and I'm not convinced they're fussed at all

Hampster Gull · Feb 14, 2015

The PL don't care and never will. They are huge businesses focused on their own wealth

Pavilionaire · Feb 14, 2015

Ironically, my son's club and Chelsea have a relationship, and he attended weekly Chelsea indoor training at Ford on Wednesday nights.

LamieRobertson · Feb 14, 2015

Pavilionaire said:
In a week when the Premier League have signed a megabucks deal that will further polarise the haves and have nots, and when Roy Hodgson will be picking an England squad woefully short of genuine world class players the lack of all-weather pitches means my son's football match has yet again been called off.

We've had one home match in 18 weeks. Games have been called off for a light dusting of snow and some overnight rain making the pitch a bit soggy, not just at our place but Hurstpierpoint, Horsham, Crawley.

Maybe if the Prem and FA bosses gave a sh1t they'd work with schools and councils to install some all-weather facilities. It's always the youngest kids that get their games called off, and at Under 9 level you can see this is exactly the age when they form their technique.

You want a decent England team? It won't happen until we start creating better facilities at grass roots level.

Shouldn't that be at artificial roots?

Return of the Rev · Feb 14, 2015

My son plays u18 county football and theses pitches are not much better,if 3g pitches could be funded at county level this would give these clubs income and make community facilities an option,thus getting local clubs to provide opportunities that the council won't.

User removed 4 · Feb 14, 2015

Driver8 said:
Perhaps kids football should be a summer sport. Better chance of playing then.

Good idea that, my kids haven't played for weeks due to waterlogged or frozen pitches.

big nuts · Feb 14, 2015

Said the same thing yesterday. Kids football becomes a game of territory when pitches cut up badly. It becomes a game where battling and physical strength dominate rather than skill and technique.

No wonder we get dominated in major tournaments as we still haven't grasped the basics of ball retention.

It's nothing short of a disgrace how the money is distributed with a fair proportion going out of the game on agents fees and wages. The average Premier League wage is now £30,000 a staggering sum baring in mind all the first year professionals and reserve players.

Megazone · Feb 14, 2015

9 year old Kids shouldn't be playing 11 a-side football. We should take the Dutch example and push close ball skills on kids rather than the competitive side to the game of winning and losing.

Pavilionaire · Feb 14, 2015

8 and 9 year old kids play 7 a side, my son is almost 9 and he's never played 11 a side in his life.

PILTDOWN MAN · Feb 14, 2015

Megazone said:
9 year old Kids shouldn't be playing 11 a-side football. We should take the Dutch example and push close ball skills on kids rather than the competitive side to the game of winning and losing.

They don't

Megazone · Feb 14, 2015

PILTDOWN MAN said:
They don't

What age do they start playing 11 a-side now?

I used to pay for junior seagulls. We had an 11 a-side team when I was 10 years old.

PILTDOWN MAN · Feb 14, 2015

Megazone said:
What age do they start playing 11 a-side now?

I used to pay for junior seagulls. We had an 11 a-side team when I was 10 years old.

U13 on a specific size pitch and goals with size 4 ball.

Megazone · Feb 14, 2015

PILTDOWN MAN said:
U13 on a specific size pitch and goals with size 4 ball.

That's a bit better than it was. I'd still say it's too early.

What age do they start in the Netherlands?

PILTDOWN MAN · Feb 14, 2015

Megazone said:
That's a bit better than it was. I'd still say it's too early.

What age do they start in the Netherlands?

The structure the FA insist on is much the same as any other country. Non competitive up to u11 and u 12 next year I believe where no results are published or league tables.

Kinky Gerbil · Feb 14, 2015

Pavilionaire said:
In a week when the Premier League have signed a megabucks deal that will further polarise the haves and have nots, and when Roy Hodgson will be picking an England squad woefully short of genuine world class players the lack of all-weather pitches means my son's football match has yet again been called off.

We've had one home match in 18 weeks. Games have been called off for a light dusting of snow and some overnight rain making the pitch a bit soggy, not just at our place but Hurstpierpoint, Horsham, Crawley.

Maybe if the Prem and FA bosses gave a sh1t they'd work with schools and councils to install some all-weather facilities. It's always the youngest kids that get their games called off, and at Under 9 level you can see this is exactly the age when they form their technique.

You want a decent England team? It won't happen until we start creating better facilities at grass roots level.

It's not the same (I've just about given up hope of making the big time) but we have had 3 games since 8th - 14 weeks and I am imagining today's will be called off despite it not raining till yesterday since slightly last wed.

I saw somewhere that they are considering moving ametuar football to the summer, which makes perfect sense - weekly matches for kids of grass.

Some of our players manage under 15/16 sides and some of them have had/will have trials at clubs but they are going to be woefully out of form when they get them, some of them lose interest because of lack of games.

But from a selfish point of view I am seriously questioning if it's worth the hassle any more - it's so frustrating, which will be 10 times worse for a 15/16 year old who is told not to go out with mates as they have a game the next day only for it to be called off

Megazone · Feb 14, 2015

PILTDOWN MAN said:
The structure the FA insist on is much the same as any other country. Non competitive up to u11 and u 12 next year I believe where no results are published or league tables.

I thought in Holland they separated the ages by every 2 years and youth academy's teams like Ajax would still play grass root level teams?

User removed 4 · Feb 14, 2015

turienzo's lovechild said:
i think (hope) the FA care about this kind of stuff...unfortunately it's the PL with the money and I'm not convinced they're fussed at all

the premier league couldn't give a toss, this is a good article.

http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...all-is-no-longer-englands-its-just-a-backdrop

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