Courtesy: The FA.com

I can't wait!

By Graeme Dell

Tuesday, 23 October 2007

Hello again. No matter what sport you’re into, there’s been plenty to keep sports fans occupied over the past couple of weeks but little to get England cheering sadly.

I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again, but the Rugby World Cup and specifically the attitude of players to referees and vice-versa has shown a terrific example to other sports. I’ve read so many fantastic articles in the broadsheets on the subject and we really have so much to learn from rugby and the sooner we can do this, the better.

Rugby is a far more technical game than many other sports but there are few decisions the referee’s get wrong – maybe Mark Cueto’s disallowed try in the Final on Saturday was a bit harsh but how well was that decision respected? Well done Rugby, we’re trailing in your wake!

As ever, the past couple of weeks have been busy but I’m not complaining. We’ve been trialing new players and also had another F30 session at Lilleshall.

There are so many players to review and it’s a constant treadmill. I invited 73 trialists to attend a new Futsal specific facility at Moulton College in Northampton ten days ago and 51 turned up throughout the day where we held a series of clinics designed to assess their abilities. The core principles of talent ID are well known, but I want to know about their basic ability, Futsal knowledge, technical capability and fitness. It’s also key that players possess an aptitude to being coached and knowledge retention is key to this, as is the ability to implement what you’ve been taught.

Overall, I identified 21 who we’ll invite to the next stage of assessment in the coming weeks. As numbers go, that’s quite a high percentage but from this I would expect to see a couple really stand out once I start to work with them and I can have a much closer look at them within the F30 environment. I am hoping that this cycle of player assessment dates will continue throughout the country as more and more potential gets identified.

The F30 group met at Lilleshall this weekend and we had representatives from the Football League as well as youth team coaches from Bolton Wanderers, Wycombe and Brentford in attendance. They were randomly selected and came following our invitation to see what Futsal is all about and with a view as to how we can more closely integrate what we’re doing with their Academy and Centres of Excellence work. I’m pleased that they found it both enlightening and informative and I think we have the foundations for moving Futsal forward as a key part of player development in the professional clubs.

I’ve now confirmed my squad to face Andorra at Bath next week and have recalled some of the older players who were released from F30 after our European Championship campaign in Romania earlier in the year. The simple factor is that the newer recruits need more time to become Futsal aware and consequently I have to get a blend of experience and fresh blood.

I would never expect anyone to stand in my way of an opportunity, initial or otherwise and I certainly have no intention of doing that with any player so the experienced lads are included with my full support. Whilst they may not be the long-term solution we do need some cohesion and experience.

We have now had some progress in the development of a National Futsal League, which has been discussed at great length by the small-sided game committee. I share the view that it’s still too early for a full National League and as much as the current clubs think they’re ready for it, there is still no evidence coming forward that they are in the numbers we require. We’ll have a single chance to do it right and when we do, it has to be thoroughly thought through and financially supported.

So, the interim plan is for three regional leagues to be set up, which will offer regular fixtures at specified regional venues and which will play throughout the season. Our own England players need match experience and we also have to create formats which will assist in the development of players for England.

Our concept therefore is to have an F30 Development Group play in each league which should see the better English players in each region playing more regularly and they will be set up like a club and have regular training sessions each week. These regional groups will in turn feed in to the Elite F30 Group, but as yet we have to decide when and where they’ll be based. The challenge now is to establish some partnering to ensure that we offer them the best support services and training facilities.

Athlete development in any sport requires time at task and at the moment our players aren’t playing enough Futsal. In the main, that’s down to a lack of opportunity and proper league and club structures which can provide those chances, so this is key progress in addressing the current deficiencies and I welcome the downscaled proposals as a first step. Finance is of course a key factor and we still have to wait for that to be ratified, which will then determine the start date but all in all, it’s great news.

We join up as a squad at the end of the week so it’s a case of a final check on everything this week, but I can’t wait for the two games. Monday’s game kicks-off at 7pm and on Tuesday at 5pm at the English Institute of Sport based at the University of Bath so I hope to see some of you there.

Graeme



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com