UEFA Grassroots Week: Legends team up with local children in Prague
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
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Grassroots festival celebrates UEFA's €22 million commitment to Football in Schools initiative, which has already helped three million young children across Europe to enjoy the game.
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UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin was joined by footballing legends and local schoolchildren in Prague on Monday to celebrate the extension of the Football in Schools programme.
Sixty young players rubbed shoulders with UEFA Champions League winners Luís Figo, Eric Abidal and Vladimír Šmicer, as well as Aljoša Asanović, Patrik Berger, Jan Koller, Simona Necidová and Karel Poborský in a festival of fun and friendly football at a grassroots facility in the Czech capital.
The event was organised in collaboration with the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR), following the renewal of our Europe-wide Football in Schools initiative that has so far helped more than three million children to play the game. It follows similar activities with President Čeferin and former stars in Slovenia, Moldova, Croatia and Cyprus in recent years.
"Football in Schools is always a great event. It's great that these children can meet their idols, these former superstars, and play with them. They will never forget this experience.
"Children can learn so many values from the beautiful game, so it is imperative that we provide these opportunities. I am delighted that we will continue with this successful programme over the next four years."
What is the UEFA Football in Schools programme?
Launched in 2020, Football in Schools provides funding to Europe's national football associations to help them deliver specialised football programmes from nursery and primary schools through to secondary schools and even universities.
More than 80,000 teachers have received training on how to deliver effective coaching sessions, promoting a healthy and active lifestyle for their pupils as well as helping them fall in love with the beautiful game and develop their skills from an early age.
Following the programme's initial success between 2020 and 2024, UEFA will invest a further €11m between now and 2028 to support more projects.
"I'm very pleased to be here with so many youngsters who love football. It gives us joy to see the happiness and smiles of the kids. Time flies and when it's like that, it's because you are having a good time.
"It's very important to promote the game across Europe and help the kids practice our sport. At this age, the most important thing is to have fun and to enjoy being with your friends."
Unforgettable memories for young players
The event took place during UEFA Grassroots Week, which shines the bright floodlights of European football on some of the game's lesser-known stories and heroes.
Grassroots football forms the solid foundation for elite football and UEFA competitions to thrive and we are committed to supporting its enduring success. In Prague, there were smiles everywhere as young boys and girls threw themselves into action alongside some of the game's greats, with a series of skills challenges and EA SPORTS FC gaming stations also set up to enhance the morning's fun.
"It is a superb event for the kids who can meet such iconic players as Luís Figo or Eric Abidal," said former Czech international Jan Koller. "It is generally important for children to be active and play sport. It is not that important that it is football or any other sport, but it is superb for them to personally meet such iconic players, which makes their motivation bigger. What would I give for that when I was a boy in my era, to play against Maradona or any other superstar!"
"It's always good to be part of UEFA grassroots projects and spend time with the kids. It's a good experience and we were like them many years ago.
"Programmes like this are unbelievable – we know that football has a huge social impact, all the kids have a dream to play, so this is a big help for them and their future."
Czech success offers bright future
In Czechia, the FAČR has worked hard to grow its grassroots football community, meeting its target of registering 360,000 players by the end of this year and boasting some 3,500 clubs across the nation.
"We have been supporting grassroots football for a long time," says head of grassroots Otakar Mestek. "The concept is football for everybody and football for life. We are trying to get as many people as possible in Czechia involved in the best possible way.
"Our programmes for children are divided into two halves – the first is supporting schools and improving sporting activities and cultures, the second is supporting clubs and showing them how to enroll kids and start their teams. Like UEFA, we want to make football the most popular sport among our children and young people, but we also aim our activities at veterans. If you come to a walking football event for the veterans, you will see the same enthusiasm as you saw at this festival for children."