Europe marks UEFA Grassroots Week
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Article summary
Events across Europe have marked the first UEFA Grassroots Week, held in partnership with the European Commission and their Week of Sport.
Article top media content
Article body
UEFA's first Grassroots Week took place in September, aligned with the European Commission's week of sport. Activities took place across many of the 54 member associations, including many highlights.
Austria
The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) organised a day of sport in September, including tournaments for boys (Under-13) and girls (Under-14) in partnership with the city of Vienna. They also included a street football concept where four-a-side matches took place, ending only when 100 players had taken part on both teams. The street court emphasises the fact that football is a sport for all.
Germany
A grassroots tournament known as the 'Recreational Players' Cup' was organised on 12 September in Gelsenkirchen. This followed a fair play campaign the previous week pegged to the European Qualifiers match between Germany and Poland, which extended the importance of the handshake to amateur matches and spread messages of fair play via social media.
Latvia
A series of activities were arranged, aimed at involving the widest cross section of society possible in football. Under the motto of 'Have football in your yard', a large variety of people were encouraged to organise all kind of creative football-related activities, which were then highlighted on the Latvian Football Federation (LFF) website. Events were also organised directly by the LFF, such as the 'Live your goals' festival for girls aged between 6 and 12, targeting increased participation. As this coincided with Fathers' Day, all dads that accompanied their daughter to the event received tickets to the European Qualifiers match between Latvia and Kazakhstan on 13 October. 'Football Day' was also supported by Latvian celebrities, who played an exhibition match against the women's national team.
Malta
Football nurseries were used to celebrate UEFA Grassroots Week with events held across the country, kicking off at Pembroke and Marsaxlokk on 8 September. Each participating nursery was supplied with footballs as well as T-shirts, which were provided by UEFA.
Montenegro
Four primary schools from the south of the country took part in a football promotion in Kotor on 10 September. More than 200 boys and girls were involved, including the youngest players and coaches of FC Bokelj, the local host club.
Serbia
A football festival for boys and girls in Gornji Milanovac was held as an aperitif to the UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying match between Serbia and Lithuania. Around 100 youngsters actively participated in the festival and were given support by senior members of the Football Association of Serbia (FSS).
Switzerland
The focus was on physical coordination in the Fribourg region, in order to highlight its importance to youngsters and coaches. Various coaching and refereeing courses were organised during the week, which also included a festival for players between five and ten years of age, where the emphasis was on dribbling, shooting and speed.
Turkey
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) celebrated UEFA Grassroots Week in 14 different cities. Throughout the week, small-sided games (two against two) were arranged as well as dribbling, juggling and penalty shoot-out competitions. Almost 2,500 youngsters between the ages of six and 12 participated.
