Fitness for Football focus

A Fitness for Football seminar, held under the auspices of UEFA’s Study Group Scheme (SGS) programme, has taken place in Belgium and has involved coaches, coach educators, fitness coaches and medical experts from six European national associations.

The hosts, the Royal Belgian Football Association (URBSFA/KBVB), were joined at the national training centre, near Brussels, by visiting delegations from Andorra, Bulgaria, Greece, Switzerland and Ukraine for four days of presentations, discussions and practical training – all linked to the objective of bringing together football training and fitness training for players' maximum benefit.

A successful pilot phase is being followed by a series of seminars across Europe under the SGS programme, which is bringing associations together to exchange expertise and know-how in the technical sector for the overall benefit of European football.

UEFA has taken up the 'Fitness for Football' baton in response to feedback from its member associations, and is helping to raise awareness of correct facets of fitness training which is specific to football – aimed at achieving peak performance and support injury prevention.

Consequently, UEFA is promoting a strong football-specific message, and is motivating associations to work on integrating appropriate fitness topics within coach education programmes. A key discussion point is that alongside skills development, players must also be fit enough to maintain these skills over a season – meaning that football-specific fitness training must be part of the players' training programme. Fitness for Football is proving to be important in nurturing dialogue between coach educators and fitness experts.

Topics dealt with in discussion and practical sessions in Belgium covered, among others, the Fitness for Football philosophy, the physical demands of the game on players, athletic training for football, how to keep players fit and on the pitch, and youth player development. Presentations were given by UEFA instructors Dr Paul Balsom, Prof. Jan Ekstrand, Sigmund Apold-Aasen and Andreas Morisbak, and guest speakers came from within the URBSFA/KBVB coach education and national team fitness coaching teams, and physical coaches from leading Belgian club Club Brugge KV. Each of the visiting associations also took the opportunity to give presentations on the topics covered at the seminar.

The seminar provided a perfect example of how an association can learn from UEFA's guidance, and how co-operation can lead to new methods – in this case, the Belgian 'cross method', where the country’s Flemish and French-speaking football communities have merged their philosophies together to further develop fitness preparation for players, in a general desire for overall improvement. This follows discussions influenced by deliberations at a previous UEFA Fitness for Football pilot course.

UEFA's head of football education services, Frank Ludolph, took the opportunity to highlight the success of the UEFA Study Group Scheme. Over six seasons, he said, 39 UEFA member associations had hosted 304 seminars, and over 10,000 football technicians had been involved. Ludolph explained that UEFA has now made the decision to revamp the SGS programme with a new format which aims to provide the same fundamental benefits of sharing technical information and expertise, while taking a more specific approach to the topics that are included in the scheme.

The Study Group Scheme's new form gives every association the possibility to visit four associations over the course of this season and next season. The programme for each visit is now specifically based on three pillars – coach education, women's football and grassroots football (and specific sub-categories). Fitness for Football, said Ludolph, was one of the main coach education topics that visiting associations could choose as the key item for a seminar such as the one in Belgium. In 2015, four more Fitness for Football seminars are planned as part of the UEFA Study Group Scheme, to be staged by Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden.