A&H

Junior/Youth What do I do??

(I suppose it's my own fault for being a bit vague with the question I asked) but that's not quite what I was driving at.

I too have slight experience of the same issue in one of the leagues in which I operate where around 5 teams/clubs folded halfway through the season. My understanding of it however, was that it was due more to the lack of admin availability ie volunteers to coach/run preside over the club that led to them falling by the wayside - not lack of actual players. I recall one of the team managers telling me that all the players (adult that is) were happy to turn up to train during the week and play on a Saturday, so long as it was all laid on for them - nobody ever wanted to take on the other stuff - including the financial aspects of it.

Irrespective of whatever that may or may not indicate, the fact remains that in my experience kids who have

a. An ability for football

or

b. An enjoyment of playing football

will always do so, so long as they're supported in it by their parents. I don't believe for one minute that getting hammered in any way directly affects retention so as to make a major difference in grass roots other than natural wastage. The issues some of you may be encountering at adult level aren't connected. (IMO). :)
 
The Referee Store
When I started, we had two Sunday leagues in Thanet, both with 3 divisions, all of which were full. We didn't have enough pitches or Referees for the number of games, so some games had to be played in the afternoon. The leagues merged in 2005, and we now have one league with three divisions. There are not as many teams in these divisions as there used to be in the old leagues, so there are fewer than half the number of teams that there were twenty years ago. Our saturday league folded completely for lack of teams. There are many reasons for this, one of which is the admin side, but lack of players is also a definite reason. We've had several teams fold part way through because they could not field 11 players because they lost heavily week after week. It doesn't always follow, but it's more likely if the team keep losing that they won't want to show up. The guy paying the bills also doesn't get so much money so can't afford to pay for pitches, refs etc so also feels less like turning up.
One of the teams in the premier division have kept going even though they can only get 8 or 9 players. I had them a few weeks ago, and they'd just lost two players to the top team in the division, who now have 40 players signed up. These players obviously aren't playing every week, but they'd rather be signed for a good team but not play than play for a poor one. The poor team won the premier division a few years ago, so they haven't always been bad.
 
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In Herts, i'd estimate that 50% of Sunday League games got a ref ten years ago. Now however, a newly qualified ref might need to be patient to get a Sunday appt. Even more so for local leagues on Saturdays who can afford the luxury of NARs for prem games. Youth football is a different matter. Millions of games, but most lose interest before reaching Open Age. Its a crisis!!!!
 
I was offered a game today to which I politely refused and pointed him in direction of County FA.
Not sure what the situation. Is locally but my guess is there is a Ref shortage away from top leagues but there are a lot of leagues!
 
Player retention is a challenge from the point kids start playing. Look at the logistical challenges alone...

U8 and below - 6-a-side. Minimum viable squad size: 8
U9 and U10: 7-a-side. Min squad: 10
U11 and U12: 9-a-side. Min Squad: 12
U13 and up: 11-a-side. Min squad: 13+

The minimum squad size recognises that you won't be able to get every child for every game - sickness, holidays, other commitments etc. Teams do struggle by on less, but ideally these are the minimums you'll be looking at.

Your first challenge is when you move up to the next step, e.g. U8 to U9, U10 to U11, and U12 to U13. For those clubs that have multiple teams at an age group, then you fold excess players down in to larger squads across less teams. But if you only have one viable team, you go up across that age-group / team size boundary, and you're struggling.

You then have the challenge (in our area) when moving from U11 to U12's. U11 and below in our local league is Saturday, U12's and up is Sunday. You then have the fight between football, rugby and church. You inevitably lose some players to the battle.

By the time players are hitting U14 / U15 you're getting the hormones flowing, and some players will be sporadic at best in whether they turn out for matches or training.

U16's have exams and girlfriends/boyfriends/parties. The start of Sunday morning can't be arsed syndrome.

Then you hit U17/U18, and you have Saturday / Sunday jobs kicking in.

By the time you get the pass-out parade of moving up to the seniors squad, you looking at a number you can count on one hand if you've had a finger or two amputated.

Throw in to the mix bad league management, because you really do see players stop turning up if they are consistently hammered, and its a continuous struggle.

Plus the management of the new player pipeline that you need at the lower age-groups to keep, and running a football team turns from hard in to really, really difficult.

Add to that the "snowflake" generation where parents have to be really hassled to get involved in the club - whether that be putting up/taking down the goals, helping out by selling teas/coffees, getting involved for an hour or two over a tournament weekend - you wonder why there are any youth football clubs left.

Some of those parents need to feel the joy of seeing hundreds of kids running around enjoying themselves at a tournament, staying healthy, keeping fit, having a laugh with their mates, suffering loss, celebrating wins, building a team spirit, gaining independence, learning to look after themselves, having pride in their kit, the club that they play for... whilst appreciating that all of this does not magically appear out of thin air - it needs time, energy and cold hard money to provide.

Gosh, is it local election time soon? :D
 
Used to have maximum squad size of 16 for 11 a side when I was a kid. Now you get teams with 30 kids signed to the top clubs and the lesser clubs struggle for players.
 
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