Psychology Chartered

Schools’ Football Week 2020 – ROUND-UP

Posted by Jasmine

24th February 2020

By Nathan Harper and Jasmine Hine

Awareness Week: 3rd – 7th February

Overview

This awareness week dedicated to participation in school football was a chance to highlight and celebrate the huge scale of work and impact school football has had to date. It is an initiative led by England Schools’ Football Association (ESFA) and its aim is to encourage participation in the sport as well as to highlight the benefits of exercise and working as a team. It does also provide an opportunity to get together with friends and play the sport and for pupils to showcase their footballing talent.

The awareness week also does not include just playing football; it can also include various activities such as crossbar challenges or pupils wearing their favourite football shirts for the day to raise money for local charities.

It is also a vital event to promote the importance of taking part regardless of skill level. The Schools’ Football Governing Body has run this event for 3 years now with the aim to encourage as many schools and pupils to get involved as possible to spread awareness.

This year the awareness week has largely been a social media led campaign with twitter posts alone reaching 115,000 impressions (total number of individuals seeing the posts).

How did people get involved?

  • Register online at https://schoolsfootball.org
  • Photograph or comment upon your schools’ football week activities by tagging @SchoolsFootball on Twitter, Instagram and / or facebook or use the hastag #schoolsfootballweek
  • Schools can run tournaments for their pupils; this could be during a PE lesson, a lunch break, after school. Schools can adopt any format they like e.g. group stage and knockout or knockout only. Pupils could prepare by making banners to support teams.
  • Other subject lessons could incorporate football themes whilst learning to maintain the awareness throughout the week
  • You could arrange matches or a tournament with other local schools or staff or parents.
  • You could arrange free coaching sessions
  • Various football related challenges such as crossbar challenge

Facts

  • 500 schools in England have register to take part in the last 2 years
  • Over 6,500 teams are taking part in the secondary school competitions this season
  • Prizes available to winning schools / teams

Why is this good for Children’s well-being?

The ESFA highlights 15 benefits of taking part in Schools’ Football week:

  • Improves cognitive, social, emotional and intellectual skills
  • Provides opportunities to develop healthy and positive friendships
  • Activity improves brain function
  • Provides a positive impact of children’s behaviour and truancy at school and at home
  • Encourages children to feel part of a team
  • Can improve academic achievements
  • Teaches how to be respectful to one another
  • Encourages teamwork
  • Enhances positive decision making
  • Improves communication skills
  • Improves problems solving
  • Reduces anxiety and stress
  • Helps builds resilience
  • Reduces obesity
  • Provides sense of pride to be representing school

 

References

 

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