Scottish Youth Football

[R'Albin]

I come back from my game today battered and bruised and have an aboslutely thumping headache, and I was thinking- Why do I bother doing this? It's not like I have to, or I get paid to? I absolutely love playing football, there isn't many things that I enjoy doing more, but I'm sorry juvenile football is an absolute joke and it's not even fun anymore, and that's what football is mean't to be about isn't it?.

Surely if we want Scottish football to improve we have to start at grass roots, and we have to keep kids interested?

-Kick off times, Saturday 2pm, silly IMO because it means the kids playing and their parent won't be able to see their local team if they are playing. I have a mate who has had a season ticket at Pittodrie since he was 5, but this year he has to give it up because he can't make any of the Saturday matches. Now, the reason they have these kick offs is because there might be school football on earlier in the day, why can't the school football then be changed to a Sunday once we reach the age of playing Sat kick off's in juvenile football? Is there no form of communication between the schools and the Juvenile association(or the ADJFA as they are call here)?

-Referees, Now I know these guys give up their spare time for hardly any money, but some of them are absolutely horrendous and don't know the rules. Couple of seasons ago I saved a pen fairly and the ref forced the guy to retake because I moved before the ball was kicked- That rule doesn't even exist anymore!! :grr: But anyway maybe I'm being a little hipocritical there:greengrin

-Parents, Some of them seem to think they are Football geniuses, and can tell us what to do even if it contrasts what the coach says. And some of them are more interested in picking fights with the opposition fans than the actual game!

-The "ADJFA", These guys are an absolute shambles, we don't get a fixture list at the start of a season, we get told a few days before a game who we are playing, which tbh isn't a major hassle but it could easily be sorted. Last season my team played 22 games in the league, we played 12 of those in the 5 weeks, yes I understand that the winter was horrendous and we had to go 3 months without playing but surely it's just common sense to start the season as soon as the schools are back and play midweek games earlier in the year when the pitches are still good? Also, there have been a lot of teams folding over the summer, I think the league could have maybe tried to help the teams that were folding merge with each other. Because in the bottom league there are only 6 teams! Ridiculous! The suspensions are also of a ludicruous length and yellow cards carry on from season to season which is also ridiculous.

-Coaches, Now there are a lot of reasons that I just explained about youth football being bad, but the Coaches have to be the biggest problem with Scottish youth football and tbh Scottish football at the moment. My new coach to be fair to him is a really nice guy, and gets us playing passing football. We used to get away with this, but now we can't and other teams totally bully us out of games. Other teams coaches are so unbelievably short sighted it's unreal! THey don't think about how they are affecting Scottish football, by just getting all the big players and hoofing up the pitch. This means that a lot of smaller players even if they are of better quality than the bigger guys, get fed up of this and just give up playing football althogether. Gamesmanship is also a big issue, there was a guy today who was off the pitch injured, then he proceeded to walk on the pitch and the fall down to waste time.

All these things are part of the reason so many kids are quitting football, even if they are decent players, they are probably fed up of getting a bollocking for doing something wrong or being kicked off the park and nothing being done about it. Scottish football is never going to improve until we look at the bigger picture, not just the short term future of the game.

[DaveF]

I come back from my game today battered and bruised and have an aboslutely thumping headache, and I was thinking- Why do I bother doing this? It's not like I have to, or I get paid to? I absolutely love playing football, there isn't many things that I enjoy doing more, but I'm sorry juvenile football is an absolute joke and it's not even fun anymore, and that's what football is mean't to be about isn't it?.

Surely if we want Scottish football to improve we have to start at grass roots, and we have to keep kids interested?

-Kick off times, Saturday 2pm, silly IMO because it means the kids playing and their parent won't be able to see their local team if they are playing. I have a mate who has had a season ticket at Pittodrie since he was 5, but this year he has to give it up because he can't make any of the Saturday matches. Now, the reason they have these kick offs is because there might be school football on earlier in the day, why can't the school football then be changed to a Sunday once we reach the age of playing Sat kick off's in juvenile football? Is there no form of communication between the schools and the Juvenile association(or the ADJFA as they are call here)?

-Referees, Now I know these guys give up their spare time for hardly any money, but some of them are absolutely horrendous and don't know the rules. Couple of seasons ago I saved a pen fairly and the ref forced the guy to retake because I moved before the ball was kicked- That rule doesn't even exist anymore!! :grr: But anyway maybe I'm being a little hipocritical there:greengrin

-Parents, Some of them seem to think they are Football geniuses, and can tell us what to do even if it contrasts what the coach says. And some of them are more interested in picking fights with the opposition fans than the actual game!

-The "ADJFA", These guys are an absolute shambles, we don't get a fixture list at the start of a season, we get told a few days before a game who we are playing, which tbh isn't a major hassle but it could easily be sorted. Last season my team played 22 games in the league, we played 12 of those in the 5 weeks, yes I understand that the winter was horrendous and we had to go 3 months without playing but surely it's just common sense to start the season as soon as the schools are back and play midweek games earlier in the year when the pitches are still good? Also, there have been a lot of teams folding over the summer, I think the league could have maybe tried to help the teams that were folding merge with each other. Because in the bottom league there are only 6 teams! Ridiculous! The suspensions are also of a ludicruous length and yellow cards carry on from season to season which is also ridiculous.

-Coaches, Now there are a lot of reasons that I just explained about youth football being bad, but the Coaches have to be the biggest problem with Scottish youth football and tbh Scottish football at the moment. My new coach tbf to him is a really nice guy, and gets us playing passing football. We used to get away with this, but now we can't and other teams totally bully us out of games. Other teams coaches are so unbelievably short sighted it's unreal! THey don't think about how they are affecting Scottish football, by just getting all the big players and hoofing up the pitch. This means that a lot of smaller players even if they are of better quality than the bigger guys, get fed up of this and just give up playing football althogether. Gamesmanship is also a big issue, there was a guy today who was off the pitch injured, then he proceeded to walk on the pitch and the fall down to waste time.

All these things are part of the reason so many kids are quitting football, even if they are decent players, they are probably fed up of getting a bollocking for doing something wrong or being kicked off the park and nothing being done about it. Scottish football is never going to improve until we look at the bigger picture, not just the short term future of the game.

You're 15 and the bit in bold should the words worrying those who administer the game.

You'd probably have more fun playing 5s with your mates on a saturday morning rather than what you go through just now.

I was at my sons game this morning where the referee had to get both sets of coaches into the middle of the park to tell them to take it easy, such the volume of noise.

Add to that, the throwing of a water bottle by the the other teams coach (with spectators close by) when a decision didn't go his way, and you quickly see why kids can't be arsed with football anymore.

[Leishy1995]

My team today struggled to make it into the changing room due to the disrespectful abuse we recieved from the fans surrounding the entrance, we lost 4-3 and just wanted to get into the changing rooms and go home but for the second game against the same team their has been trouble after it. Some fans need to **** off.

[Magnifique]

My team today struggled to make it into the changing room due to the disrespectful abuse we recieved from the fans surrounding the entrance, we lost 4-3 and just wanted to get into the changing rooms and go home but for the second game against the same team their has been trouble after it. Some fans need to **** off.

If you remember Ryan today's game was going well until midway through 2nd half at 1-1

Referee had an absolute shocking 10 minute spell ignoring Dillon getting a kick in the head with his hands on the ball which he then dropped and you score from, then gives you a penalty for what??????. , that's what got the crowd angry and they turned on you at the end

I hope you have a good season though good luck when you get a wee run

[TheEastTerrace]

I come back from my game today battered and bruised and have an aboslutely thumping headache, and I was thinking- Why do I bother doing this? It's not like I have to, or I get paid to? I absolutely love playing football, there isn't many things that I enjoy doing more, but I'm sorry juvenile football is an absolute joke and it's not even fun anymore, and that's what football is mean't to be about isn't it?.

Surely if we want Scottish football to improve we have to start at grass roots, and we have to keep kids interested?

-Kick off times, Saturday 2pm, silly IMO because it means the kids playing and their parent won't be able to see their local team if they are playing. I have a mate who has had a season ticket at Pittodrie since he was 5, but this year he has to give it up because he can't make any of the Saturday matches. Now, the reason they have these kick offs is because there might be school football on earlier in the day, why can't the school football then be changed to a Sunday once we reach the age of playing Sat kick off's in juvenile football? Is there no form of communication between the schools and the Juvenile association(or the ADJFA as they are call here)?

-Referees, Now I know these guys give up their spare time for hardly any money, but some of them are absolutely horrendous and don't know the rules. Couple of seasons ago I saved a pen fairly and the ref forced the guy to retake because I moved before the ball was kicked- That rule doesn't even exist anymore!! :grr: But anyway maybe I'm being a little hipocritical there:greengrin

-Parents, Some of them seem to think they are Football geniuses, and can tell us what to do even if it contrasts what the coach says. And some of them are more interested in picking fights with the opposition fans than the actual game!

-The "ADJFA", These guys are an absolute shambles, we don't get a fixture list at the start of a season, we get told a few days before a game who we are playing, which tbh isn't a major hassle but it could easily be sorted. Last season my team played 22 games in the league, we played 12 of those in the 5 weeks, yes I understand that the winter was horrendous and we had to go 3 months without playing but surely it's just common sense to start the season as soon as the schools are back and play midweek games earlier in the year when the pitches are still good? Also, there have been a lot of teams folding over the summer, I think the league could have maybe tried to help the teams that were folding merge with each other. Because in the bottom league there are only 6 teams! Ridiculous! The suspensions are also of a ludicruous length and yellow cards carry on from season to season which is also ridiculous.

-Coaches, Now there are a lot of reasons that I just explained about youth football being bad, but the Coaches have to be the biggest problem with Scottish youth football and tbh Scottish football at the moment. My new coach tbf to him is a really nice guy, and gets us playing passing football. We used to get away with this, but now we can't and other teams totally bully us out of games. Other teams coaches are so unbelievably short sighted it's unreal! THey don't think about how they are affecting Scottish football, by just getting all the big players and hoofing up the pitch. This means that a lot of smaller players even if they are of better quality than the bigger guys, get fed up of this and just give up playing football althogether. Gamesmanship is also a big issue, there was a guy today who was off the pitch injured, then he proceeded to walk on the pitch and the fall down to waste time.

All these things are part of the reason so many kids are quitting football, even if they are decent players, they are probably fed up of getting a bollocking for doing something wrong or being kicked off the park and nothing being done about it. Scottish football is never going to improve until we look at the bigger picture, not just the short term future of the game.

I think this is a very pertinent post.

How about tweeting a link to your post to Stewart Regan https://twitter.com/#!/StewartRegan He's pretty reponsive to interaction on Twitter - never know, hearing from one involved in youth football may encourage the SFA to seek other young players for feedback.

[frazeHFC]

Most of my high school games and boys club games had at least 1 incident of people squaring up to each other, or in some cases a fight whether it be pushing or proper fighting. During an incident of pushing or squaring up it can be motivating to go on and win the match, but it just enhances more trouble or bad tackles.

It needs to be cut out!

[R'Albin]

I think this is a very pertinent post.

How about tweeting a link to your post to Stewart Regan https://twitter.com/#!/StewartRegan He's pretty reponsive to interaction on Twitter - never know, hearing from one involved in youth football may encourage the SFA to seek other young players for feedback.

Thanks for that mate, Just have done:aok:

[R'Albin]

He did respond:aok:

StewartRegan (http://www.hibs.net/#!/StewartRegan)Stewart M. Regan@



@Ralbin1875 (http://twitter.com/Ralbin1875) Very good piece. Agree with you especially with reference to coaching, role of parents and kick-off times. We're about to look*

Then...

StewartRegan (http://www.hibs.net/#!/StewartRegan)Stewart M. Regan@


@Ralbin1875 (http://twitter.com/Ralbin1875) *at regional structures so will bear your comments in mind. Enjoy your football and stick with it!

Good to see he is taking the time to read these things...:agree:

[TheEastTerrace]

He did respond:aok:

StewartRegan (http://www.hibs.net/#!/StewartRegan)Stewart M. Regan@



@Ralbin1875 (http://twitter.com/Ralbin1875) Very good piece. Agree with you especially with reference to coaching, role of parents and kick-off times. We're about to look*

Then...

StewartRegan (http://www.hibs.net/#!/StewartRegan)Stewart M. Regan@


@Ralbin1875 (http://twitter.com/Ralbin1875) *at regional structures so will bear your comments in mind. Enjoy your football and stick with it!

Good to see he is taking the time to read these things...:agree:



Good to see mate - I've been impressed by Stewart Regan. Had a baptism of fire to deal with last season with all the OF nonsense, but what I've read and heard from him since is promising re: the future of Scottish football. Time will tell but breath of fresh air compared to Smith and the likes of George Peat.

Keep enjoying your fitba!:greengrin

[crash]

-Kick off times, Saturday 2pm, silly IMO because it means the kids playing and their parent won't be able to see their local team if they are playing. I have a mate who has had a season ticket at Pittodrie since he was 5, but this year he has to give it up because he can't make any of the Saturday matches. Now, the reason they have these kick offs is because there might be school football on earlier in the day, why can't the school football then be changed to a Sunday once we reach the age of playing Sat kick off's in juvenile football? Is there no form of communication between the schools and the Juvenile association(or the ADJFA as they are call here)?

-[B]
Surely the obvious thing would be to move the juvenile games to the sunday? This is what happens in Edinburgh, although from 17s upwards it switches to a Saturday.

[Billy Whizz]

Surely the obvious thing would be to move the juvenile games to the sunday? This is what happens in Edinburgh, although from 17s upwards it switches to a Saturday.

I would move SPL games to 2pm ko in the winter. It can be really cold waiting for teams to come out for the 2nd half at 4pm during November to February!
Just my view!

[R'Albin]

Surely the obvious thing would be to move the juvenile games to the sunday? This is what happens in Edinburgh, although from 17s upwards it switches to a Saturday.

I think the reason that they can't have too many Juvenile teams on a Sunday is because too many pitches are being used...

[bob12345]

Game times are simply because no matter where you go in Scotland referees are maxed out. You have to remember the same guys that do youth football probably do amateur and better ones run the line on semi pro games. Most do four games (Sat+Sun AM and PM) so you couldn't just move every bit of grass roots football to a Sunday.

My second point would be to post what you have done here at www.youthfootballscotland.co.uk/forum - this website has been set up specifically for people like yourself to voice their concerns to the ENTIRE youth football community, rather than shouting out to a minority.

Stick in.

[R'Albin]

Game times are simply because no matter where you go in Scotland referees are maxed out. You have to remember the same guys that do youth football probably do amateur and better ones run the line on semi pro games. Most do four games (Sat+Sun AM and PM) so you couldn't just move every bit of grass roots football to a Sunday.

My second suggestion would be to post what you have done at www.youthfootballscotland.co.uk/forum (http://www.youthfootballscotland.co.uk/forum) - this website has been set up specifically for people like yourself to voice their concerns to the ENTIRE youth football community, rather than shouting out to a minority.

Stick in.

Cheers mate :aok:

And I will be... :)

[crash]

I would move SPL games to 2pm ko in the winter. It can be really cold waiting for teams to come out for the 2nd half at 4pm during November to February!
Just my view!

Thats another thing, I never understood why pros need a 15 minute break when at all other levels its 5 minutes at the most. I would cut their half time break to 10 mins.