Get Organised

Getting involved in grassroots football

There won't be many kids who don't have some contact with grassroots football at some point. They will almost certainly have some involvement with football at school. This might be in PE lessons, it might be in the junior school team and then onwards through their time in education. Then there are the thousands of clubs that exist to provide mini, junior and youth football the length and breadth of the UK.

Football remains a male-dominated world, but footy mums are there week in and week out supporting their kids. Many would like to get more involved, but breaking down some of the male barriers perhaps puts some off. Don't be!

If there's one thing all teams need, it's volunteers. Any offers of help are met with open arms so here's a few suggestions of what you could help with.

Manager/Coach

Becoming a manager and/or coach is fairly straightforward. The best way is to get yourself on a suitable course. All the national associations run a variety of courses through their regional organisation throughout the year so there should be one near you at some point. You can access all the governing bodies of the game via the links section.

Club administration

It is common for clubs to run a number of teams so there is a considerable administrative workload to keep the club running well. Each club will generally have a committee of volunteers who take on this task. Some of the key roles are:

Fundraising

There won't be many teams that won't need to fundraise at some point; there will be a limit to how deep parent's pockets can be. If you are happy to get stuck in to raising funds, you'll be a big asset to the club and also extremely popular! It is often used to raise cash for some particular training equipment, kit that a team needs or, perhaps, for an end of season social event for the players to attend.

Match day helper

Collect the 'subs'. Most teams collect 'subs' off each player at every game. This is normally a few £'s to cover the basic costs of running the team – it can also be something of an administrative nightmare for the hard-pressed manager! There is always one child who forgets to bring their money so this is an important task to stay on top of. It's easy, just download our template form here and you're away!

Referee

What, me referee?!! Why not? This really is a critical role; without referees there would be no league football. There are only 17 laws so there isn't that much to take on! It would be fair to say that referring at mini-football level is all about the spirit of the game rather than sticking to the letter of the law.

Helping out at school

Most schools actively encourage parental involvement, particularly in junior schools. If you have a spare hour or two to help with school football it is likely that you'll be warmly welcomed - all the better if you have a coaching qualification, but any practical help will be appreciated.