Open to secondary school students, the “Football for schools” project was launched in September in France. Goals ? Promote the establishment of a football or futsal EPS cycle and highlight educational and sporting values.
As part of the agreement signed in April 2022 between the FFF, FIFA, the Ministry of National Education and Youth and the UNSS aimed at strengthening the place of football at school, a new program dedicated to colleges was born “Football for schools”.
The project was launched on Monday, September 19, at the Grands Champs college in Poissy (Yvelines), an establishment which benefits from a mixed school sports section system. In the presence of around thirty personalities including Fatimata Sow Sidibé, FIFA director of the Football for schools programme, Kohzo Tashima, member of the FIFA Council and president of the Japanese Federation, Charline Avenel, rector of the Versailles Academy, Philippe Limouzin, Sport technical advisor to the DGESCO, Olivier Giraud, UNSS national director, and Karl Olive, deputy for Yvelines and former mayor of Poissy, nearly a hundred 4th grade schoolchildren, accompanied by their Physical Education teachers and sport, were able to test different workshops from the program: technical workshops, 4 versus 3 (or 5 versus 4) situations and matches allowed each student to learn football for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
2
France is the second European country to adopt the program.
17
Countries have joined Football for schools.
6th to 3rd
The project concerns pupils – girls and boys – in secondary schools.
4th grade students from the Grands Champs de Poissy college (photo FFF).
In addition to the « Foot à l’école » operations, specific to primary schools, and « La fortnight du football », intended for high schools, this program, initiated by UNESCO and the FIFA Foundation, has several objectives:
- Promote the establishment of EPS football or futsal cycle within colleges;
- Develop educational and sporting values;
- Create an associative and positive dynamic within the establishment via football.
To take part in this programme, teachers must download the “Football for schools” app:
► Go to the search or download applications section of your smartphone (App Store or Google Play)
► Download (free of charge) the « Football for schools » application
► Click on the app icon and fill in the requested information (contact details, name of the establishment, etc.).
« Football for schools » will reward a double project open to classes, school sports associations or school sports sections articulated around two axes:
- Carrying out a football or futsal sporting activity
- The production of an audio/video/photo production aimed at highlighting the holding of the 2024 Olympic Games in France
Registrations are open on the application until April 7, 2023.
The settlement of the operation
In order to support the establishments’ commitment, the regional and departmental referents are present to support each project. The list of contacts to contact is available here.
This new program aims to revitalize fooball in the best “secondary” schools and more precisely in colleges. The proximity to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is a major opportunity on which to rely in order to develop sports practice.
Thanks
The FFF would like to thank FIFA and its interlocutors, Alexandre Gros and Antonio Buenano, the Ligue de Paris Île-de-France represented by its regional technical advisers, Céline Lapertot and Michel Robles, as well as the educational team of the Collège des Grands Champs represented by Sandrine Felquin (school principal) and Ali Ramdane (his assistant) for their welcome and the participation of the students in this event.
