Give Us Back Our Game
Friday 29 June 2007
by John Atkin
from London

When Rick Fenoglio co-founded a grassroots campaign to reclaim children’s football from the suffocating dominance of pushy parents and overbearing coaches, he could scarcely have imagined the enormity of the response. With widespread coverage in the media and clubs signing up across the United Kingdom, Give Us Back Our Game seems to have touched a raw nerve.

Kes lesson
There is a scene from the classic 1969 film Kes that has rung bells with children watching it ever since. It shows a muddy school field in Barnsley where the dictatorial teacher Mr Sugden, played by Brian Glover, orchestrates a match between ’Manchester United FC’ and ’Tottenham Hotspur FC’. When not bawling at players, lamenting their failure to adhere to how he wants the game played, he is playing the role of Sir Bobby Charlton. Wearing the referee’s whistle and Charlton’s No9 shirt (though boasting none of his finesse), Mr Sugden fixes the game to make himself hero, pealing away in celebration when he scores a twice-taken penalty - much to the pupils’ consternation.

’Child empowerment’
It is an incident Chicago-born Fenoglio recalls as he discusses the exponential growth of Give Us Back Our Game, the movement he launched with Cirencester Town FC youth manager Paul Cooper in November 2006. "The campaign, it really hit home when we came up with the name - it sums up what we’re talking about," said Fenoglio, a lecturer in exercise and sports science at Manchester Metropolitan University. "It is about child empowerment, fun and making mistakes; taking the pressure off. Let them fall in love with the game - just let them go. Let the game be the teacher."

Huge response
With Mr Sugden representing the other side of the coin, it is a persuasive argument, and the enthusiastic reaction from the press and the public suggests they have already been won over. "The response has been phenomenal," Fenoglio enthused. "We seem to have hit all the right buttons. A lot of people have their own experiences of playing football as a child. Whether they fell in love with the beautiful game or have horrendous stories of coaches, referees and fights - everyone remembers. We’ve been overwhelmed. We’re thinking of creating another campaign called ’Give Us Back Our Lives’!"

Fresh format
It is a situation that would have seemed far-fetched nine months ago when Give Us Back Our Game started on the internet. The basic aim is to reverse the hijacking of youth sport by adults, to rid children’s football of its rigid format of eleven- or seven-a-side games, played in pristine kit, watched by baying, foul-mouthed parents and overseen by obsessive coaches and unyielding referees. Instead they want children between the ages of six and ten to play four versus four and referee themselves with almost no interference by adults.

’Enjoyment and fun’
"We all know stories where a child displays talent or prowess aged six, and parents see Premier League ’pound’ signs in their eyes," said Fenoglio. "But there’s a lot of data about why kids start playing football. Winning and the competitiveness is down there at number seven or eight; the main reason is for enjoyment and fun, the second reason is so they can learn and develop. The majority of kids aren’t going to make it in football and we want to give the game back to them, let them play. The by-product should be skill development, not the aim."

Small-sided games
Skill development is perhaps an inevitable side-effect of playing 4v4 games, however, with children encouraged to get more involved, increase their touches of the ball and work on their close control. "We’re not anti-coaching; we want smarter coaching, to set games that improve certain skills, like crossing or movement," said Fenoglio, who has worked with Manchester United among others. "There’s plenty of research to show these ecological learning environments are better than the stop-start methods people commonly use. It doesn’t have to be 4v4. It just needs to be more appropriate for the children; small-sided games."

National fun day
Give Us Back Our Game staged a national fun day between 15 and 17 June. "We asked clubs and coaches to organise an event, taking a group down to the local park, letting children have fun and then telling us about it." Many signed up, ranging from local pub sides to the Manchester United soccer school and dinner ladies in Derbyshire as, according to Fenoglio, "it just feels right for everyone". Were Mr Sugden about he might disagree but if the campaign achieves its goals then opinions like his may be consigned to the past.