THE FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRES PROSPECTUS MARCH 2017
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CONTENTS Our goals Benefits Focus areas The FA s commitment Application process FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS 3
We want to take a game-changing step forward 4 FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS
The FA already works closely with universities to help increase playing opportunities for women and girls in higher education, but now we want to take a game-changing step forward. We want a selected number of universities to become official FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres. These centres will become focal points for our work in higher education. However, it goes much deeper. As you ll read, the creation of these centres will provide tangible benefits to the universities themselves and crucially, drive the women s game forward in this country, in line with the ambitious goals The FA has targeted itself to achieve by 2020. To drive the women s game forward we need to get more women and girls playing the game and then actively support the development of talented players from this wider playing pool. Of course, it s not just about the talented players. Football is a hugely positive lifestyle choice, providing a route to all-round physical and mental well-being, as well as creating priceless, lifelong friendships and interests. But it s not just about playing. Of equal importance is upskilling existing coaches, and recruiting new ones to the women s game. We also want to create the next generation of the game s behind-the-scenes workforce, whether as volunteers, administrators or development staff. Universities are pivotal to these aims, as you can also provide ongoing research and development to ensure we grow the game in line with the needs of its participants. It s a fact that women continue to be under-represented in every aspect of sport whether as players, coaches, match officials, volunteers, medics or administrators. Through FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres we want to shift this balance by focusing not only on the player and coach but also on the wider workforce. As ever, the key to effective change is joining the forces of like-minded partners to create irresistible momentum. You ll read about our offering to you in this document, but we really need you on board. That s partly because we recognise that many universities across England have world-class facilities situated in the heart of their local communities. This positions them perfectly to provide high-quality learning environments for women s football. This partnership approach extends far beyond The FA/ university relationship. Working collaboratively with like-minded local partners will be an essential ingredient for success. This is an exciting time for women s football in England. We d love your university to play a part in turning excitement into reality and accruing tangible benefits on the way. Baroness Sue Campbell Head of Women s Football, The Football Association FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS 5
The FA will actively work with FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres to compile workforce plans to develop women and girls in the game either as coaches, volunteers, or to become part of football s paid workforce. 6 FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS
REASONS TO BELIEVE The FA s work with universities to date gives us huge reasons to believe the creation of defined FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres is a strategic imperative for the women s game in this country. This is evidenced by the positive signs emanating from the 114-strong network of Women s Football Activators (WFAs) who work in universities around the country. All have had a great impact on increasing participation in the university sector and motivating women and girls to want to continue to be involved post-graduation: 92% of current WFAs said they would continue to volunteer once they had left their university role (compared to 60% 92% 60% of their male counterparts). 53% of current WFAs were motivated to continue volunteering in football because of a specific interest in 53% developing women s football. 33% of WFAs were motivated by being able to make a difference especially 33% within the Women s game. 71% of women graduate WFAs continued volunteering once leaving their university role and in addition, working as an WFA can directly lead to employment. 71% FA WOMEN S HIGH PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS 7
OUR GOALS In relation to women s and girls football, by 2020 The FA has committed to: DOUBLE PARTICIPATION DOUBLE FANS CONSISTENT SUCCESS ON THE WORLD STAGE These goals will require a collective effort on behalf of our national game. And that s where we need your help. How? By becoming an FA Women s High- Performance Football Centre and playing a pivotal role in the positive future of the game in this country. In return, we believe there are three core benefits to universities who become an FA Women s High-Performance Football Centre: 1. Student experience and satisfaction 2. Better recruitment and retention levels 3. Impact on employability The FA will underpin all of the above by providing guaranteed funding, staff and ongoing professional development (see The FA s Commitment page.) More details on these three core benefits are on pages 10-11. The FA is initially looking to provide funding to 10 universities to establish FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres. The FA is committed to delivering funding and general support to help successful applicants. 8 FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS
The FA in numbers 2016-2017 season TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAYERS 11.8M 89,029 AFFILIATED TEAMS TOTAL 6.46M MEN 2.05M WOMEN 2.44M BOYS 900,000 GIRLS 24,315 1,544 31,683 AFFILIATED MEN S TEAMS AFFILIATED WOMEN S TEAMS AFFILIATED BOYS TEAMS TOTAL 8.9M TOTAL FEMALE 2.9M 48,017 DISABLED PLAYERS 22,165 TOTAL AFFILIATED CLUBS 3,504 AFFILIATED GIRLS TEAMS 25,917 AFFILIATED YOUTH SOCCER TEAMS 2,066 DISABLED TEAMS 1,128 AVERAGE WSL1 ATTENDANCE 130,000 TOOK PART IN THE GIRLS FOOTBALL WEEKS 63,000 1 PEAK AUDIENCE FIGURES WSL LIVE GAMES ON BT SPORT WOMEN S GAME PEAK AUDIENCE BBC WOMEN S FOOTBALL SHOW 1 785,000 45,619 RECORD ATTENDANCE: ENGLAND v GERMANY 259 ENTRIES TO SSE WOMEN S FA CUP 238,650 SSE WOMEN S FA CUP PRIZE FUND FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS 9
BENEFITS The FA believes there are significant and tangible benefits successful candidate universities will accrue: We will continue to work with you to create a comprehensive football offer for your female students. 1. Student experience and satisfaction This will encompass a range of highquality, enjoyable and meaningful women s football activities and programmes. Through playing, volunteering, coaching and refereeing in the new FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres, female students will gain valuable life skills. These include self-motivation, respect, teamwork and leadership. Football and sport generally also teaches the ability to stay focused, improve concentration, handle pressure, calculated risk-taking and taking responsibility for individual performance. 10 FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS The result will be an enhanced student experience and satisfaction. In turn, an enjoyable experience increasing the likelihood of staying involved in sport and physical activity, with all the benefits that brings. 2. Better recruitment and retention levels Most students choose a university for its academic merits. But another key factor in their decision is the sports
programmes and facilities on offer. Sport is an important component to students quality of life on campus and therefore to a university s student recruitment programme. Successful candidate universities will be able to use the Women s High-Performance Football Centre status as a marketing tool, enhancing the university s brand and sporting reputation. Participation in sport has a positive effect on time management, productivity and engagement in higher education. It also delivers significant academic benefits. That s because besides just being fun, sport can help you perform better in academic study, relax more and worry less, deal with setbacks, work better with others and increase your energy. All this helps students balance their studies, manage the rest of their lives and increases their chances of obtaining a top-class degree. 3. Impact on employability Clearly, a degree enhances employment prospects. But a quality student experience enhances them further. Sport has a role to play in graduate employability by developing skills such as leadership, organisation, time management and team working. Recent student employability research commissioned by British Universities & Colleges Sport and delivered by Sheffield Hallam University identified that: University graduates who play sport earn more, are 25% less likely to suffer unemployment and 97% of graduate recruiters would employ a sports person. The FA believes that the creation of FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres will deliver all these tangible benefits. They will help universities enhance their student offering, drive high-performance and support students progress beyond university. FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS 11
FOCUS AREAS Focus area 1 The provision of more and better coaches 12 FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS Rationale Because more and better coaches = more and better players 2 The enhancement of The FA Women s Super League Creating a more engaging spectacle to drive participation and fan following 3 The building of a seamless England talent pathway Providing a connecting phase between girls football and ultimately, England teams 4 The collaboration with existing local football providers Building effective links with your university s County FA and The FA WSL or Women s Premier League (WPL)clubs in your locality 5 The growth in the women s football workforce Ensuring participation levels can grow with the right levels of support at every stage 6 The establishment of top-quality academic environments Providing world-class learning, research and development environments
1. The provision of more and better coaches The development of women s football coaches is central to the growth of the women s game. Therefore, we need to improve the quality and increase the quantity of coaches working in the women s and girls game. We foresee FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres as the ideal educational and community-based setting to achieve this. In turn, these coaches can support players showing potential to progress to be the best they can be. FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres will also help address the under-representation of BAME and disabled coaches working in the women s game. To achieve The FA s ambition to double women s and girls participation by 2020, we need to support existing players and those contemplating taking up the game. Having higher-quality coaches and more quality female coaches acting as role models can only help this process, particularly in youth football. Enhancing coaching quality doesn t just happen; we want to work with you to ensure coaches improve and learn so they gain even more enjoyment from our national game. We also want universities selected as FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres to collaborate with key partners to support young coaches working in the women s and girls game, whether they re already in the game, or new to it. Centrally, The FA has developed a coaching and playing philosophy it has termed the England DNA. We will support universities to bring the England DNA to life through FA Women s HighPerformance Football Centres. FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS 13
2. The enhancement of The FA Women s Super League At the top tier of women s club football in England, The FA WSL clubs play an integral role in developing our best players and inspiring the next generation of girls to play and watch the game. Our ambition is to work with FA Women s High- Performance Football Centres to support the development of the best players in The FA WSL clubs, with universities providing scholarships to encourage our best young talent to stay in England. 3. The building of a seamless England talent pathway Our youth talent pathway contains girls clubs and regional and national development platforms for talented eight to 16-year-olds in the country. Our aim is to work with the university based FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres to help local Regional Talent Clubs recruit and develop coaches. We also foresee university medical and performance teams providing a world-class support network to our next generation of internationals. The FA does not expect universities to fund performance camps from the available funding or from other university funds, these will be centrally funded by The FA. 4. The collaboration with existing local football providers To develop coaches working in the women s and girls game, talented players and a wider workforce, other partnerships inevitably come into play. These include collaborating with County Football Associations, The FA WSL clubs, talent programmes, Premier League and Football League Community Trusts, FA Charter Standard clubs, Colleges of Further Education and schools, as well as others such as County Sport Partnerships, building on the ethos of community football hub model. 14 FA WOMEN S HIGH PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS
5. The growth in the women s football workforce The goal is that FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres will enhance the skills of the existing women s football workforce and develop the next generation. With the active support and funding of The FA, we see universities offering professional training and continued professional development in all the areas required to underpin the game in the future. In turn, this should lead to employment opportunities now and as the game grows. 6. The establishment of top-quality academic environments The FA wants the network of Women s High-Performance Football Centres to offer professional, training and continuous professional development (CPD) for players and coaches. We strongly believe that a university with world-class facilities situated in the heart of a community is ideally placed to provide a highquality learning environment for women s football. This will help shape future thinking and development as we better understand our players, coaches and the wider workforce. We envisage working with PhD and Masters students, as well as the wider student and professional workforce. The FA s own Research and Insight team will provide national support where required. The women s game is already one of the largest sports in the country in it s own right and will need qualified people to provide a sustainable human resource infrastructure. As an FA Women s High-Performance Football Centre, universities will be asked to undertake game-changing research on the women s and girls game. FA WOMEN S HIGH PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS 15
THE FA S COMMITMENT The FA s ambition to establish universitybased FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres is underpinned by a commitment to guaranteed funding and ongoing staff training and support. 16 FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS Workforce funding The FA will provide 25,000 for a four-year period to each university. This funding must be used to employ a full-time Women s Football Coach Development Officer. Universities submitting applications are encouraged to seek additional partner-funding to support project delivery and make your centre sustainable. Successful candidate universities are expected to have experience of coaching in the women s and girls game. Revenue funding The FA will provide each FA Women s High-Performance Football Centre with an annual revenue grant of 5,000. Revenue funding is to support areas such as: Bursaries for coaches to attend FA Coach Education courses; The development of mentoring programmes to meet coaches needs; CPD; Overall development of the workforce to support women s football.
Talent development The England Women s Talent Development Manager will work with FA Women s HighPerformance Football Centres to host performance camps for our most talented young players. We will work in partnership with you to establish a scholarship programme so that our talented and elite players can follow dual careers. The FA WSL Club Development Manager is in place to support the development of FA WSL clubs. They will ensure links are put in place and working practices between FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres and the nearest FA WSL club(s). Specialist research The FA Performance Education Lead and the Head of FA Insight will support research programmes into women s football coaching and wider women s football research. This is intended to continuously improve the women s game. FA staff support Support for the work of The FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres will come from numerous FA employees: The FA Head of Women s Coach Development will directly support and develop the 10 Coach Development Officers and play a significant role in shaping the FA Women s HighPerformance Football Centres. The FA National Participation Manager (Schools, Colleges & Universities) will act as project manager for the FA Women s High-Performance Football Centres programme. The FA National FE & HE Manager will continue to projectmanage the participation element of the programme if your university is a current FA Community Football Hub. FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS 17
APPLICATION PROCESS Universities which wish to apply to become an FA Women s HighPerformance Football Centre are required to submit an application in the form of an FA Women s High-Performance Football Centre Plan (Plan). As you ll see from the Plan, there are 6 elements to the application. These areas match the six focus areas set out previously. The provision of more and better coaches The enhancement of The FA Women s Super League The building of a seamless England talent pathway The collaboration with existing local football providers The growth in the women s football workforce The establishment of topquality academic environments Further information regarding the application process and selection criteria are set out in the Plan. Please ensure that you read the Plan carefully and fully before completing and submitting your application. 18 FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS
DEADLINE AND TIMINGS TO APPLY The closing date for applications is Friday 28th April 2017. This is the date by which universities must have submitted the Plan to the FA. Please submit your Plan using the electronic form provided, by email to: Donna.McIvor@TheFA.com All completed applications will be passed to an initial panel for shortlisting. It is anticipated that the shortlisting process will be completed by mid-may. Site visits will be carried out with each of the shortlisted applicants, it is anticipated that site visits will be undertaken in mid to late May 2017. It is expected that a second selection panel will meet at the the end of May/ beginning of June 2017. The final decision will be communicated by the end of June 2017. On your email, please use the subject line FA Women s High-Performance Football Centre Plan. NB: postal applications will not be accepted. If you have any queries please contact Donna.McIvor@TheFA.com FA WOMEN S HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOOTBALL CENTRE PROSPECTUS 19
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