Correspondence from FAI CEO re Player Development Plan

The ten recommendations which make up the underage Player Development Plan were adopted as FAI Policy by the Board in October of last year. Since then there has been unprecedented engagement with under-age leagues across the country firstly through a series of consultation workshops in January and February followed by a series of implementation workshops during May. On the back of these workshops, we have now completed a comprehensive Implementation Guide which will be distributed to all clubs / leagues. The guide is also attached to this post

Player Development Plan Download Link

We are also developing video support resources which will be available on the FAI website in early August and will also make resources available for Parent Education Workshops. In addition we have created a dedicated email address pdp@fai.ie  where clubs/leagues can contact us about the plan.

Player development and players enjoying football is the core philosophy central to the Plan, which will be phased in over the next three years. Phase 1 starts in September 2015 and will see the roll out of the first two main recommendations which deal with “the implementation of a player-focused model based on enjoyment and skill development whilst reducing the emphasis on winning at all costs” (Recommendation 1) and “the restructuring of the playing model for underage football (boys/girls) to a clear policy on the best age-specific formats of the game to be implemented by all leagues” (Recommendation 2). The work will continue over the coming year to deliver on agreed phasing in of recommendations 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 by the start of the 2016/17 season.

We will also continue our work with the leagues, through consultation workshops, to explore the details and the pros and cons of the single calendar season recommendation. The workshops with the Leagues identified this as the most challenging aspect of the proposals during the consultation process, and through our engagement with them, we intend to collate all of the relevant data needed so that we can ultimately make an informed decision together.

Please share this email and the attachment with your contacts and let them know that if they have any queries with regards to the Development Plan or require hard copies of the booklet they can email pdp@fai.ie