Sponsoring the future

For any sportsperson, some of the most influential people in their lives are the people who have shaped, advised and lived unspeakable highs and discouraging lows throughout their careers – the coaches. A family can love and support, a friend can offer an encouraging word, but a coach is the only person who truly understands what is going on deep in the darkest crevices that a sportsperson's mind plunders.

With the World Cup now a distant memory, all eyes have been on the FA to see how they can emerge from the wreck as a proactive association with a plan. Things become even more worrying when we consider how far ahead the rest of Europe is. England have just 2,769 coaches holding Uefa’s B, A and Pro badges, leaving us well short of the leading European nations. New hope was given when the FA launched its “Football Needs You” campaign, with the aim of producing 50,000 new coaches by 2011. This is definitely a step in the right direction, but can the FA really persuade a significant amount of people to look to coaching as a serious and viable career?

The need for further change to the English system was ratified on Friday evening, with England’s under-16 team the victims of a rampant display by Wales' under-16’s in the Victory Shield. If our next generation is struggling to perform against a supposed lesser home nation, surely the time has come for the FA to invest some serious money into an overhaul of our football system, much like the multi million euro spending plan the German FA implemented? McDonald’s have worked hard to support grass roots football, but it seems more support is needed at the higher levels of the game. Similar to the extensive input Aviva has had in developing UK Athletics that we hope comes to fruition at the 2012 London Olympics, there is a fantastic opportunity for a sponsor to fund an overhaul of football coaching, and connect their brand name with potential future success:

"This World Cup win was brought to you by..."

Christian Brown