Message From Chairman

Friday 30 January 2004By ESFA Office

Last Updated:
10/02/2021 10:48:59

Chairman - Phil Harding

Welcome to the newly-launched website of the English Schools' Football Association. Whether you are directly involved with schools' football as a player, parent, manager, district or county official, or whether you are simply an interested 'browser', I hope you will find the site informative and useful.

I make no apologies for advocating how important school sport is to young people and the ESFA plays a full role in promoting it. School sport in general and schools' football in particular enables young people to learn valuable lessons for life in an educational framework. At a time when professional sport often provides youngsters with very poor role models, we hope that the values and attitudes we promote in schools' football redress the balance. Furthermore, there is now considerable evidence that, where sport takes place in an educational framework, it enhances the academic achievements of young people.  Regular inter-school fixtures, on Saturdays as well as in midweek, combined with good opportunities within each school to participate in a variety of sports, contribute effectively to the all-round educational development of young people to complement and add value to academic performance. In this context, professional schoolteachers have a vital role to play for they are best able to guide the development of each individual pupil and to ensure that demands on the talented player are properly controlled within a sensible balance of sporting and social development.

ESFA plays a full role in promoting
school sport to young people

As the ESFA prepares to elebrate its Centenary in 2004, we believe that schools' football under the direct control of a national governing body that has always put the educational interests of young people at the forefront of its values has much to offer for many years to come.

Top

We use cookies to improve your online experience. For information on the cookies we use and for details on how we process your personal information, please see our cookie policy and privacy policy. By continuing to use our website you consent to us using cookies.