Go to school

If you are lucky, their school will be of Charter Standard, which means that it is a member of an FA scheme that establishes minimum standards of football development. The criteria for achieving Charter Standard include minimum FA qualifications for teachers and the provision of football to boys and girls in the curriculum and out-of-school hours. The school will also be affiliated to the English Schools FA and linked to a Charter Standard junior football club.

Even if the school is not among the 4,500 of Charter Standard – about one in six of all schools – the FA will have an input through county FA development officers.

Join a club

The 4,000 Charter Standard clubs have FA volunteers with police checks, persons with first-aid qualifications and coaches trained to a minimum of FA Level 1. They accept the FA Code of Conduct, too. Parents are encouraged to take the FA’s online “soccer parent” course, which has helped with touchline behaviour.

Since 1999, the FA has deemed small-sided games to be the optimum for undertens. So at 6, your child will play in four-a-side games on a pitch with a maximum size of 30 by 50 yards. All the players will be in the same age range and the games will last a recommended maximum of ten minutes each way. To encourage enjoyment, the FA prohibits the collection and publishing of results or the awarding of trophies at underseven level.

Attend an FA Tesco skills programme

The FA has invested in 66 coaches in 12 regional centres, which offer free sessions to youngsters in three age groups: 5-7, 7-9 and 9-11.

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