We are concerned that the beautiful game is in decline. Football for children is now very different from earlier generations when the only adult involvement was a call from your mum that your tea was ready. Football is no longer beautiful for our kids anymore: it's ugly.
In a world where children can no longer play outside without supervision, parents and coaches have taken over. And the competitive drive adults bring to the game means youngsters no longer have time to fall in love with football, to play for fun and thus truly to develop their skills.
Today's children learn from the grown-ups . Without the freedom of the streets, their early experiences of football are organised, supervised and coached. They have no real say in what happens, and they don't have time to develop and learn.
The problem areas are:

* No longer the children's game - it is controlled by adults
* The same children on the bench or omitted every game
* Coaches and parents screaming from the touchlines
* Winning before fun and development
* Not enough free play where children can solve their own problems
* Children are not encouraged to express themselves
* Children no longer learn about the spirit of the game for themselves