Page 7 - Deal Round Up December 2018

Gent Builders

For all your building
requirements

Please Phone
07935 204 338
We wish all our customers a very
happy Christmas
and prosperous New Year

because, ultimately, everyone is looking for a fantastic experience. It links in to
our ‘We only do Positive’ campaign. We know 90 per cent children play better with
positivity. That stat isn’t necessarily surprising but it’s important people see that
encouragement and a positive environment is so important.
If you flip it, we know one negative experience can have a big effect on a child for a
lasting period of time. It’s adults creating the environment so players will enjoy the
game more. This is not about being positive for positives sake. It’s about focusing on
the good things players have done.
In grass-roots football there will always be mixed abilities. Let’s help players love the
game. Everyone develops better when they are having fun. The FA Youth Review
was implemented in 2011 and really focused on making the game child friendly with
5v5, 7v7, 9v9 and more appropriate goal sizes. That’s been embraced but now it’s
about building on that and topping up all the good work that has been done. We’re
well aware people can drop out of the game from 14+ – so this is about giving them
a really good experience so they want to keep playing.
The challenge with Respect is how we bring longevity to it. We don’t just want it to
be a one-off campaign. That adds value but we want to make it consistent in the
game each week in all areas. We’ve got Play Your Part code of conducts which helps
implement the values whatever your role is. It gives clubs a real focus to help their
volunteers but, also, if there is disrespect, how to deal with it.
Each month we have activations which focus on different ways of changing behaviour. So
in the winter months we’re looking to pilot Positivi-tea. It’s a simple idea of people holding
a cup of tea that is labelled with positive messages. The science behind it is people are
less likely to shout something abusive or negative if they’re holding something that’s
labelled with good messages. In January we’re going to be launching 21 Days of Positive
– that’s how long it takes to break or form a new habit. We want to empower coaches and
parents to engage with their children in the right way.
Continued on page 8

6 7