Football for Schools

Teaching and learning through football

The official Football for Schools app, designed by the FIFA Foundation and UNESCO, will help teachers and coach-educators throughout the world to bring the game of football to boys and girls aged four to 14, while at the same time empowering these learners by cultivating life skills and conveying key educational messages.

The Football for Schools app provides short videos designed to engage, enthuse and inspire children of all abilities. The idea is to “let the game be the teacher” as you facilitate the sessions. The app helps to foster children’s holistic development by introducing them to the “beautiful game” and using football as a springboard to nurture a range of important skills and competencies for life. The programme capitalises on the fact that many of the skills used in football are transferable to other aspects of life, and enables the coach-educator to highlight the connection between the personal and social skills needed on the pitch and those required to prosper and be resilient in day-to-day life.

The Football for Schools experience is all about learning through fun and play, not drills and lectures!

Our playing philosophy for children at schools is to encourage the use of simple game formats in every lesson. These games promote technical and tactical development whilst also providing children with the opportunity for social interaction within a fun and friendly environment, always building in time for free play and exploration.

Highlights:

• 180 short videos (60-90 seconds) and illustrations designed for three different child development stages covering the following age brackets: 4-7 years, 8-11 years and 12-14 years. These are accompanied by life skills content for these different categories.

• 60 physical education sessions divided into the following components: a) fun warm-up games, b) skills development games, c) the application of these skills to various football match scenarios, and d) the development of life skills through participatory activities.

• Each of our games focuses on simple group organisation and the involvement, inclusion and engagement of all children, with opportunities for both basic skill execution and challenging progressions.

• Each coach-educator can select an individual session/lesson or a ready-made programme of sessions matching their coaching objectives and the expect