James Kenyon and Clive Palmer (2007) Can we have our ball back please? Rising inactivity levels in Great Britain’s youth and the impact on elite football. Journal of Qualitative Research in Sports Studies. 1, 1, 69-75. (original) (raw)

A survey by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) indicated that football is the most popular sport in schools in Great Britain (DCMS, 2004) If this is the case, then there should be little or no problem for football clubs to select qual- ity players from a seemingly growing pool of talent With this situation in mind the authors set out to discuss the current state of football development in place, in Great Britain by considering the range and types of opportunities available for young peo- ple, aged 9 to 19 years old, to play football towards elite level In recent years the op- portunities for young people to play elite football have been modelled on a system of Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD, Balyi, 2004) taken up by the Academies and Centres of Excellence for coaching football he success of this long-term approach to developing sporting talent will be questioned and contrasted with the concerning rise of inactivity levels of children in Great Britain (BBC Sport, 2005a). Although Team GB have not yet ruled out competing in football at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2012 London Olympics will most likely be the irst time that Great Britain has entered a men’s football team into an Olympic competition since 1972; ater the distinction between “professional” and “amateur” footballers was abolished in 1974 (he Football Association, 2004) By looking to this competition, success will be measured by whether Great Britain can achieve a medal his essay will question whether that success can be attained, given that the talent pool of potential players has alarming indications of rising inactivity levels across Great Britain.

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