Let’s support even more pupils to enjoy the benefits of Schools’ Football!
The English Schools’ Football Association is delighted to announce the return of Schools’ Football Week, in partnership with Pro:Direct Sport, from 6th – 12th February 2023!
Schools’ Football Week (SFW), in partnership with Pro:Direct Sport, is an ongoing ESFA initiative designed as an opportunity for schools, teams, Associations and clubs from across the country to embrace schools’ football and the wellbeing benefits it provides to pupils and players. It celebrates the importance of schools’ football, competitive or otherwise, to pupils across England and provides teachers and coaches with tools and a motivation to further discuss the benefits of schools’ football within their educational environment.
This year, the ESFA is delighted to announce a new partnership with Pro:Direct Sport- The World’s largest online specialist sports store, who will support the Schools’ Football Week campaign and help raise more awareness of this initiative than ever before.
The 2022 campaign saw the ESFA embrace the growing participation in girls’ football in schools – promoting the importance of equal access to schools’ football for both girls and boys. In this new season, following the incredible journey of the Lionesses and continuing the trend the ESFA have seen over the last two years, SFW is going to continue the ESFA’s pursuit to celebrate girls’ and all schools’ football in 2023. The ESFA has seen the highest ever number of girls’ entries into National Cup Competitions in 22/23, with over 120 schools entering girls’ teams for the first time. SFW 2023 will continue to celebrate this growth and the many other positives that come for all schools’ football participants.
The ESFA and Pro:Direct Sport, will be encouraging schools, Associations, clubs and teams to introduce some football-related activity into their environments throughout SFW from the 6th – 12th February. From football-themed lessons, to inter-house or intra-school tournaments, the campaign is designed to celebrate schools’ football, girls’ football and everything in between, in a way that is inclusive to all pupils and players.
Take a look at our girls’ football stats from SFW 2022…
Schools’ Football Week 2022 saw the ESFA reach huge new levels of participation –
- Over 142,000 pupils took part in SFW activity
- Over 10,000 teams were involved in SFW
- Over 800 schools registered for events
- Over 56,000 girls benefitted from schools’ football activity during SFW
The ESFA is hoping to engage in even more activity for the 2023, with the help and support of campaign sponsors and ESFA partners, Pro:Direct Sport.
In addition to continuing to champion girls’ football this season, Schools’ Football Week is also focussing on:
- Airing live National Schools’ Cup draws for the second season, on the ESFA’s YouTube Channel, ESFA TV
- Providing more classroom resources than ever before, including a focus on Children’s Mental Health and the positive benefits of sport
- Three balls and a ProDirect Ball carrier for every school
- The first 250 schools to sign up will receive 15 SFW bibs for their schools’ football activity
The campaign isn’t designed to focus wholly on competitive football, but the wide-ranging benefits that being part of a team can have on school age children in England. For example, SFW aims to bring together opportunities for schools to bring football off the pitch and into classrooms, providing learning resources from other ESFA partners that can be useful tools to engage pupils in the wider world of football.
The ESFA and Pro:Direct Sport will work together to create fantastic Schools’ Football Week opportunities for all participants in 2023.
Stuart Botham, ESFA Chair 22/23 said “On behalf of the ESFA, I am delighted to see the Association further its partnership with Pro:Direct for Schools’ Football Week 2023. Schools’ Football Week has been, and continues to be, a fantastic platform on which to truly celebrate the many and far reaching benefits of schools’ football. Working on this project alongside an organisation such as Pro:Direct, will allow the ESFA to share our passion for this campaign further than ever before. I look forward to seeing the many activities planned by schools across 6th – 12th February and to see how the campaign continues to grow for 2023.”
Sam Baldock, Chief Brand Officer from Pro:Direct Sport said ‘We’re really excited to partner with The ESFA on Schools’ Football Week. We think that we can add significant value and hope to make this the most inspiring Schools’ Football Week to date. We plan to provide lots of practical guidance and tools that will help teachers, coaches and volunteers, both during Schools’ Football Week and beyond. We’ll be using our extensive contacts in the game to make sure that there will be plenty of things to get the pupils excited too! This initiative, along with our continued work with the ESFA, gives us the perfect platform to build upon our mutual ambition – to get more children, of all ages and genders, playing football.”
Don’t forget to register
You can register your activity for Schools’ Football Week 2023 by clicking this link. You can also find lots of useful resources and downloads on the SFW resources page, here.
The Importance of Schools’ Football Week:
- To share the importance of schools’ football across England
- To show proof of the mental and physical health benefits of schools’ football
- To share stories and experiences to engage and inspire players and pupils
- To heighten the profile of the English Schools’ FA as National Governing Body for schools’ football in England
- To elevate and promote participation numbers for schools’ football
- To showcase the talent and dedication shown by schools in England to support football as part of the curriculum
