New rules with smaller teams have been in effect in children’s football for a year and a half. Public criticism has become rare, but chaos reigns at the grassroots level.
The calm on the sensitive topic of “children’s football reform” is deceptive. Although ill-informed verbal attacks like those from Hans-Joachim Watzke or Friedrich Merz are no longer heard, things are still simmering at the grassroots level – as a look at Cologne shows. The situation there and similar problems elsewhere prompted Hannes Wolf to spread a video message.
“I have received a few calls for help from football circles”said the sports director of the German Football Association (DFB). “I would like to once again make the case that we do not create unnatural, bureaucratic hurdles in the districts and thereby deprive people of their flexibility and thus a little bit of their motivation in volunteer work.”
Cologne clubs taken by surprise
What had happened? In the summer, the Cologne football clubs prepared for another season with the so-called “new forms of play” for the G, F and E youth teams. In Cologne that has meant for many years: game festivals on the weekends with at least three clubs and several small playing fields. If you have a small squad, you only field one team; if you have a larger squad, you could send two or three teams.
Accordingly, the clubs had officially registered their teams with the district youth committee before the start of the season. But shortly before the start of the season, this committee took the clubs by surprise by dividing them into seasons in the classic way – with club duels and public tables, just like before. Each club interpreted the details, such as team sizes and how results were handled, for themselves.
FC, Viktoria and Fortuna Cologne show solidarity
The result was complete chaos. Because the duels were often inappropriate, the volunteer coaches had to organize themselves week after week so that all the children in their squad could play.
The dissatisfaction was correspondingly great, there was an open letter of protest, and the professional clubs 1. FC, Viktoria and Fortuna Cologne expressed their solidarity with the popular sports clubs. “It is important to us that the children have a lot of ball action on small fields in the core goals of football.”said Sebastian Heuel, head of children’s football at 1. FC Köln, in a joint statement.
Freestyle league meets official world
The Middle Rhine Football Association (FVM) wrote in response to Sportschau’s request that they had “noted with surprise”that the Cologne district deviates from the binding implementing regulations. The association is in dialogue with those responsible.
This primarily meant Detlef Winkler, chairman of the Cologne District Youth Committee for more than 20 years. Why his committee chose to go it alone remains unclear. The clubs received no explanation and Winkler did not want to comment when asked by Sportschau.
In Cologne, a grassroots movement had already established flexible game festivals in 2019, and dedicated trainers organized themselves using an Excel spreadsheet. Because more and more clubs took part, the classic game operations came to a standstill for the youngest players. A year and a half ago, the district youth committee took over the organization of the game festivals. The freestyle league met the world of officials with statutes, reporting systems and catalogs of punishments. That didn’t go well for long.
In Cologne, after the criticism, the district youth committee asked all youth leaders in the middle of the first half of the season which form of play they preferred. The result: 75 percent voted for game festivals, 25 percent for league operations with club duels. The game plans have now been adjusted accordingly.
Problems in too Mönchengladbach
Poor communication seems to be causing problems in many places, including in Mönchengladbach, according to a report from fupa.net. There it was the other way around: the clubs were used to club duels and had reported accordingly. Almost four weeks before the start of the season, the district youth committee announced the switch to festivals – the clubs felt taken by surprise.
The complex football system in Germany
At this point it is worth taking a look at the hierarchy in the German football system. The DFB umbrella organization sets the framework conditions for playing children’s football and leaves a lot of leeway. Within these limits, the 21 regional associations can set their own rules and make zealous use of this right.
The sports show asked the regional associations and found out: A year and a half after the mandatory introduction, small teams and several playing fields are the standard nationwide in the G and F youth – in different forms and with a few exceptions. In addition, in many places alternative leagues have formed outside the structures with their own rules.
In the e-youth, eight regional associations continue to rely on club duels, predominantly seven-on-seven. Two of these associations are demanding that the clubs build smaller side fields where the surplus children can play. Eight associations offer both a league system and game festivals. And only three regional associations rely exclusively on game festivals – including the Middle Rhine Association. Two associations left the request unanswered and are also bidding on-line no precise information.
Countless variants
As if it wasn’t complicated enough: Ultimately, the district and city associations determine what children’s play operations look like within the state association’s guidelines. In practice this means countless different variants. This creates a lot of experience, but also uncertainty and overwhelm.
Volunteers organize the games at the district level. They have to walk a tightrope between the requirements of the associations and the wishes of the clubs, many of which want to continue to play in the league.
Football circles often between chairs
This is reported, for example, by Markus Hammele, mini-football representative in Augsburg. “If I represent the interests of the clubs as an official, I get less headwind. If, on the other hand, I go towards smaller forms of play and drastic changes, I am called a ‘puppet of the DFB'”he told the sports show.
Hammele himself is convinced of the reforms and festivals and is trying to establish them in the Augsburg football district. “Some clubs would like to ‘shoot me to the moon’, and some association colleagues would also be happy if I stopped.” His motive for continuing anyway: He is committed to the children, says Hammele. So that they have fun and opportunities for development in child-friendly forms of play.
The older the children, the greater the desire for a league
Particularly in the e-youth, seven against seven continues to be dominant, because with increasing age the desire for larger fields and tables increases – among children and parents and despite all counterarguments. In addition, many of today’s ten and eleven year olds have never experienced play parties.
Hammele has worked diligently to put together how games are played in the individual districts of the Bavarian Football Association. According to this, 91 percent of all e-youth teams compete against each other in seven-on-seven games, although there are sometimes other options.
DFB wants to reduce team sizes in the e-youth too
The umbrella organization, on the other hand, is heading in the other direction. In September, the DFB Federal Youth Day approved a catalog of measures with ideas that are now to be tested. One point: In e-youth, five-on-five should be the largest possible game format. The main argument: In smaller teams, the children have more ball action.
The DFB has also identified the patchwork as a problem. Three possible solutions according to the catalog of measures: “clear and uniform guidelines from the DFB; uniform rules in the regional associations; rethink the ‘autonomy’ of the football circles.”
This would relieve the district associations of the burden of implementing reforms at the grassroots level. However, it hardly sounds realistic to convince the state and district associations to give up their design options. This is likely to remain the case for the time being, with countless variants in the many football circles in Germany.