What is the UEFA Playmakers program?
Namely, HNS reports that the UEFA Playmakers is a pan-European program promoting women’s football, which was created in cooperation between Uefa and Disney. The Croatian Football Federation is thus introducing the program in Croatia on March 1. The program is intended for girls aged 5 to 8 and is adapted to girls who have never played football or participated in a sport before.
The program has a unique approach based on scientific research from Uefa and Leeds Beckett University. It focuses on narration, acting, imagination, and children’s play as the main elements in encouraging girls to play football and develop motor and physical skills.
In Croatia, the program will take place in 2022 and 2023, and four editions will be organized. The first edition – in March 2022 – will follow the animated film Frozen 2.
Each edition of the program will consist of ten trainings. The girls will embody characters from Disney’s most popular animated films, such as Frozen and The Incredibles, and learn basic football skills.
The training will take place on the fields and/or in the halls of women’s football clubs so that girls can join the clubs and continue playing football after participating in the UEFA Playmakers program.
The ambassador of the UEFA Playmakers project in Croatia is the former celebrated Croatia national team member and current coach of the Croatia U-19 national team Niko Kranjčar, who stressed the importance of the game in encouraging children to play sports:
“I like this program for several reasons – I’m a big fan of cartoons, especially Disney, and I’m also a big fan of sports, and I believe that all children should have the opportunity to play sports. This initiative is a great way for young children to get in the habit of playing sports through playfulness and fun, which, in my opinion, are the most important parts of sports.”
What makes UEFA Playmakers special?
Unlike traditional football programs, each of the ten trainings in each edition of UEFA Playmakers follows animated hits such as Frozen 2 and The Incredibles 2. Girls participating in the training will have the opportunity to embody popular characters such as Elsa and Anna and Incredibles heroes, develop basic football skills and cooperate, all while using their imagination.
The fundamental goal of the first few trainings is to encourage girls to gain self-confidence in their sports skills and to think creatively and communicate with other participants in the program. In the program’s continuation, coaches introduce exercises that develop fundamental football skills, but the emphasis remains on relaxed playing and fun.
“The development of women’s football and encouraging girls to play football are essential goals of HNS, and we believe that this program, along with many other programs for the development of women’s football that we already implement, can be of great benefit to the development of our women’s soccer base. As a long-time coach who has worked with young people and as the main instructor who has worked with young players, I see a lot of potential in the approach used by UEFA Playmakers – I think that playing and acting is a great way to introduce football to girls and to lay the foundations for their football through a positive and fun experience.
The football centers that will implement the UEFA Playmakers program in cooperation with HNS are closely connected with women’s football clubs, and we hope that the girls will love football through this non-competitive, fun training, and want to continue their football travels in clubs,” said Chief Instructor of the Croatian Football Federation Petar Krpan.
Where and when is the UEFA Playmakers program held in Croatia?
The program will be held in 30 football centers in Croatia so that girls from all over Croatia can participate. Trainings will be held in Zagreb, Rijeka, Split, Osijek, Dubrovnik, Čakovec, Ivanec, Karlovac, Kaštela, Koprivnica, Lepoglava, Metković, Požega, Pregrada, Pula, Slavonski Brod, Velika Gorica, Vinkovci, Zadar and Županja.
The first edition of the program starts in March, and parents can register their girls today (from 5 to 8 years old) to participate via the link. The second edition will begin in May this year, while the third and fourth editions will be organized in the fall of 2022 and spring 2023, respectively.
An approach based on scientific research and previous positive experiences
The emphasis on learning through play and acting – at the heart of UEFA Playmakers – is based on scientific research conducted by UEFA under the auspices of UEFA Beckett University in Leeds, which has shown the critical role of entertainment and non-competitiveness in encouraging girls to the way they start playing sports. The UEFA Playmakers program is also based on the exchange of knowledge between Uefa and the England Football Federation, running the “Shooting Stars” program in collaboration with Disney for several years.
The program’s main goal is to encourage girls to play football through fun, non-competitive training and provide them with an easy way to gain more confidence and security when it comes to sports activities.
Through a combination of Disney’s popular stories and characters and academic recommendations that show the positive role of narration and acting in promoting sport among children, UEFA Playmakers aims to increase the proportion of girls in Europe who meet the World Health Organization’s recommendations for sports and physical activity. This program is crucial for HNS and Croatia because Croatia is among the poorest members of the European Union when it comes to the share of the population that meets the health recommendations for physical activity. The percentage of women who meet these recommendations is particularly low.
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