FA and Learning Pools: Grassroots Transformation
Operating across England, the FA is responsible for the promotion and development of the game at all levels, from grassroots to professional. He oversees highly successful international teams, tournaments such as the Emirates FA Cup and Barclays Women’s Super League, and world-class facilities such as Wembley Stadium and St George’s Park. Despite being globally recognized in these areas, the FA remains deeply rooted in local communities, pumping over £120 million (approximately $156 million) a year into English football.
Central to that mission is the County FA. This is a national network that receives core funding from the FA to develop football at local level across England. The FA develops and leads a grassroots football strategy to develop the sport across England, and county FAs deliver this strategy alongside other strategic objectives relevant to local needs.
Soggy pitches: a barrier to the development of young footballers
How can you inspire and influence the next generation of footballers when the pitch quality is poor? Soggy pitches in autumn and winter, dry and dusty in summer? 40,000 games were canceled or postponed every year due to the Poi Plain. With two-thirds of FA county pitches across the country currently rated ‘poor’ and 14.1 million grassroots players relying on them, it’s time to take action.
Transforming grassroots investing
The FA’s 2020-2024 strategy ‘Time for Change’ aimed to unify all aspects of the game and set six transformative goals. A key objective was to install 5,000 high-quality grass pitches across England by 2024, tackling the biggest problem in grassroots competition: poor quality pitches. This required a significant increase in personnel.
Recognizing this challenge, the FA has earmarked central funding secured from government and partners to fund the expansion of the number of FTEs in teams from 30 to 53.
learning needs
Rapid workforce growth has required a significant increase in training to help new executives quickly master a complex and evolving knowledge base. The facility team recognized the need for a digital learning program as a timely resource for these employees. However, the existing training materials needed to be more scalable for larger teams. Recognizing this, FA collaborated with Learning Pool to implement an innovative project to enhance learning for an influx of new starters.
A commitment to rapid and adaptive learning
Achieving the goal without increasing training costs required creative thinking. The FA and Learning Pool have therefore chosen to use the FA’s existing e-learning platform, Training Ground, to host training materials and create a new dedicated F&I ‘playlist’.
These simple modules are designed to provide comprehensive training and support for new and existing F&I personnel who often work independently within county FA organizations. The modules were aligned with key executive objectives and included topics such as responding to facilities inquiries, building partnerships with local stakeholders, and developing facilities projects for the club.
Main goals of the L&D program
The main strategic objectives of the L&D program are:
Transform grassroots football facilities by installing 5,000 quality grass pitches by 2024. Improving facility accessibility will increase participation rates to 14% for girls, 7% for women, and 7% for athletes with disabilities. Support future growth and sustainability with plans to expand quality pitch objectives in the next strategic period.
Additional related objectives that align with the County FA’s key priorities include:
Accelerate competency growth with the goal of having all staff fully trained within six months. Improve the knowledge and skills of county FA staff. Increase your ability to meet F&I KPIs. Improve resource allocation.
Back of the Net: Achieve the above objectives
With the help of football facilities and investment consultant Caroline Smith, the content for the new training ground was created and built in-house using Learning Pool’s Adapt tool. Learning Pool’s Adapt tool is a user-friendly authoring platform that allows users to create responsive and engaging online courses. Prior to launch, a dedicated working group of six experienced facility leaders regularly provided valuable insights to shape the content to meet the specific needs of new employees.
innovative digital learning
The team developed an engaging and user-friendly F&I playlist by creating bespoke content in short, bite-sized modules that take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. We incorporated various assessment methods such as scenario assessments and quizzes to track learning outcomes and reinforce key concepts.
To accommodate a variety of learning styles, Training Ground includes clear signage to key documents, detailed case studies, embedded links, email templates, reading materials, FAQs, video content, and visual references such as maps and photos. We used visual and interactive aids such as: These resources are designed to be easily applied to your everyday role.
The first batch of course content will launch on the same day as the FA’s annual F&I conference, with subsequent courses released in February 2024 and the final installment in September 2024.
impact
In March 2024, the Training Academy conducted a listening exercise using Boost’s design inputs. The aim was to assess learners’ thoughts about the course, its impact on skills and knowledge, and its practical application. The results were very good. When asked how likely they would be to recommend an F&I course to a colleague, respondents showed strong support with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +61.54. Importantly, the study demonstrated that F&I staff regularly apply what they learn on a daily basis, with an average frequency score of 6.96/10 (10 being “regularly every day”). It was done.
This positive sentiment was further supported by verbal feedback.
“Very useful content for beginners. It’s a valuable opportunity to learn the background behind F&I before you start interacting with key partners.”
“The variety of courses helps develop a broader skill set.”
“Easy access and a great layout make it easy to start learning digitally for free.”
Mission completed
The introduction of new training content has brought significant benefits to the FA and has achieved all the goals set.
Minimizing F&I training costs led to significant savings, resource optimization, and reduced travel and carbon emissions. The goal of 5,000 quality pitched games has been achieved and now stands at 5,600 games, allowing the FA to move towards its long-term goal of expansion. Facility improvements have already seen an increase in the number of female and disabled athletes, with increases of 7%, 14% and 7% respectively. Supporting future expansion and sustainability through the successful upgrading of the training ground, setting the stage for further development in line with the FA’s long-term goals.
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Learning Pool Platform uses intelligent data to deliver personalized and purposeful workplace learning at scale. The platform applies insights about who learners are, what they know, and what they need to do in real time.
Originally published on learningpool.com.
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