Grass Roots Football In Thailand

[coxhoedave]

It looks as if Peter Reid is going to get the job of managing the national team. I think it's a great appointment after seeing what he achieved at Sunderland in the early years of his stint in the North East of England without any real backing from the board of SAFC.

But even Reidy is up against it as I feel the real problem is the lack of activity at grass roots level.

The England, the FA are keen to train youth fooball coaches and as a result there are a huge amount of newly qualified coaches keen to pass on their knowledge and enthusiasm to youngsters. The result is there has been an explosion of youth soccer from under 8s upwards.

Within these tens of thousands of youngsters enjoying well organised football are the stars of tomorrow.

When we are in Thailand my son plays football with the other children in the village and it's clear that there are youngsters with real potential who would excell in such an enviroment.

Without urgent action from the Thai FA to tackle this inactivity the future stars will never develop in Thailand and the fear has to be that the national team will never acheive the success we would all love to see.

[tso310]

The first thing Thailand needs to do is to create a truely national League in terms of geography. As with everything else in Thailand, football, is still too heavily concentrated on Bangkok and the large coporate sponsors based there. There IS plenty of talent out in the sticks but there are very few outlets for that talent to be shown and then taken to the next level.

[Jockstar]

When i lived in Bangers. I taught football to kids. Some were very good. Some hopless. But the problem was that these kids never got a chance to play games against other schools until i starting working there. When i was a kid and at primary school and then high school. We played once a week against other schools. Most of the lads who played , also played for boys club teams. But unless you go to an Internatioanl school in Bangers then you have no chance of getting a chance. The kids i taught loved their football. Since i left scousemouse has taken on the responsibility of coaching these kids. So i'd say that it has to be addressed and kids from all levels of society, given an equal oportunity to play football.

[mrtoad]

When i lived in Bangers. I taught football to kids. Some were very good. Some hopless. But the problem was that these kids never got a chance to play games against other schools until i starting working there. When i was a kid and at primary school and then high school. We played once a week against other schools. Most of the lads who played , also played for boys club teams. But unless you go to an Internatioanl school in Bangers then you have no chance of getting a chance. The kids i taught loved their football. Since i left scousemouse has taken on the responsibility of coaching these kids. So i'd say that it has to be addressed and kids from all levels of society, given an equal oportunity to play football.

I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. The sad thing is that the SAT (Sports Authority of Thaialnd) along with its associates such as Football Assoc, Cricket Assoc, are personal feifdoms for a certain "segment" of society. There is far too much money that could fall out of their pockets if they were truly to try and open up the game and realise the potential. From what I have seen, the players are technically good, but tactically naive, along with a bit of an attitude problem. I t would be great to see more football being played between the government schools and accesable football clinincs, but as it is at the moment this will remain a privalige for those that can afford it.

[oldgit]

The first thing Thailand needs to do is to create a truely national League in terms of geography. As with everything else in Thailand, football, is still too heavily concentrated on Bangkok and the large coporate sponsors based there. There IS plenty of talent out in the sticks but there are very few outlets for that talent to be shown and then taken to the next level.

Quite right,there is plenty of talent but its a hel_l of a job to get them to take the game seriously.This is probably due to the lack of an amateur league structure in the country.You get the odd cup competition cropping up but nothing to get their teeth into.Geographically,it should be possible to create district leagues within a province but this means funding and a collective will for it to succeed.

Thai amateur footballers need an incentive to perform.My experience is that winning a match for the sake of it doesn't equate with the Thai mentality.

[coxhoedave]

Seems a sad thing to conclude, but it looks as if all this potential will remain untapped for years to come.

[Jockstar]

Seems a sad thing to conclude, but it looks as if all this potential will remain untapped for years to come.

Too true. I had this one kid. Nickname Earth(scousemouse knows him). Great little player and only 9 years old. I had already set up a trial with a team a mate of mine ran on the weekend. This was after they came back for the new semester. Unfortunately he never returned. His parents moved away to another area. Such a shame. Fantastic little player with the vision of someone twice his age.

[oldgit]

Seems a sad thing to conclude, but it looks as if all this potential will remain untapped for years to come.

Too true. I had this one kid. Nickname Earth(scousemouse knows him). Great little player and only 9 years old. I had already set up a trial with a team a mate of mine ran on the weekend. This was after they came back for the new semester. Unfortunately he never returned. His parents moved away to another area. Such a shame. Fantastic little player with the vision of someone twice his age.

I only get to look at the really young kids when they're frollicking around while the the lads that make up my squad are training.In the few times that I've spent teaching them the basics,they've showed a lot of wide eyed enthusiasm and respect for what I'm trying to tell them.At that age,you don't want to interfere too much in their enjoyment but,I must admit,it gives me more pleasure to work with them.At least you don't get them doing a disappearing act,without any acknowledgement to anyone!A perculiar Thai trait that I still can't get used to.

In a few days,I'm off to England for three months but,when I get back,I'm going to contact the school(which I know hasn't got a football minded sports master) and ask them if I can teach the kids for a couple of hours a week during school hours.

Our passion for the beautiful game isn't in question so we mustn't get too apathetic about the current situation.We have the will so let's try and do our bit to improve the situation.