Across the next 15 months, England Futsal will embed Play Their Way’s ‘Voice, Choice and Journey’ principles into the performance pathway and coach education spaces to drive positive experiences for children and young people across the wider futsal ecosystem.
We are delighted to announce that England Futsal is one of seven sporting organisations selected by Play Their Way to become a Community Builder, raising awareness and support for this child-first coaching movement.
According to Sport England’s Active Lives Survey (2021-22) only 47% of children who exercise regularly strongly agree that they enjoy taking part in sport and physical activity.
Play Their Way intends to change that.
As part of our commitment to making child-first coaching the norm rather than the exception, we will encourage coaches to move beyond traditional approaches and create environments where children have a genuine voice, meaningful choice and a strong sense of belonging.
Our ambition is for every futsal environment engaging young people to put children first, positioning futsal as a leader in delivering child-first experiences that attract, engage and retain young people in the sport.
At the heart of this ambition is a commitment to making futsal an enjoyable, inclusive and empowering experience, built around play, creativity and self-expression.
Sion Kitson, England Futsal Head of Development & Technical Lead said:
“England Futsal Community C.I.C. is privileged to have been selected by Play Their Way as one of seven Community Builders, helping bring their principles to life through our work across the futsal landscape.
From driving positive change within our performance pathway to supporting grassroots coaches with dedicated coach education and development, we want to inspire, motivate and collaborate with coaches across England to make child-first coaching the norm.
Futsal has playfulness at its heart.
Its roots celebrate creativity, individuality, innovation and the freedom to explore possibilities in tight spaces, challenge conventions and express yourself through the game.
These values align naturally with a child-first approach, where the person always comes before the player.
With so many fantastic futsal environments already living and breathing these values, this opportunity is about more than educating and inspiring coaches.
It is also about celebrating the people and environments getting it right, shining a spotlight on great examples of child-first futsal and creating opportunities for us all to learn from one another.”
What is Play Their Way?
Play Their Way is a child-first coaching movement committed to creating experiences where young people feel genuinely heard, valued and cared for.
At its heart is a belief that experiences should be shaped around the participants in front of us, recognising the rights of every child and young person to have a voice, to develop and to play their way.
The campaign is led by the Children’s Coaching Collaborative, delivered by UK Coaching and funded by Sport England, with the aim of empowering coaches across the country to adopt a child-first approach to coaching.
The movement is built upon three key principles, underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:
VOICE - The right to be heard.
CHOICE - The right to play.
JOURNEY - The right to develop.
Now, England Futsal is a part of this journey.
What are Community Builders?
The Play Their Way Community Builder programme brings together organisations and regional hubs to help make child-first coaching part of everyday practice.
England Futsal joins six other organisations in the class of 2026-27:
Chance to Shine
Black Country Coaches CIC
SHAPE Learning Partnership
Fight for Peace
Volume 1 Climbing
The Rugby Football League
That’s 2,500 coaches and 50,000 children and young people benefitting from Play Their Way.
Across the next 15 months and beyond, we’ll be working with our performance programme and coaching network to explore ways in which to embed Play Their Way within futsal and support more coaches to champion children’s rights through the Voice, Choice and Journey principles.
Here’s how…
How will England Futsal implement the Play Their Way principles?
Involving Children
Young People’s Performance Pathway Advisory Group - We’ll create a diverse panel of young players to shape project decisions, events and communications.
Co-design coach education - We’ll involve children in developing coach learning resources by sharing what great coaching looks and feels like and educate coaches to drive child-first coaching experiences in their environment.
Player Voice feedback - We’ll develop an innovative approach to gather children’s feedback on their coaching experiences, test it with our youth development partners and use it to inform and improve practice.
Change Makers & Coaching Guides
We’ll appoint up to five Change Makers from within our existing network, who will use their voice and influence within futsal to promote Play Their Way’s principles to our wider community.
Want to be a Change Maker? If you’re already embodying the child-first coaching principles and keen to share your experience with the wider community, get in touch with us and become a Change Maker.
Email info@englandfutsal.com with a few lines about yourself and why you’re a potential Change Maker.
We’ll also appoint up to three Coaching Guides from our coach developers and wider team, to ensure these principles are being understood and applied by the coaches we engage with, from the performance pathway, to coach education workshops and grassroots youth and club coaches.
Stay up-to-date with Play Their Way x England Futsal
To access key Play Their Way resources and find the most up-to-date content and information from our Community Builder work, visit our Play Their Way partnership page below or visit the Play Their Way resources hub.
