The FA Tesco Skills will become part of the national curriculum in a £150m investment

The Football Association has announced that The FA Tesco Skills programme is now being promoted by both the Department of Education and Sport England as part of the Government’s new £150m investment into Primary Schools sport.

It means that more youngsters around the country can access free quality football coaching during the school week as part of the legacy of London 2012.

And The FA is also the only governing sports body to be officially endorsed by the Association of PE with an accreditation for supporting teachers.

Sir Trevor Brooking launched The FA Tesco Skills alongside Frank Lampard at Wembley Stadium in 2007

Skills is based on a unique coaching model that helps children of all abilities to grow and develop their physical, technical, psychological and social skills in a school and football environment,” said The FA’s Director of Football Development.

“The programme also has a focus on life skills such as confidence, teamwork, decision making and problem solving while getting youngsters active and enjoying both football and exercise on a regular basis alongside their peer group.”

The FA Tesco Skills has recruited 50 new recruits, taking the number of full-time coaches working within the programme to 158 while over 7,500 primary schools and 21,500 teachers have been involved since the launch.

Sir Trevor added: “It’s been a fantastic success to date with over 4.5m places offered to youngsters who have attended sessions in schools and clubs over the last six years and we’ve even branched out to The FA Tesco Skills Extra initiative which offers children showing potential a greater challenge and puts them on a pathway that could see them join the academy of a professional football club in the future. 

“The FA Tesco Skills Programme has made great strides since launching in 2007 and its place within the Government’s school sports strategy is a massive plus for youth football development in England.” 

The Prime Minister’s Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Ambassador, Lord Coe CH KBE, also had praise for The FA Tesco Skills: “It’s a great school programme which really provides youngsters with those all important basic physical literacy skills.

“Teachers always take part in the sessions and they receive free support and resources from the coaches which means that the teachers can continue lessons after the coaches have gone and the programme can have a real lasting effect in schools.

“The FA Tesco Skills can really make a difference to PE in primary schools.”

The new FA Tesco Skills Teacher Resources can be downloaded at TheFA.com/TescoSkills