Football.co.uk: So Geoff could you please give us a brief insight on the McDonalds Coaching Masterclass and also your role within the project?
Sir Geoff Hurst: The McDonalds Coaching Masterclass is an FA funded course for coaches throughout the UK.
There are currently 20,000 coaches in the country however this is still lower than in European countries such as Spain.
Through McDonalds it is hoped that by 2014 their will be a further 10,000 funded coaches in the UK.
There are also 400,000 volunteers who contribute towards the game from tea lady's to groundsman.The program encourages the progression of grassroots football and offers youngsters the chance to play and have a tour at Wembley.
In the past Children could play in the street and learn their trade in that environment, however nowadays that is no longer viable.
Young players need a controlled and safe environment to train in, the course campaigns for respect from parents who can provide pressure and aggressive tendencies.
World class professionals are capable of mistakes so therefore it is expected that young players may also make mistakes.
The course promotes that grassroots football should be pressure free so as youngsters maintain confidence, in general letting them play and develop with their own instinct.
Football.co.uk: The recent EPPP ruling states the bigger clubs may pick up lower league talents for as little as 100,000 as the fee will be set by a tribunal. With Bigger clubs being given the chance to pick so many youngsters for next to nothing, will this aid or restrict the development of young players?
Sir Geoff Hurst: This could hamper certain players development as they may miss their home environment and in turn may lose interest in football, although all cases are unique and each player with be different.
Only Recently a 12 year old a Swindon turned down a move to Chelsea.
An example is Kenny Dalgleish who came down to West Ham for a trial however became homesick and went back to Scotland to sign for Celtic.
However certain players may thrive as it provides them with better training facilities and coaching. Players are judged to early on in their careers when they may be late bloomers.
Sir Geoff Hurst was speaking at the McDonald?s Coaching Masterclass at Wembley, where a number of grassroots coaches and their teams were given the once in a lifetime opportunity to be coached by legends of the game after winning one of 500 x ?100 vouchers encouraging parents to gain coaching qualifications. To date, McDonald?s has helped train over 20,000 qualified coaches and will create 10,000 more by 2014. For more information on the McDonald?s Football Programme and how you can help young footballers shine, visit www.thefa.com/yourgame.
Source: DSG
Source: DSG