Schools’ Football Week participation to hit record numbers

• Over 120,000 pupils are due to benefit from Schools’ Football activity from 7 – 13 February 2022 as part of the SFW initiative
  
• Over 46,000 girls will take part in activity specifically designed for the 2022 campaign

Schools’ Football Week (SFW), in association with Haier, will be creating football-based opportunities for more children than ever before from the 7th – 13th February 2022.

The initiative, which was launched in late 2021, has already seen over 600 schools register to take part in school-time activities for their pupils, meaning that so far, over 120,000 children will be enjoying some additional activity alongside their curriculum.

While the overall message to encourage children to get outside, have fun and enjoy being able to play sport with their school friends is still key to the campaign, the ESFA is also utilising SFW to focus on and celebrate the continued growth of girls’ football.  The campaign registration so far has already shown that over 46,000 girls will benefit from some football-based activity as part of the week in 2022.

In addition to championing girls’ football this season, Schools’ Football Week is also focussing on: 

• Celebrating the  ESFA’s first ever draws for National Schools’ Cup quarter and semi-final matches  on Monday 7 February  
  
• Celebrating and promoting the Deaf Schools’ Finals, which take place on Tuesday 8 February  

The campaign isn’t designed to focus on competitive football, but the wide-ranging benefits that being part of a team can have on school age children in England. For example, SFW aims to bring together opportunities for schools to bring football off the pitch and into classrooms, providing learning resources from other ESFA partners that can be useful tools to engage pupils in the wider world of football.

There’s still time to get involved

If you haven’t yet registered your activity for Schools’ Football Week, there’s still a few days left to do so – simply follow this link and fill in your details.

There is also further information on the Schools’ Football Week section of our website, which is also where you can find additional resources.

Mark Hignett, ESFA Chairman said “On behalf of the English Schools’ Football Association, I am delighted to welcome Haier on board for Schools’ Football Week. It is fantastic to see how this campaign has grown in popularity over the last few years and to now have the initiative backed by a worldwide brand is another positive step for our Association.

Schools’ Football Week provides an opportunity to showcase the importance of schools’ football in England and February 2022 will provide the next instalment of this wonderful initiative. Children missed out on so many opportunities throughout 2020 and 2021 due to the global pandemic and the ESFA has seen, first hand, how much schools and associations had missed these opportunities to bring together children with a shared passion of football and all that it entails.

There is so much activity happening out there, be it within schools, districts, counties or internationally and with it comes a diverse range of opportunities for a diverse range of children. We want to highlight all of the wonderful work that goes on in England to nurture these young players and help them to continue on their journey with football, wherever it may take them.”

Antony Peart, Director of Brand and Communications UK and ROI at Haier said “We are pleased to  have partnered with the ESFA. Their initiative is fantastic,  helping and encouraging children to  peruse healthy lifestyles, play football and enjoy team morale. At Haier we understand that 2020/21  was a very difficult time for all, which is one of the many reasons why we really wanted to support  and work in partnership with an Association that can help bring sports and joy back into children’s  daily routine.”

The ESFA and Haier will work together to create fantastic Schools’ Football Week opportunities in 2022.