FA 16-19 Participation Research Project

The rationale for this piece of research was to assist with sustaining participation and re-engaging players, to help reverse the drop out of players aged 16-19 years old.  

KKExcel, Sports Consultancy was commissioned to undertake this research project, which aimed to explore and consider the following objectives:

•    Define existing and preferred playing formats for 16-19 year olds
•    Understand the ‘world’ of 16-19 year olds to inform and shape playing opportunities and marketing methods used
•    Explore the role of Student Management Teams in developing student led football programmes
•    Gain the views of a wide range of students to understand their motivations, barriers to participation and reasons for dropping out
•    Highlight examples of good practice, lessons learnt and the importance/need for investment.
The methodology used to achieve the above objectives included:
•    The production of an online survey, advertised using Facebook, online platforms within FE Colleges and a Student Management Team Competition across a number of FE Colleges
•    Individual face-to-face interviews took place with three Community College Football Co-ordinators (CCFCs) based at Somerset, Telford and Birmingham

The final phase of the research project was the production of a short film.  Produced by KKExcel, the main objective of the movie was to illustrate in a fun and dynamic manner the 'world' of 16-19 year olds, highlighting what takes up most of their time, what they like to do in their spare time and how these factors then influence their participation in football.

To view the short film, please click here:

The findings and recommendations for the research project were produced in two formats (inc. a PowerPoint presentation and a summary report) to enable the client to share the findings with a range of audiences.