'The Greater Game' launched to inspire better health and wellbeing among young people

Posted: Wed, 31 May 2023 09:00

'The Greater Game' launched to inspire better health and wellbeing among young people

The Football Association has today announced 'The Greater Game', a programme focused on inspiring 12-16-year-olds, and their families, to improve their health and wellbeing by making at least one extra healthier action per week.

These actions will centre on four key pillars: moving well; eating well; sleeping well; and thinking well.


The Greater Game launches at a time when less than half of 10-16-year-olds in the UK regularly exercise for an hour a day.


A fundamental part of The Greater Game programme is a grassroots initiative, which has been co-created with Nuffield Health – currently in a pilot stage, before a national rollout in 2024.


Delivered in the form of educational workshops, the initiative will give parents and guardians, coaches and young people practical tips and techniques to support making healthier choices under the pillars of Move, Eat, Sleep and Think. These can be taken away and put into practice on the pitch and at home.

The pilot is being delivered to selected clubs across five County FAs: Berks & Bucks CFA, Cheshire and Manchester CFA, Leicestershire & Rutland CFA, Middlesex CFA and Somerset CFA, reaching 130 coaches and parents and guardians and 2,000 young people. Quantitative and qualitive analysis of the pilot, which includes control groups, will inform the national rollout in 2024.


The grassroots initiative has been underpinned by robust external research by academics from the Institute for Sport and Physical Activity Research at the University of Bedfordshire and researchers from the Centre for Behaviour Change at University College London.

Through engaging directly with the target audience, their behavioural concerns were identified, and intervention strategies recommended, with the aim to drive long-term change.


Through an additional partnership with M&S Food, launched last year, The FA will also tap into the 'Eat Well, Play Well' campaign that seeks to talk about healthy eating in a way that's engaging and relatable to younger audiences.

(Source & Image: The FA)

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