FIFA's Football for Schools programme uses a cell phone app to allow physical education teachers and football coaches around the world to develop both football and life skills in boys and girls from ages 4-14 years of age.
An impressive 71 of FIFA’s 211 member associations successfully introduced the Football for Schools Programme in 2023, compared with 32 in 2022 and the FIFA-run initiative has had a positive impact on over 31 million children.
Norman Brook (Brook Sports Consulting) developed some 85 life skills sessions for inclusion in the app which features 120 football and life skills lessons. He worked in collaboration with the FIFA Football for Schools team and UNESCO staff to match life skills for a majority of the lessons.
Norman Brook said "it is quite humbling to see the impact that this programme is having globally. I was honoured to work in collaboration with the FIFA Football for Schools team and UNESCO staff in developing these life skills activities".
Combing the the power of Football with new technologies is a powerful way of developing the personal and social skills and knowledge of young people and readying them for life.