Quick one to close the week. We are into the bit of June where most leagues have wrapped and the calendar goes quiet apart from the odd summer tournament. Good time to look at one rule change that lands next season and quietly affects how you run training.
Heading reaches its last age group next season
The FA's phase-out of deliberate heading in youth matches has been rolling up the age groups for a few years now. It started at Under 7 to Under 9, moved to Under 10, and from 2026/27 it reaches Under 11. After that the line sits at the Under 12 season, the move up to secondary school, where heading is reintroduced.
So from next season there is no deliberate heading in any affiliated match up to and including Under 11. In practice a deliberate header is an indirect free kick to the other side. Worth a reminder to your parents and your sideline before the first game, because someone always asks.
What it changes in training (not much, honestly)
If you already follow the guidance this is barely a change. No deliberate heading drills for these ages, which most of us dropped a while ago anyway. Spend the time on what actually wins under 11s games: first touch, passing out from the back, decision making. None of this stops a kid heading a ball by instinct in open play. It is about not coaching it in and not building drills around it. The point is the long game on head health, and that is hard to argue with.
The summer gap
With matches done, this is the window for the admin you never get to in season. Squad lists for next year. Sorting who is moving up an age group. Chasing registrations before they all land in your lap in August. Boring, but a quiet July beats a chaotic September.
And for the Under 12s moving up
Flip side of the same coin. If your lads are going up to Under 12 next season, that is where heading is reintroduced, and it is the first time some of them will have done it in a match. Do not just let it arrive on the first Saturday. A bit of light, proper technique work over the summer, foreheads not the top of the head, eyes open, neck firm, using the lighter size 4 balls, goes a long way. Keep the volume low and build it slowly. The point of the phase-out was head health, and that thinking does not stop the day they turn 12.
On our side this week
We put a few things up this week worth a look if you missed them. An honest Trac-versus-Spond comparison and a Trac-versus-TeamStats one, the straight version of where we are different rather than the sales pitch. And a piece on what AI match reports actually do for a grassroots coach, which pairs well with the quieter weeks when you finally have time to try something new.
That is the week. Enjoy the break if you are getting one, and I will see you for the next one.