The Pin Point Recruitment (PPR) Junior Football League as it is currently known was originally established in 1945 as the NABC (Northumberland Association of Boys’ Club) Football League and was initially set-up by volunteer officials to provide organised football for youngsters in the area who were keen to play on a regular basis.

Over the years, the league has produced an impressive calibre of players that have gone on to play professionally at the highest level including the likes of Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Steve Bruce, Michael Carrick, Steve Watson, Lee Clark and Ray Kennedy to name but a few.

Footy Matters spoke to Gordon Stewart, the league’s marketing manager, on the rewarding ways in which RESPECT is being implemented at grassroots level.

BALLBOY RESPECT INITIATIVE

One initiative that has been introduced and seems to be thriving, is the Ball Boy Scheme which  gives youngsters the incentive to promote RESPECT and good behaviour within their club and to try and raise the standard of behaviour  in junior football by awarding them with ball-boy places at Newcastle United home games at St James Park.

The initiative is the only one of its kind currently operating in the country and has the backing of FA RESPECT Manager, Dermot Collins, and Newcastle United goalkeeper Steve Harper, who said:

“Without grassroots football, the professional game would not exist and that is why it is so important for there to be Respect and good behaviour at this level of the game, and indeed at every level.

“This is a terrific scheme and one I’m delighted to support.”

Gordon told me how the idea for the initiative was born and how the idea was put into action with the help of a unique partnership.

“We like to think of new initiatives that haven’t been tried anywhere else and again with the passion for football in the North East, we spoke to the Newcastle United Foundation which is a charitable wing and discussed how we could work together as part of the network we’d already set-up.

“We identified who had the best practice and who had poor discipline and asked, ‘how can we reward them?’ and this was one of the ideas we came up with. We’re currently in discussions with various parts of the Newcastle United Foundation, the academy and the corporate side and we’re looking at ways in which we can develop other initiatives to reward and therefore prevent poor practice and bad behaviour in football.

“What we say is that all the clubs should have a safe and enjoyable environment for the kids. We’re not hiding away, it’s our problem and they are dealt with efficiently and effectively both by the league and the FA so rather than just a punishment, we see it as a reward for having things put right.”

BULLYING

The annual anti-bullying week took place recently and this years slogan was ‘Stop and think – words can hurt’ and focused on tackling and preventing verbal bullying which can hinder the development of kids in football, damaging their confidence and even forcing some kids to stop playing the game all together.

“It’s an annual event organised by the NSPCC and other anti-bullying organisations. The NSPCC is a partner of the FA safeguarding committee and is promoted by the national FA as well. Bullying happens is all walks of life and we won’t hide from it and say there aren’t issues, were just trying to help our clubs promote the anti-bullying campaign and tell them how to deal with matters of bullying”, said Gordon.

The PPR website recently featured a piece on former Glentoran, Newcastle United, Burnley, APOEL Nicosia and Northern Ireland midfielder Tommy Cassidy, as part of their ‘Legends’ series. In that feature, Cassidy spoke openly about the behaviour of some parents and the pressure that they put upon their children and the negative it has on their enjoyment of the game.

“I’ve met some parents of young boys who without realising it hamper their sons from enjoying the game as they should and progressing up the ladder,” said Cassidy.

“That’s the most annoying factor. They stand on the touchline, sometimes using bad language, and they scream at their kids, telling them what to do and what not to do. The boys themselves are so frightened of making mistakes because of the abuse they receive on the way home from their dads. I’ve seen youngsters cry in the dressing room after a session, not wanting to face their fathers because of the “stick” they’ll get.

“That’s not the way it should be! Youngsters have to enjoy the game, the training, enjoy the banter between themselves, and more importantly, enjoy the thought of coming back the following week!”

Gordon continued:

“The way parents look to their children to become stars of the future, they’ve got to realise they’re just dealing with kids and it is a form of bullying and that’s the reason why we have the Legends series. These guys have been there, done that and come up from local levels of football and identified, ‘well this is what happened then, but we’ve got to take things forward and progress in football’.

“The way they train and the behaviour of parents as well. The response we’ve had from the ‘Legends’ has been phenomenal and we’re always leading with a very positive message for our members and that the young players now say well, ‘be positive about it’. This is how things are improving in football.”

RESPECT

Finally Gordon spoke more on RESPECT and how he believes it is the key to providing a better environment to play and watch football.

“There have been discussions nationally about, where does the RESPECT come from? And all I can say is that from the earliest age group were instilling this into the players, the coaches and the parents and hoping that eventually the message will get through at all levels.

“The good practice that we’ve got in the junior leagues throughout the country, hopefully will take that forward and the lads and lasses will be playing football for a long time to come in a respectful way, because society doesn’t permit behaviour like that generally.

“We’re delighted something like this has been done to assist us all. We have noticed a marked improvement in the decrease of discipline offences, and the number of teams and players involved in football has increased greatly and we’re attributing a lot of that down to the better behaviour, which is in line with the RESPECT programme.

If you would like to know more about the Pin Point Recruitment (PPR) Junior Football League, you can visit the official website – www.pinpointjuniorleague.co.uk

You can also follow on Twitter @PPRJFLeague

Follow me, Danny Gipson, on Twitter @DannyGipson