Fitness for Football
There should be no fitness constraints placed on grass roots footballers. The sport should be open to all irrespective of body shape or physical differences.
However if players intend to develop along an elite path there is no sense in denying that physical fitness will impact on progress.
The Fitness challenges are grouped along the fundamental fitness identified in LTAD documentation; Aglitiy, Balance, Coordination, Speed, Stamina.
White Grade
The Challenges are designed to introduce the concepts of fundamental fitness. More to inform the players of the fitness types that underlie the sport than to introduce minimum standards.
Colour Grade Progressions
The challenges move from a 'fun' style assessment to a formal one. They use the ALPHA test format from orange grade onward. This is the test format designed by the European Union and comes with standardised tables for age groups and genders. It is important to note that these tables are for the general population. Players are therefore expected to be at the High end of the scale if elite performance is their goal. Finally the challenges move to internationally recognised test formats and standards tables for each fitness type.
