Restricted Grassroots Football
Credit: Rhino KV Arena. For illustration purposes only.
I think it is time to shift gears from the plight of professional football to the plight of grassroots football. This write up will be covering as many points as possible. The timeline from the lead-up, the active impacts, and the potential worries. Moreover beyond the timeline is with the societal, physical, and mental health, economics, educational, governance, philosophical, side of things.
Definition of Grassroots
Before we go any further. Bear in mind, everyone has a different definition of grassroots football. To ensure no confusion, we will be adopting the Asian Football Confederation’s definition of grassroots football. Which the Football Association of Malaysia are in line with.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) defines grassroots football as ‘All football which is non-professional and non-elite’. It covers football for children, youths, amateurs, veterans, those with learning or physical disabilities and the socially disadvantaged.
The main objectives for grassroots football range from encouraging mass participation, stimulating greater interest in the game to providing more opportunities for social inclusion, supporting healthy lifestyles as well as the development of young people, both in sporting and educational aspects.
The AFC reinforces its commitment to grassroots football and its desire to work hand-in-hand with its Member Associations under the AFC Grassroots Philosophy. The key principles are:
• Everybody has the opportunity to play
• Players come first
• There is no discrimination
• Fair Play must be respected
• Safety is a priority
• Football is everywhere
• The action must be dynamic, simple, exciting and rewarding
• Relationships, teamwork and skills development are key components
Source: https://www.the-afc.com/afc-home/technical/grassroots/
In a nutshell, grassroots football covers from social football, community football, amateur football, recreational football, youth football, veterans football, and so on.
Padangbolasepak.com has been actively involving with the grassroots ecosystem, especially within the Klang Valley Region of Malaysia. Assisting and synergising with various organisations to grow the sport together, so that may we all thrive for about five years. We even have our own grassroots football program, recreational football that we have been conducting for three years. And a recently formed Non-Governmental Organisation, Persatuan Sukan REKREASI Malaysia.
Leading Up To Movement Control Order
Since the news of the coronavirus stuck up in our media timeline around December 2019 to January 2020. There has been a range of anxiety to calmness among those in the community about how it may affect the world as a topical discussion. Where some got worried, some felt it will be like the passing wind. February 2020 is when a lot of hearts and minds started to get worried for each other. Especially when cases rise among Malaysians as well as when there was a political crisis that added to the anxiety and confusion about our direction of how to deal with this. Everyone kept their wills going. Until the news of the Tabligh cluster emerged in early March 2020. Notably when learning about how the transmission of the virus can spread at speed among the mass gathering. This is when the organization among grassroots football exchanged information about the steps ahead. Prior to the Movement Control Order, some continued and some didn’t. Thankfully on the sporting side nothing of scale has been consumed by the virus. However, the fear of the next has consumed us all.
Movement Control Order 2020
When the crisis happens - decision-makers have to maintain a mindfulness of optimism and realism. One to ensure to respective communities to keep calm and hopeful. Another is to deliberate on what is ahead for all of us. Constantly keeping the mood encouraging while learning of development locally and globally can take a toll mentally and emotionally. As the days went on. The sense of hope fades away and the dread starts kicking in. Career ambitions suspended, financial flow at a halt, and the warmth of being involved with a community gain a cold distance.
After Movement Control Order
No doubt that everyone wants to go back to work and go back to playing football. However, this step cannot be done immediately as we do not want to relapse back to the rise of the virus and the reinstatement of the Movement Control Order. Hopefully, there’s some kind of going modelling build by the health ministry and the youth and sports ministry and other relevant organisations on how to get people back to sports. And rejuvenate our healthy lifestyle post Movement Control Order and Covid19 in some capacity or if the variable isn’t favourable, none for the rest of the year.
Implications Ahead
I have been in touch with many from the grassroots ecosystem. Continuous discussion and deliberation about the active implications that have both short term and long term effects.
Economics And Governance
With the economical news takes a dip for the worst. Major concerns among many within the community. Upon return back to sports is that there is potential inflation across the board, prices rise abnormally. Assuming that abnormal inflation happens it will make participating in sports even harder to afford as well as put workers out of jobs.
In that, the government, associations, stakeholders, private sector, and other organizations must come together. To create a series of policies where playing sports can be assessable by everyone wanting to participate and safeguarding jobs. Once a consensus is met, along with honest and proper execution is met. Hopefully, there will be a rejuvenation. Safeguarding careers and maintaining communities through sports.
Physical And Mental Health
Human being yearns for a sense of belonging in their lives. Once they find a fixed activity, in this case, sports to be involved in comfortably. They will hold it tight as long as they can. However, when it is ripped apart from them due to circumstances like Force Majeure. Everyone in the community will undoubtedly feel that a part of their lives has been taken away. Despite maintaining some semblance of digital communication. It is not the same as congregating to a field, to spend time and participate in a sporting activity together.
People want to sweat it out as well as maintain a connection with those around them. As the distances grow away from participating our motivation to stay fit along with self-confidence drops. The anxiety of when will this be over consumes and depression of not being able to do more for your fellow teammate in the past infects the soul. Believing and reliving those moments that you could have done more for others than previously thought.
Communities all over despite being morally down. There are those out there attempting to lift the mood around by asking how they are and innovating online games and challenges to keep the physical and mental health going.
Cultural Reboot?
Even before the crisis - one of the weaknesses of grassroots sports, especially in football. Is the cultural attitude aspect of it. A majority thinks they know the game but there are those not willing to learn, keep up with the times, or be compassionate of each other. Harmful division starts because of a philosophical or worst egotistical and superficial disagreement. From there, people tend to take things personally, create drama, and pick sides in the conflict which divides up the communities that cause confusion and lack of clarity about the path ahead.
This crisis has created a vacuum where power-hunger individuals can take advantage of the aftermath. And without check and balance, people in the ecosystem, honest workers, and users will suffer from it. The vacuum must be filled with a representative system by a strong coalition of trustworthy people and organisation from the grassroots ecosystem and chart out a vision ahead. That invokes the spirit of the Asian Football Confederation definition of grassroots football. And together execute them for the continuous progress of the grassroots ecosystem for all.
Yeah, just me all these should have been done 30 or more years ago. But here we are.
Conclusion
Beyond the covid19 virus, like elsewhere. Actively there are so many lives at stake. Worrying day today on how to survive, even after survival the worry of social-economical security. And we must find a way that the fallout does not ravage this fragile grassroots sporting ecosystem by an, even more, deadlier virus the egosystem of power-hungry individuals.