Girls and Boys up to Under 13

The FA have announced that girls may play alongside boys up to and including the Under 13 age group as from season 2011/2012.

See the related link at:

http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/NewsAndFeatures/2011/mixed-football-250511

FA questions and answers below:

Mixed Football
Proposed Rule Changes For Season 2011-12 Onwards
Q&A Document
A number of questions have been raised by County FAs about the proposed Rule change to raise the age of
mixed football from U11s to U13s. This document sets out responses to those questions.
1. What evidence do you have to support the Rule change?
In the 2007-8 season, The FA agreed that a number of mixed gender trials in the U12, U13 and U14
age categories would be conducted. The trials were subsequently extended to the 2008-9 and
2009-10 seasons. All CFAs were invited to take part in the pilots ahead of each season during the
three season pilot. By season 2009-10, 31 leagues were involved in these trials, involving 96 teams
and 119 girls.
In 2008, The FA commissioned Brunel University to evaluate these trials to determine the key
issues involved in mixed gender football. The Brunel University report was completed in January
2009 and recommended that The FA continue to allow girls to play with boys to an older age group.
The FA then commissioned independent risk assessments by the company Logistique to assess the
risk of injuries to players. No female participating in any mixed gender team studied required any
treatment for injuries. Logistique supported the increase to U13. However, they recommended that
further research should be undertaken at the U14 age before a Rule change was implemented,
given the slightly higher degree of risk at that age range. Note that the proposed Rule change only
goes to U13 and does not include the U14 age range.

The FA also consulted with FIFA, UEFA and various other countries' football associations, the results
of which showed that England had (and continues to have) one of the lowest ages for requiring
separation into single gender teams. See question 2 below for further information.
In addition, various consultations and questionnaires were conducted. See question 11 for further
details.
In April 2011, Logistique confirmed that their report and recommendations are unaffected by the
time that has passed since its production, and that they believe that there are no new factors that
would cause the original recommendations to be in need of updating.
The Brunel and Logistique reports are both weighty documents but we have uploaded them to
MYFA where they can be viewed.
2. What happens in other countries?
a. Both Norway and Sweden do not have any restrictions at all, girls and boys can play mixed
football to any age.
b. In Germany mixed football is allowed up to Under 17s.
c. Scotland allows mixed football up to under 15s.
d. Both Denmark and France allow mixed football up to under 14s.
3. Aren't the proposed Rule changes unfair on boys?
The updated Rule applies equally to boys and girls. 4. The pilot was run on the basis of a maximum of 4 girls in a boys' team only - is it a problem that
the Rule change does not reflect this?
Logistique, who conducted the risk assessment into the initial proposed Rule change, have
confirmed that they are comfortable with these amendments to the proposed Rule changes from a
risk perspective. However, during the three year pilot study, no boys requested the ability to play in
girls' teams and we consider the likely interest in this to be minimal.
5. Why isn't the same Rule change being introduced for U14s, given that they were part of the pilot
scheme?
The independent risk assessment produced by Logistique recommended that further research
should be undertaken at the U14 age before a Rule change was implemented, given the slightly
higher degree of risk at that age range. As such research has not yet been conducted, the Rule
change is not yet considered appropriate for the U14 age range.

6. What happens if the Rule change isn't approved? What is the legal position?
At the Council Meeting in March 2011, Council heard from Adam Lewis QC who explained that:
- Following the introduction of the new Equality Act in October 2010 a sporting body must consider
the physical strength, stamina or physique of the average person of one sex to determine whether
it puts them at a disadvantage to the average person of another sex when competing. Under the
new Act the body is expressly required in relation to children to take account of the age and stage
of development of children who are likely to be competitors. The research conducted on behalf of
The FA shows that there is considerable overlap between boys and girls in relation to size, motor
skill development and ability at the relevant age levels.

- For the current Rule to be lawful, The FA would need to be able to prove that there is such a
difference in the physical strength, stamina or physique of the average person of one sex to justify
preventing mixed football. The FA does not have any evidence available to support this at the U12
or U13 age ranges - indeed The FA's evidence (through both the three year pilot and international
approaches) directly contradicts this because as set out above the evidence shows that there is
considerable overlap.

- As such, The FA is already at risk of legal challenge and this will continue if the proposed Rule
changes are not introduced by the shareholders.

- Further, given the provisions of the Equality Act 2010, we have been further advised that: (i) The FA
should not include an optional period for County FAs to introduce the Rule within their county; and
(ii) The FA should not include a quota on the amount of boys that can participate in girls football or
girls in boys football. Any conditionality of this nature would be in breach of the new Equality Act.

- Given the evidence that is within The FA's possession that would be required to be disclosed in
relation to any legal proceedings, The FA Board have put the Rule to the shareholders without
conditionality because they would be in breach of their fiduciary duties if they asked the
shareholders to consider a Rule change which would not be in compliance with the relevant
legislation.

- Please see the legal opinion provided by Adam Lewis QC, as well as slides from his presentation to
Council, both of which are available on MYFA. These document the fact that unless there is
evidence that the physical strength, stamina or physique of the average girl in a particular age
group puts her at a disadvantage to the average boy in that age group, the current Rules are not
lawful. As set out above, The FA has evidence that supports allowing mixed football at U12 and U13. It does not have any evidence that suggests that the physical strength, stamina or physique of
the average girl in these particular age groups require mixed football to be banned. As such, if the
current Rule was challenged it is likely that The FA would be forced to change the Rule to allow
mixed football at these ages, and damages and costs could be payable by The FA.

We would also recommend that all CFA directors consider their fiduciary and statutory duties to
their CFAs as directors when considering this proposed Rule change. This should take into account
the clear legal advice that voting against the proposed Rule change would mean the continuation of
an unlawful Rule which all CFAs would be required to enforce, which would inevitably lead to
various difficulties.

In addition, we anticipate significant public criticism if the Rule change is not passed. We have
received (and continue to receive) a vast number of letters and phone calls complaining that girls
are not allowed to play football with boys after U11 (over 200 complaints in the period from May
2010 to October 2011 were received directly by The FA alone). A small sample of these letters have
been provided on MYFA for your information. The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee
Women's Football Report in 2006 recommended raising the age limit for mixed gender
competition, and a number of politicians have spoken in support of the change. There has
previously been extensive media coverage of individual cases. The new legal position will only offer
additional support to those who have raised these criticisms. The potential for negative publicity if
The FA was legally challenged on this point is of course obvious, especially in light of these
recommendations that the Rules should be changed.

7. Why isn't the proposed Rule change optional?
As set out in question 6 above, the legal position requires the Rule change to be effective
immediately and does not permit any optional period for the implementation of such a Rule
change. Given the evidence that is within The FA's possession that would be required to be
disclosed in relation to any legal proceedings, The FA Board have put the Rule to the shareholders
without conditionality because they would be in breach of their fiduciary duties if they asked the
shareholders to consider a Rule change which would not be in compliance with the relevant
legislation.

8. What are the perceived benefits to girls and boys from being allowed to play mixed football to
U13?
a. Girls will benefit from opportunities for skill development, challenge, and enjoyment;
b. Boys and girls benefit socially from the friendships they develop and gaining respect for
each other as team mates; and
c. Research on child development and physiology indicates that at U12-U14 ages there is
considerable overlap between boys and girls in relation to size, motor skill development
and ability.


9. What about the detriment to the girls' game?
None of the evidence to date supports any concern that the Rule change would be to the detriment
of the girls' game. Globally, a number of countries have shown an ability to allow mixed football to
a higher age and to have a strong girls' game at the same time. Based on the three year study, it is
envisaged that the change in Rule will only involve a small number of girls who wish to continue
playing with their male friends, with the majority of girls continuing to choose to play girls' only
football. There was no obvious detriment to the girls' game in those areas that allowed mixed
football during the pilot scheme. The statistics set out below should help to resolve this concern:
- 1.1 million women and girls play football in England; - The 2009-10 season saw a 7% increase in girls' teams (players between the ages of 12-16 years
of age) - 6,461 affiliated teams;
- There are 50 FA Girls' Centres of Excellence where our most talented 8-16 year old female
players are developing their football skills. A new talent development pathway for 2011-12 has
recently been approved by FA Council which will see this number reduce to 32 Centres, which
will release many more girls back to the grassroots game; and
- Only 119 girls showed a desire to play mixed football in the pilot age groups in the 3 years of
the study. It would not be detrimental to the girls' game if those players played boys' football
for a longer period.

10. What about facilities?
The pilot study showed that facilities were not perceived as an issue - both male and female players
mostly came to all matches already dressed in their playing kit. However, it is acknowledged that
this may not always be the case. Of course, many facility providers who would need to address this
issue at U12 and U13 would already have to address the issue at U11 and would already have
procedures in place. In situations where separate changing facilities are required, appropriate
timetabling of changing room facilities would be one solution. Alternatively, changing rooms could
be split between girls and boys instead of between the home and away team for the purposes of
changing.
11. Why were only 119 girls included in the pilot? Is this really representative?
All CFAs were invited to take part in the pilot ahead of each season during the three season pilot.
By season 2009-10, 31 leagues were involved in these trials, involving 96 teams and 119 girls.
Where a CFA chose not to enter the pilot, The FA was obviously not in a position to include its
leagues/players in the pilot. In addition, The FA did not actively encourage girls to play in the pilot,
it was left as a decision for girls to decide whether or not they wanted to participate, as would be
the case if the Rule change was approved.
The girls who participated in the trial were typically very skilled, had played football for a number
of years, and had experience playing football in mixed gender teams. The primary reasons they
gave for playing in mixed gender teams was the opportunity for skill development, friendship,
enjoyment, lack of girls' teams, lack of challenge on available girls' teams and lack of players on a
boy's team. We anticipate that those girls who would play mixed gender football at U12 and U13
would generally fit the same description.
In addition to the girls who competed, young players and the general public were consulted
through TheFA.com, the "Your Game Your Say" questionnaire (10,000 responses) and the FA Youth
Survey (5,000 responses). During the pilot, separate adult and player consultation questionnaires
were developed and issued to 557 individuals who carried out a variety of roles within football. In
addition, every CFA was asked to contribute through an open letter to County CEOs and Council
Members on MYFA (September 2009). The ESFA and the ISFA were written to separately and asked
to comment also. A 38% return was achieved, and this showed, amongst other things, that 66% of
adults and 64% of players were in favour of raising the age limit for mixed gender football to
include Under 13s.
The figure of 119 girls is the number of girls who chose to participate in the pilot, and reflects 96
teams and 31 leagues. All CFAs were offered the opportunity to participate in the pilot and to
contribute through an open letter, and the general public and players have been offered the
opportunity to submit their views. It is clear that a vast number of individuals have had the
opportunity to contribute to the debate and all CFAs have had the opportunity to allow their
leagues to participate in the pilot and to contribute their views already.
12. Will we need to scrap all boys' and girls' competitions? The Rule change would not prevent the continuation of leagues or cup competitions which are
marketed and run as "Girls" or "Boys" leagues/cups, provided that it is acknowledged that if a girl
wanted to play in a "Boys" competition or a boy wanted to play in a "Girls" competition, this must
be allowed.
As set out in the answers above, the number of girls who showed a desire to participate in mixed
gender football at these age ranges during the pilot was relatively low, and in general such girls had
a specific and legitimate reason for wanting to be able to play mixed gender football. At no point
during the pilot study, research or any of the correspondence we have received since has there
been any request from any boys to be allowed to play in a girls' team or league. We do not consider
the potential for boys to be interested in doing so to be great.
In the event that a team which was predominantly male wished to enter into a "Girls" competition,
we would recommend that the competition organiser strongly resisted the request and instead
worked with the team to find an appropriate competition ("Mixed" or "Boys") to compete in. The
FA would support any County FA in this regard.
13. Will we need to change the name of our league or competition?
We do not consider there to be any need for a club or competition to change names where they
have the word "Boys" or "Girls" in their title. Of course, a club may chose to do so if a girl were to
join its "Boys" teams (or vice versa) but this would be optional.
14. What support will I receive from The FA in relation to the Rule change?
If any CFA has specific issues concerning the implementation of the Rule change, The FA would of
course be happy to assist in any way that it reasonably can. In particular, please feel free to
circulate our Mixed Football Overview document and this Q&A document as necessary.

15. I have other questions on the Rule changes proposed - what should I do?

If you have any other questions on the proposed Rule changes, please contact Alistair Maclean at
alistair.maclean@thefa.com.

Any further questions will be addressed on MYFA, and additional relevant documentation may also
be uploaded to MYFA where appropriate.

16. I can't access MYFA - can I still see the documents mentioned above?

If you do not have access to MYFA, please contact Mary Guest, Senior Solicitor at
mary.guest@thefa.com or on 0844 980 8200 ext 4865 who will provide alternative access.

Additional Questions

We have been asked a number of additional questions by some County FAs, as set out below:

17. Given the legal advice, why do we need to vote on this issue at all?

The FA Constitution requires any change to the FA Rules to be approved by the Shareholders,
therefore regardless of the legal advice the Rule change has to be approved by the Shareholders in
the same way as any other Rule change must be approved.


18. If the Rule changes are not approved and there is a legal challenge against The FA or a County
FA, what will happen?

On the basis of the current evidence, research and legal advice, The FA does not currently believe
that they could defend a claim brought against them based on the current Rule. Following on from
this, we do not currently envisage how any County FA could defend a claim against it either. From
an FA perspective, to defend a legal claim where the legal advice is that such defence would be
unsuccessful would not be an appropriate use of FA resources or funding.

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