Street Football heads to the beach

The recently launch Street Football programme headed to the beach last Saturday, and will be at Rosia nextweekend.
The programme aimed at encouraging youngsters to play the sport recreationally, away from the disciplined club football scene, and encouraging a growth to a return of street football, has seen much interest.
With football having become a focal point of everyday life in recent weeks with the Euros 2024, the programme comes at a time when global attention has been on how players such as Spain’s Jamal have grown into the sport from his young days playing with friends on the streets.
Wide attention on how the latest crop of young international superstars have developed has provided an unexpected platform to increase the interest in street football.
Seventeen year old Jamal, presently playing for Barcelona, recently featured in a BBC short documentary feature before last Sunday’s final where his pathway from joining La Masia, through to his regular visits to his hometown has seen him regularly joining to play with his friends like many other youths do.
Players such as Ronaldo, Saka, Foden and many others have also been highlighted on how their development through into the professional world of football has seen them growing up playing the game on the streets at one time or another.
Gibraltar, since its entry into UEFA has seen street football slowly dissappearing as young players join the more disciplined structures of club football. The increased facilities along with the clubs use of facilities in Spain providing an initial attraction which has seen young players moving away from playing in patios and playgrounds. This further impacted by the increased use of technology such as gaming and social media.
The latest street football programme, has however, brought to the forefront the continued interest in young players wanting to play recreationally with large numbers turning up during the first session at the Dolphin Youth Club.