Every player, every age —
a documented path
Ledarhandbooks, club-wide player education plans, and individual development templates — built on your philosophy, structured for your leaders, designed for your players.
Spelform-specific handbooks · Club-wide education plans · IDP templates per age group · Swedish & English
From first touch to full game
FCA builds player education documentation across every age group and game format — adapted to the framework of each market we work in. Select your federation below.
First ball contact. Play, joy, and belonging. No tactical structure or positions.
Handbook availableTeam identity begins. Basic phases of play and first collective decisions.
Handbook availableThree-year development arc. Tactical concepts, build-up play, defensive principles introduced.
Sample availablePosition-specific roles emerge. Deeper formation literacy and unit organisation.
Handbook availableFull game. Complete tactical, technical, physical, and psychological framework.
Handbook availableAligned with Swedish Football Association (SvFF) — one of the most progressive long-form development pathways globally
Play-led introduction. Ball mastery, exploration, and fun. No fixed positions or team shape.
Handbook availableTeam shape introduced. Beginning to understand roles and basic principles of play.
Handbook availableGreater positional awareness. Transitional play and unit organisation introduced across the pitch.
Sample availableFull game format. Tactical principles, formation literacy, and position-specific development across all age groups.
Handbook availableAligned with English FA Youth Development Review (EPPP) framework
Maximum ball contact. No goalkeeper, no offside. Pure play environment with constant involvement.
Handbook availableFirst team shape. Goalkeeper introduced. Basic positional awareness and unit organisation begins.
Handbook availableExpanded game. Transitional play, wider pitch demands, and introduction of more complex systems.
Sample availableFull game. Tactical maturity, position-specific roles, and preparation for competitive club and state environments.
Handbook availableAligned with US Soccer Federation Player Development Initiative (PDI)
Play-based foundation. Informal exploration of the ball, movement, and basic cooperation.
Handbook availableStructured play introduced. Small team identity, basic game understanding, and first collective decisions.
Handbook availableWider format with greater tactical demand. Influenced by AFC grassroots guidelines and European academy systems.
Sample availableFull game. ISL academy, private academy, and grassroots club contexts — each requiring adapted documentation.
Handbook availableAligned with All India Football Federation (AIFF) grassroots pathway and AFC guidelines
Informal or lightly structured small-sided play. Maximum contact time in environments that vary widely by country and context.
Handbook availableFirst team format. Basic collective organisation. Common across CAF member federations with stronger grassroots infrastructure.
Handbook availableTransitional format. Used increasingly across Morocco, South Africa, Ghana, and Senegal — countries following European-influenced academy models.
Sample availableFull game. Many contexts still introduce 11v11 earlier than development research supports — documentation helps clubs make the case for a protected pathway.
Handbook availableAligned with CAF member federation frameworks — adapted by country and environment
Three types of player education document
Per
Spelform
Leader handbook
A comprehensive leader handbook for each spelform — the primary reference document for every coach working within that age group. Covers culture, pedagogy, game principles, session design, match environment, parent framework, and progression.
Whole-club document
Club-wide Player Education Plan
A unified development document that connects every age group into one coherent philosophy — the spine of your entire coaching system. Covers philosophy, development priorities per spelform, formations, goalkeeper pathway, IUP structure, and shared coaching language.
Per
Player
IDP Templates
Individual Development Plan templates — structured for use by leaders at each spelform, built to your club's framework and language. Includes four development dimensions, conversation prompts, review cycles, and parent communication framework.
What goes into an age group handbook
Every handbook FCA produces is built for the coaches and leaders working with a specific age group — in their federation, their context, their language. Select a market to see what that looks like in practice.
The 7v7 Ledarhandbok — Spelform 3
The Ledarhandbok is not a coaching manual. It is a complete reference document for every person working with a specific age group — from the head coach to the parent volunteer joining the team for the first time.
Built around your club's philosophy, using your language and values, addressing the full complexity of leading young players across what is one of the most consequential three-year windows in player development.
The 7v7 handbook covers ages 10 to 12 across 22 sections. That depth is intentional — decisions in these years carry consequences across the whole player journey.
Club philosophy in this spelform
What the age group means, what it builds, and the three-year arc of development.
Spelform identity and game model
What this format demands, what it develops, and how it connects to what comes next.
Player development at this age
Motor, cognitive, emotional, social, and early puberty considerations for leaders.
Culture, values, and psychological safety
Shared language, belonging, and protecting the environment over time.
Organisation, pedagogy, and coaching approach
Team structure, session design, linear vs. non-linear methods.
Game principles — attack, defence, transitions
Attacking play, defensive organisation, zones, and phase dynamics.
Training design, match environment, differentiation
Session structure, match day conduct, and development-based grouping.
Leadership, parents, goalkeeping, evaluation
Coach role, parent framework, goalkeeper pathway, follow-up system.
Progression to the next spelform
What the player carries forward, and how leaders prepare them for it.
The U9–U10 Handbook — Foundation Phase 7v7
Built for coaches working within the FA's Foundation Phase — the stage at which team shape is introduced for the first time and collective principles begin to take hold alongside individual development.
The handbook is structured around the FA's four corner model — technical, tactical, physical, and psychological — while grounding every section in the specific demands of the 7v7 format and the U9–U10 developmental stage.
As England moves towards smaller formats and fewer early positional demands, FCA documentation is built to reflect both the current framework and its intended direction of travel.
Club philosophy and FA framework alignment
How your club's values sit within the FA's Foundation Phase principles.
Format identity — what 7v7 develops
Why this format, what it demands, and what it should never demand too early.
Player development — U9 and U10
Cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development at this specific stage.
Culture and psychological safety
Environment-first leadership. How the coach sets the tone before a ball is kicked.
Coaching approach and session design
Game-based learning, decision-led sessions, and how to structure the training week.
Technical and tactical principles
Individual skills, team shape, principles of play, and positional introduction.
Physical development and differentiation
Age-appropriate physical demands and how to differentiate across ability levels.
Match environment, parents, evaluation
Match day conduct, parent role, and how to run meaningful player review conversations.
Transition to 9v9
What readiness looks like, and how to prepare players and parents for the next format.
The U9–U10 Handbook — 7v7 PDI Format
Built for coaches operating within the US Soccer Player Development Initiative — the framework that moved American youth football away from early 11v11 and towards a progressive small-sided pathway grounded in player-centred development.
Every section is written for the American coaching context — the mix of licensed directors, volunteer parents, and competitive club environments that define US youth football at every level.
Handbooks reference US Soccer's six pillars of player development and connect them directly to what coaches do on the training pitch and sideline every week.
Club identity and PDI alignment
How your club's philosophy connects to US Soccer's development framework.
Why 7v7 — the format's developmental value
More touches, more decisions, more 1v1s. What this format offers that 11v11 cannot.
Player development at U9–U10
Physical, cognitive, emotional, and social characteristics of this age group.
Environment and psychological safety
Building a culture where players take risks, make mistakes, and keep developing.
Coaching methodology and session design
Game-realistic training, small-sided games, and how to plan the training week.
Technical, tactical, and positional development
Ball mastery, team shape, principles of play, and age-appropriate tactical concepts.
Match environment and sideline culture
Coach and parent behaviour. What the sideline communicates to players.
Differentiation, evaluation, and parent communication
How to manage varied ability levels, run player conversations, and involve parents constructively.
Transition to 9v9
Preparing players, parents, and coaches for the next format.
The U8–U10 Handbook — Foundation Phase
Built for the Indian football context — a landscape that spans ISL academy environments, private development academies, and grassroots clubs operating under widely varying levels of resource and infrastructure.
The handbook is grounded in AIFF grassroots guidelines and AFC coaching principles, while acknowledging the practical realities that most Indian club leaders operate within day to day.
Every section is written to be genuinely implementable — not a European model dropped into a different context, but documentation built from the ground up for what Indian football development actually looks like.
Club or academy identity and philosophy
What this environment stands for and the development vision driving every decision.
AFC grassroots framework alignment
How the handbook connects to AIFF and AFC coaching guidelines at this level.
Player development at this age
Physical, cognitive, and emotional characteristics. Cultural and contextual factors specific to Indian youth football.
Culture, values, and belonging
Building an environment where young players feel safe, seen, and motivated to return.
Coaching approach and session design
Practical, low-resource session structures adapted to local training conditions.
Technical and tactical principles
Ball mastery, game understanding, and age-appropriate collective principles.
Match environment, parents, and community
Sideline conduct, family engagement, and connecting development to the wider community.
Differentiation, evaluation, and progression
Managing mixed ability groups, reviewing development, and preparing players for the next stage.
Transition to the next format
What readiness looks like and how to manage the move to a larger game format.
The U9–U10 Handbook — Foundation Format
Built for African football environments — acknowledging that there is no single continental model, and that the gap between what federation guidelines say and what clubs can practically deliver is often significant.
FCA documentation for African contexts is built around the specific federation, country, and environment — not a generic "African football" template. What works in a Moroccan academy is not what works in a Ghanaian grassroots club.
Every handbook is written to help clubs make the case for a protected development pathway — and give their leaders the tools to deliver it within their actual constraints.
Club or academy identity
What this environment stands for — and the development vision it is working towards.
Federation framework and local context
How national federation guidelines apply to this specific club, region, and resource level.
Player development at this age
Physical, cognitive, and social development — with attention to cultural and contextual factors.
Culture, safety, and belonging
Creating environments where young players are protected, valued, and consistently returning.
Coaching approach — adapted to local conditions
Session design that works within real resource constraints — pitch size, equipment, numbers.
Technical and tactical principles
Age-appropriate ball mastery, game understanding, and first collective principles.
Match environment and community engagement
Sideline conduct, family involvement, and connecting the club to its wider community.
Differentiation, evaluation, and protected pathway
Managing mixed groups, reviewing progress, and making the case for age-appropriate formats.
Transition to the next format
Preparing players and leaders for the move — even when the wider competition structure resists it.
From observation to conversation
IDP templates are only valuable if leaders know how to use them. FCA's templates are built to prompt the right conversations — not produce performance reviews. The same four principles apply across every market and every age group system we work in.
Age-staged activation
IDPs are introduced at the right developmental moment — not too early, not too late. The activation point varies by market and framework: in Sweden this typically begins in year two of the 7v7 pathway; in England and the US, at U11–U12; in African and Indian contexts, adapted to what each environment can realistically sustain.
Conversation-first design
Every section of the IDP is written to open a dialogue, not close one. Prompts guide leaders to ask the right questions and genuinely listen — before filling in a single field. This principle holds whether you are a licensed director in an ISL academy or a volunteer coach in a Swedish grassroots club.
Four development dimensions
Each template covers technical, tactical, physical, and mental development — weighted appropriately for the age group and market context. No dimension is treated as secondary. The balance reflects what actually matters at each stage, whether that is the Foundation Phase in England, the PDI pathway in the US, or the spelform structure in Sweden.
Family and community integration
Each IDP cycle includes a communication framework for parents and guardians — adapted to the cultural norms of each market. In Sweden this means a structured parent conversation. In African and Indian contexts it extends to community engagement. Parents and families always receive the same language, the same framing, and the same perspective on their child's journey.
Documentation built from inside real systems — across four continents
The frameworks FCA uses were not developed in a classroom. They were built through working inside clubs, academies, and federations in Sweden, the US, India, Africa, and the Middle East — environments that vary enormously in resource, culture, and expectation.
Every document FCA produces is grounded in what actually works when coaches are volunteers, budgets are limited, and a board needs documentation they can stand behind. That experience translates across every market we work in.
What you are accessing when you commission FCA is not a template adapted to your logo. It is a system built from the inside — adapted to your federation, your philosophy, and your people.
Give your leaders the documentation they deserve
Most clubs ask coaches to work from memory, informal culture, and good intentions. FCA builds the written infrastructure that makes great coaching repeatable — at every level, in every team.