Optimism for youth ranks

Great significance
The committee's responsibilities include organising the UEFA European Under-17 and U19 Championships (for boys and girls) and the amateur UEFA Regions' Cup, as well as promoting the game at youth level. With the quality of youth development structures certain to play a significant part in shaping the future of European football, Koloskov is only too aware of the importance of his group's work. "Our work has a great significance on the future," explained the Russian, who is also a member of the Executive Committees of both UEFA and FIFA.

Clear guidelines
"Our primary role is to lay down the regulations for the youth competitions for boys and girls, and also for amateur competitions," he continued. "In order to organise a competition you need clear guidelines, so we put everything in place from the preliminary rounds through to the final rounds." Also, raising standards in coaching at youth level remains a key objective at UEFA and, as Koloskov says, working with a boy or a girl on the training pitch is not the same as putting a fully-trained professional through his paces. "You have to remember that a youth coach is not only training a future player, but also a future citizen. As well as teaching the player skills, the coach should try to instil personal qualities in his players like fairness and honesty."

Carriers of information
Training techniques and the nuances of youth coaching are discussed in depth by the specialists who attend UEFA's various courses, and coaches from all corners of Europe are encouraged to share what they have learned once they return to their homelands. "We are coaching the coaches so that they act as carriers of information, using the knowledge they have gained to organise their own courses back home," Koloskov said. "UEFA is doing some of its most important, intensive work in this respect."

Women's football blooming
Elsewhere, the continued development of women's youth football and the success of the Regions' Cup represent two more sources of satisfaction. Evidence of progress on the women's side can be derived from the fact that the first UEFA European U17 Championship final tournament takes place in Switzerland in May, although Koloskov insists this is only the beginning. "The progress is there, but there's always room for further development," he argued. "There is potential to increase the number of entrants, and to improve the skill levels. This year, there will be four teams at the girls' Under-17 tournament. It will be the same next time, but then perhaps we could have eight teams. The growth is testimony to the fact the interest in women's football is increasing throughout Europe, and UEFA is right behind the development of the women's game."

Regions' Cup support
Koloskov is equally supportive of the Regions' Cup, expressing his enthusiasm for the pan-European amateur competition after making the draw for the 2008/09 edition at UEFA headquarters in Nyon. "We've always said that amateur, grassroots football is the basis for football in general," he said. "Amateur football also has a social function to perform. Our committee's task is not just to organise the tournament, but to provide an impetus for the national associations to develop grassroots and amateur football within their own countries. Our hope is that every association, be it a small one like Andorra or a big one like Russia, will develop their own internal domestic championships at this level."