Roxburgh wraps up proceedings

Hectic schedule
The event began on Tuesday and has featured a number of presentations, discussion groups and a practical coaching session. UEFA's technical director Andy Roxburgh reflected on these when bringing proceedings to a conclusion on Thursday evening. The conference has witnessed presentations on UEFA and FIFA competitions, the development of the game - at grassroots level and in technical and medical terms - the Japanese dream and organising a final round. In addition, the draws for the Elite round of this season's UEFA European Under-17 Championship and its U19 equivalent, were held yesterday, while the qualifying round draws for the 2006/07 editions of both competitions took place this morning.

'Past to future'
"We've reflected on the past and looked towards the future in our discussion groups," Roxburgh said. "They have raised some issues which UEFA will be looking into in the future. The practical session, hosted by Wim Koevermans [the Royal Netherlands Football Association instructor] has reminded us that it is not what you coach but how you coach it - we must get our players to think.

'Compete and co-operate'
"This event has shown us that we can both compete and co-operate," Roxburgh told his audience. "We play against each other in competitions and co-operate in designing competitions, development programmes, and working on the education and promotion of youth football, which is crucial."

'Future depends on you'
Dr Viacheslav Koloskov, a member of UEFA's Executive Committee (EXCO), then took the floor and was keen to recognise the benefits of the event. "I'm sure the EXCO will be discussing some of the points that have been raised at this event in the near future," he said. "The issue of youth and amateur football is one of UEFA's primary concerns. The future of football depends on it, and on you, the coaches."

'Keep your passion'
Another EXCO member, Marios N Lefkaritis, then addressed the conference and, after offering thanks to those who had attended and wishing them a pleasant trip home, he said: "I am sure the topics presented here will be hugely useful for the future of youth football." It then fell on Roxburgh to officially bring the conference to a close, and he left delegates with the following thought: "We live in a difficult world and people should recognise the immense value of football. I hope everyone in this room keeps their passion for the game."