The implementation of Football Fitness

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We have recently seen an increasing focus on football as prevention and adjunct to medical treatment. This will arguably result in the development of ‘football for health’ initiatives, holding the potential to attract and activate participants which in many cases are unfamiliar to the game. It is very plausible that the organisation of these will require a different form than ‘traditional’ association football which holds a rather strong focus on skill development and competitive aspects. This chapter scrutinises central issues important to the implementation process of an activity titled Football Fitness realised by local voluntary organised football clubs. Moreover, we discuss future perspectives of the initiative. Shortly, Football Fitness (FF), developed by the Danish Football Association, has a focus on health and enjoyment rather than skills and tactics, and the aim is to promote football as a health-improving, easily accessible, low-cost/sustainable, flexible and fun type of exercise. The target group is primarily adults (25+) of both gender and the clubs can adopt and organise FF in a form they feel suitable. Following our analysis, we argue for strong awareness regarding the cooperation of implementational actors and how the content, including expected outcomes, of a given initiative match the organisational context in which it is to be realised.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFootball as Medicine : Prescribing Football for Global Health Promotion
EditorsPeter Krustrup, Daniel Parnell
Number of pages16
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherRoutledge
Publication date2020
Pages157-172
Chapter11
ISBN (Print)9780367248888
ISBN (Electronic)9780429484892
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

ID: 242299791