How the FA's new campaign plans to give kids a new sense of community

The FA has teamed up with a host of famous faces to launch Baller ID - a new initiative designed to help kids aged between 12 and 16 to build healthier habits, whilst also providing a stronger sense of belonging and identity.

Fronted by stars including Bukayo Saka, Georgia Stanway and Doug Pratt of the England Partially Sighted team, Baller ID uses an interactive platform to inspire change in kids by encouraging them to move, eat, sleep and think well, with users assigned identities based on their footballing idols.

Kids are then invited to join one of four Baller ID squads: The Disciplined Baller, The Creative Baller, The Adventurous Baller or The Social Baller. Each ID unlocks a personalised experience tailored to young people and gives access to videos from FA-approved experts, such as sleep specialists and coaches, with exclusive tips and weekly challenges designed to help inspire one small healthier action each week.

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Research has shown that over a quarter of parents believe social media influencers or YouTubers have the biggest influence on their child’s behaviour, with 63% of parents saying their child compares themselves to others online in relation to their skills, image or fitness.

Popular media personality Jake Humphrey, who has a long history of being involved in sport, having hosted the kids’ TV show Sportsround before presenting both Formula 1 and football coverage and interviewing big names on his High Performance Podcast, is a big believer in the positive change that Baller ID can inspire.

Speaking to Kick N Mix, Jake, who is also chairperson of Norfolk’s Community Sports Foundation, says he decided to get involved because he knows the power sport can have on people.

“The reason why I love hosting TV shows about sport is because I’ve seen the impact sport can have on people,” he explained. “The reason why I wanted to chair the biggest sports charity in Norfolk is because I realised sport can change people’s lives - I’ve seen it at the highest level at the Premier League, Champions League and in F1, but I’ve also seen it at the absolute grassroots level.

“Kids across the county where I live are taking part in sport where normally they wouldn’t get the opportunity or be inspired, and it’s changed their lives.

“So when the FA got in touch and sent me details about Baller ID, bearing in mind I’ve got a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old, so I’m almost right in line for the sort of impact they want to have, it just absolutely aligned with the kind of things I believe about sport and young people.

“There’s a mental health crisis in this country, and all the research has pointed towards the fact that more time outside, more time focused on what you eat and how much sleep you get and exercise you do changes the make-up of people’s happiness. So I thought if there’s a chance to be involved in this and talk a bit about the power of sport and the power of exercise and getting outside, then I’m up for it.

“I also love the fact they’re not trying to get kids to go somewhere else - Baller ID has gone to the place kids already are, which I think is really smart.”

Jake believes the fact that Baller ID allows kids to interact with devices will also help inspire them, whilst giving parents peace of mind over the sorts of things their children are watching online.

He said: “I obviously have to lecture my kids sometimes because the things they want to do is play computer games, watch YouTube or go on their tablets, chat to their friends or whatever and play all these games online. And there’s definitely a place for that, but there’s also an opportunity for people to use time on devices for really good stuff.

“I think this is often where we get it slightly wrong - I think a lot of people have got this opinion that kids on devices is bad, kids off devices is good. There’s an argument that this is partly right, but only partly right, as kids on devices doing good stuff is always the best thing, because our devices now can do so much, so there’s no point creating a campaign where we tell kids not go on a tablet, or a phone or go online.

“What we need to do is say ‘there’s this really cool thing called Baller ID, which is backed by footballers you love, and you can do it on your phone or tablet, and once you’ve chosen what Baller ID you have, you can go on YouTube and watch some really cool videos’.

“It’s not about lecturing kids. If anything I want parents to ask their kids if they want 10 minutes on YouTube to watch some cool Baller ID content. I think that’s the answer here and then that’s what encourages them to think about their movement, their sleep and their nutrition - all these good things that, despite best intentions, there’s not necessarily time in schools for enough of those sorts of conversations.”

With research showing that 91% of parents believe a sense of belonging is important to their child’s emotional wellbeing, Jake believes the community-building aspect of Baller ID will also be a benefit to kids.

“The cool thing about this is that it does push through that sense of community,” he explained. “My son Sebastian has his cousin here and they’re going to do his Baller ID later as my son already has his, he’s adventurous.

“I love the idea that it’s about generating a community - it’s the same as grassroots football, no one is involved in it to make millions of pounds, to become a mega star or to win the Champions League, but they’re involved in it because it brings people together.

“I’m a Norwich City fan; I’m heavily involved in the club and, for a lot of people who go to watch Norwich, the biggest sense of their community for the entire week is when they’re at Carrow Road on a Saturday. So it’s a myth to think football is just a game, it’s the ultimate creator of community. Nothing brings people together like football does, particularly in England, which is why it’s so smart that England players are front and centre of this campaign.”

Jake’s own memories of playing sport when growing up aren’t wholly positive, which means he’s delighted that, now being a father, he has seen that youth sport has changed for the better in regards to its inclusivity.

He said: “This is a funny one, but my memory is actually not being very good!

“People assume that, if you end up doing my job, hosting the kind of football matches I have or being the youngest ever host of Match of the Day, that I must have been good at football in order to sit there and talk about it, but I was so bad. I played one match for my school football team and I never really found my thing when it came to sport.

“I think the problem in the 80s and 90s when I was growing up was that sport didn’t have these kinds of initiatives - you were either good or you weren’t included. It’s why I feel really passionate about using sport for change - in my work with local charities, I love it when we have people who are involved that you wouldn’t normally assume would be able to play football or get involved at a high level of sport.

“I was pretty rubbish and I was made to feel pretty rubbish when I was a kid, but Baller ID isn’t just something for brilliant footballers or kids who are already so confident when it comes to sport, if anything I want it to be used by kids who are the total opposite, who usually go ‘well sport’s not for me’.

“I’d love those kids to give it a go and see what it does for them, because I was certainly in that bracket and, somehow, ended up talking to Paul Scholes on the TV about Man Utd’s midfield, and I’ll never quite know how that happened but it did, which was quite good fun.”

Jake is delighted to say Sebastian has, without any prompting, become a football obsessive - and he’s also very proud of the fact he’s raising a Norwich City fan - but says that, despite having met some of the biggest names in the sport, he’s steered clear of trying to offer his son any advice.

Instead, Jake has given Sebastian a football diary to allow him to chronicle his thoughts on how he has performed in matches.

“I still worry about a lot of the messages I hear on the side of pitches,” he explained. “My son’s played football for the last three years, always on Saturdays playing seven-a-side and this season he moves to nine-a-side with Sunday football and headers, throw-ins and offsides, so it will start to feel a bit real now, and he absolutely loves it.

“We have a rule that my job is to be his dad, not his coach, so my questions in the car afterwards are whether he enjoyed it, what he’s most proud of and what his favourite thing from the game was.

“He’s actually got a little football diary where he can write in it the things he didn’t think he did very well, but it’s absolutely not my job to tell him what he didn’t do very well, I just don’t think that’s very helpful.

“So I’ll tell him to go fill in his diary and then I’ll quietly look at it - he doesn’t even need to know that I’ve seen it and it’s really interesting what he writes down - but I see so many parents on the sidelines removing the joy from their kids’ football by forcing them to be brilliant footballers.

“These kids are eight, nine or 10 years old, and the chances of being a professional footballer are pretty much zero, maybe slightly above that, but the chances of your kids having a great time on a Saturday or a Sunday, improving their fitness and having a lovely moment with their mates is almost 100%, it’s almost a certainty.

“So don’t remove the joy of things is my message for people involved in grassroots football when kids first begin - if your kid is talented enough to make it as a pro, then they will.

“You, as a parent, telling them that they should have worked harder in the second half isn’t going to make the difference, so just be their parent, not their coach.

“I honestly think 90% of what I hear being shouted on the touchline is just plain bad advice, so let’s be really positive with young people. They’re out there doing it, we’re not, so let them get on with it.”

This is an extract from Kick N Mix, our grassroots football newsletter. Fill out the form above or click here to subscribe.