Studying the state of Iranian youth football development based on Grassroots football program

The purpose of this study was to investigate the state of Iranian youth football development based on the Grassroots football program. The method of this research is descriptive-survey and it is a type of applied study that has been accomplished in field. The statistic population of study included officials of the Football Federation and National Football Center, top football schools managers and top youth football coaches of Iran (170 persons). According to the Morgan sampling table, 118 persons were selected as the statistical sample. In order to collect data, a researcher-made questionnaire and a standard check-list were used. The validity of the questionnaire were confirmed by the experts and its reliability was determined 0.91 based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In order to analyze data, descriptive statistic methods, Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test, One-sample t-test and Friedman distribution were used by SPSS-22. The results indicate that in all components, Iranian youth football does not have a desirable status. Also, the prioritization of the components showed that the highest rank was related to the knowledge of coaches and the lowest rank was related to the financial and marketing. Therefore, the most important practical actions are preparation of the Grassroots' Charter, launching of e-learning opportunities, approval of the monopoly budget, investments in the Grassroots' facilities and equipment development plans, using of sponsors' assistance and the promotion of philosophy and activities of Grassroots football.