Activity ideas: Things to do - Set up a football tournament

Keith is referring to Clackmannanshire Midnight Football League, which he joined almost two years ago with a group of four friends. He had stopped playing football before joining the league but now his five-a-side team, which was recently renamed the Jackson Five, has just won the Scottish national midnight league.

"I've been using the club to try to get back into shape and into football," he says. "Once I've achieved that I'd like to try out for other clubs in a year or so. I'm finding it really fun, especially when we win."

The Midnight Football League project started in Scotland six years ago to help tackle crime and underage drinking on Friday evenings. Instead of loitering in the streets, young people play football at night and compete in teams as part of a national league.

"The initiative is designed for young people who have dropped out of other football clubs," says Marjorie MacFarlane, sports development manager for Clackmannanshire. "These are the kind of kids that get into trouble with the police, so this scheme aims to get them sucked back into sport."

One hundred and fifty boys aged between 12 and 18 take part and are split into three age categories: under-13s, under-15s and under-17s. They play five-a-side football every Friday from 9 to 11pm, with the focus on playing matches and not coaching. The boys are collected by bus and it's free to attend.

But MacFarlane admits that setting up the league was a sharp learning curve and the project has had to make adjustments along the way. For example, lots of young people were turning up drunk and fights routinely broke out between young people from rival areas.

She advises youth projects looking to set up similar schemes work with police and have them on site for the first few months to stop bad behaviour. It's also advisable to provide transport so the young people can travel safely at night.

Sport Universities North East England runs the Kelly Cup, a summer football coaching programme for looked-after young people that features a tournament at the end.

"The scheme gives them new skills and generates a real sense of achievement when they take part in a competition at the end," says Neil Hurren, regional sports co-ordinator for the North East.

Hurren stresses that although this programme is specifically for looked-after children, it would be ideal for any youth or community group. "It is all about engaging young people and trying to get them involved in sport," he says.

Michael Stubbings, a social worker from Hartlepool who was involved in the Kelly Cup, says: "A lot of the young people who took part had never won anything before in their lives and this gave them a tremendous boost to their confidence. I'm sure it has a knock-on effect in other areas, such as their school work."

POSSIBLE FUNDERS

- The Football Foundation provides a wide range of grants to football-related programmes. www.footballfoundation.org.uk

- Sport England provides financial support to community sports groups. www.sportengland.org

- The Big Lottery Fund offers grants to community groups and voluntary organisations through its Awards for All scheme. www.awardsforall.org.uk