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REFORM Project Newsletter – November 2025

REFORM Project Newsletter – November 2025

REFORM Project Newsletter – November 2025 November has been a decisive month for REFORM. With key materials reaching full first-version status and the operational roadmap for the pilot phase completed, the project is now positioned to begin club outreach and prepare for implementation in early 2026.

WP2 — Learning & Content

Toolbox v1 Completed

The REFORM Toolbox (Version 1) is now fully assembled.

This first complete edition includes:

  • practical decision pathways for coaches and club staff
  • referee-specific guidance
  • communication tools for parents andæ players
  • match-day checklists and simple action steps

Toolbox v1 will be used as-is in the pilot to allow clean feedback and usability data before the next iteration.

MOOC Ready for Pilot Integration

The MOOC remains stable in its multilingual beta (NO, DE, HR, TR).

Refinements from October have been implemented, and the course is now ready for use in the Coach-the-Coaches pilot pathway.

WP3 — Pilot Preparation & Club Outreach

Pilot Phase Roadmap Finalised

This month we completed the pilot-phase roadmap, outlining how each country will identify, contact, and onboard amateur clubs for the 2026 pilot.

The roadmap includes:

  • structural profiles of youth football in Germany, Croatia, Norway, and Türkiye
  • clear strategies for contacting clubs through federations, regional associations, or personal networks
  • short project summaries for clubs and coaches
  • guidance on expected time commitment and benefits
  • procedures for distributing course links and collecting evaluation data
  • support and feedback channels for participating clubs

The roadmap provides a unified approach while allowing national teams the flexibility to adapt communication to their local football environment.

Outreach Materials Developed

To support club activation, the teams have prepared:

  • federation letters
  • 2-page project summaries
  • club-facing explanations of the pilot
  • templates for coach communication
  • survey instruments for pre/post evaluation

These materials will be used in December and January as the country teams begin formal outreach.

WP1 — Science & Evaluation

Referee Manuscript in Revision

The cross-country referee knowledge manuscript, submitted in September, is now in revision.

Statistical clarifications and interpretive refinements are underway ahead of resubmission in early 2026.

Focus Group Data: Pre-Analysis Completed

All focus group data have been cleaned and prepared for qualitative coding.

Thematic analysis will begin in December, forming the basis for a third manuscript in 2026.

Evaluation Tools Integrated Into Pilot Planning

The evaluation framework developed in October has been incorporated into the pilot roadmap, ensuring that all country teams will collect consistent, comparable data across clubs.

WP4 — Dissemination

Partner Communication Aligned for Pilot Launch

With the roadmap and Toolbox v1 complete, dissemination materials for the pilot season have been updated to ensure consistent language and messaging across partner countries.

These will be used during the January–March outreach and implementation window.

Looking Ahead to December

December will focus on:

  • sequencing the club-outreach calendar
  • preparing onboarding workflows for coaches
  • finalising evaluation instruments
  • aligning all work packages ahead of the February 2026 meeting in Zagreb

November has brought REFORM to the threshold of implementation — the point where our work moves from development to real football environments.