Interesting piece from a disgruntled dad in The Guardian.
I'd like to think that we always put development before results at Wadhurst.
I was surprised to hear a coach at a recent away game exhorting his defenders to 'clear their lines' and 'get rid'.
His team beat our boys pretty convincingly but I think that sort of approach is too high a price for a win.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Notes from the FA Future game conference - December 2010 - Wembley
By Andrew Wheatley
This is the current view of English Football as described by various dignitaries within the top tier of the FA, notable Fabio Capello, Stuart Pearce, Sam Allardyce, John Peacock, Eric Harrison and Alistair Smith.
The FA highlighted that our national team struggles at senior level and believe this is due to the lack of depth of good technical players at 16 years old.
Big clubs therefore do not have the incentive to develop English players when technically superior players are available from abroad.
The problem starts early in the player’s career. Several speakers highlighted players need to be technically competent by the age of 11 so they are ready to move into academy coaching.
Moving further down the chain coaches working at grassroots level with players between ages 5-11 are critical to produce the future National team.
The emphasis for these grassroots coaches is to change the focus and content of the training so as to maximise the players’ development.
Say goodbye to the ‘win at all cost’ approach.
So how do we achieve this?
There are 3 key factors: ENVIRONMENT – PLAYERS - COACHES
The Environment –
If the environment and social interaction is good it naturally helps the players to be confident, enthusiastic and enjoy their football.
Coaches and clubs need to create a ‘secure positive learning environment.’
This would be an environment where players can:
• Have ownership of their football experience.
• Learn at their pace.
• Be free to try things out.
• Be free of pressure from coaches, parents or peers.
• Be safe.
• Have fun playing football at their level.
Many players drop out of football too early because of low motivation so if the environment is right it should make the players want to come back and stay in football.
The following formula shows how to manage the motivation of players.
Motivation = opportunity + expectancy x value
Opportunity – If players believe they have no chance to get in the team or improve their motivation drops.
Expectancy – how confident do the players perceive they will do and how well do the parents believe they will do?
Value – How important is this to the player/parent?
Often it is a case of managing the parents’ expectations that determine the motivation and happiness of the players.
The Players –
Players have to be TECHNICALLY COMPETENT, INNOVATIVE and have EXCEPTIONAL DECISION-MAKING SKILLS.
Many of these qualities are encompassed by their AWARENESS.
Awareness to get into space.
Awareness in possession to make an effective pass.
Encourage players to:
• Compete
• Show composure
• Have concentration throughout their training and matches.
• Be comfortable in possession.
• Have patience developing the play.
• Understand when it’s appropriate to penetrate the opposition.
Set players a realistic short term and long term goal to gauge their progress.
Try not to let the players focus on match results or goals scored.
Players develop physically and mentally at different rates and it’s about making each player have the best technical ability possible.
In theory the results should follow.
The Coaches –
It’s our role to make the players the best they can be.
We need to focus the training to be centred around the players.
Players are individuals and each one will require different input.
Analyse where the problems lie and deal with them accordingly.
Developing the players
There are two main views of professional managers.
Either coach the weaknesses in players to make them more rounded or coach the player’s strengths to make them the best they can be.
Develop players to be robust, mentally and physically strong.
Build progression and challenges to stretch the players. Take them to the edge of their comfort zone.
Praise for progress, don’t praise for perfection. This encourages players to grow and try harder and reduces the ego massaging of fixed target praise.
Developing ourselves
As Coaches we should try to improve by:
• Stop collecting sessions – principles of play precede practices.
• Stop copying others – find your own way.
• Avoiding command and control coaching.
• Not cutting corners – There’s no replacement for hours on the training ground.
• Developing yourself with purpose and a plan.
• Getting a mentor to help guide and reflect on your journey.
• Questioning the effectiveness and value of your sessions.
• Balancing experiences with formal learning.
• Applying what you’ve learnt in different contexts
Summary
We have a fabulous opportunity and the responsibility to apply this wisdom to the players, other coaches and everyone connected to football and guide the development of our national game to a healthier place.
It is a team game!
This is the current view of English Football as described by various dignitaries within the top tier of the FA, notable Fabio Capello, Stuart Pearce, Sam Allardyce, John Peacock, Eric Harrison and Alistair Smith.
The FA highlighted that our national team struggles at senior level and believe this is due to the lack of depth of good technical players at 16 years old.
Big clubs therefore do not have the incentive to develop English players when technically superior players are available from abroad.
The problem starts early in the player’s career. Several speakers highlighted players need to be technically competent by the age of 11 so they are ready to move into academy coaching.
Moving further down the chain coaches working at grassroots level with players between ages 5-11 are critical to produce the future National team.
The emphasis for these grassroots coaches is to change the focus and content of the training so as to maximise the players’ development.
Say goodbye to the ‘win at all cost’ approach.
So how do we achieve this?
There are 3 key factors: ENVIRONMENT – PLAYERS - COACHES
The Environment –
If the environment and social interaction is good it naturally helps the players to be confident, enthusiastic and enjoy their football.
Coaches and clubs need to create a ‘secure positive learning environment.’
This would be an environment where players can:
• Have ownership of their football experience.
• Learn at their pace.
• Be free to try things out.
• Be free of pressure from coaches, parents or peers.
• Be safe.
• Have fun playing football at their level.
Many players drop out of football too early because of low motivation so if the environment is right it should make the players want to come back and stay in football.
The following formula shows how to manage the motivation of players.
Motivation = opportunity + expectancy x value
Opportunity – If players believe they have no chance to get in the team or improve their motivation drops.
Expectancy – how confident do the players perceive they will do and how well do the parents believe they will do?
Value – How important is this to the player/parent?
Often it is a case of managing the parents’ expectations that determine the motivation and happiness of the players.
The Players –
Players have to be TECHNICALLY COMPETENT, INNOVATIVE and have EXCEPTIONAL DECISION-MAKING SKILLS.
Many of these qualities are encompassed by their AWARENESS.
Awareness to get into space.
Awareness in possession to make an effective pass.
Encourage players to:
• Compete
• Show composure
• Have concentration throughout their training and matches.
• Be comfortable in possession.
• Have patience developing the play.
• Understand when it’s appropriate to penetrate the opposition.
Set players a realistic short term and long term goal to gauge their progress.
Try not to let the players focus on match results or goals scored.
Players develop physically and mentally at different rates and it’s about making each player have the best technical ability possible.
In theory the results should follow.
The Coaches –
It’s our role to make the players the best they can be.
We need to focus the training to be centred around the players.
Players are individuals and each one will require different input.
Analyse where the problems lie and deal with them accordingly.
Developing the players
There are two main views of professional managers.
Either coach the weaknesses in players to make them more rounded or coach the player’s strengths to make them the best they can be.
Develop players to be robust, mentally and physically strong.
Build progression and challenges to stretch the players. Take them to the edge of their comfort zone.
Praise for progress, don’t praise for perfection. This encourages players to grow and try harder and reduces the ego massaging of fixed target praise.
Developing ourselves
As Coaches we should try to improve by:
• Stop collecting sessions – principles of play precede practices.
• Stop copying others – find your own way.
• Avoiding command and control coaching.
• Not cutting corners – There’s no replacement for hours on the training ground.
• Developing yourself with purpose and a plan.
• Getting a mentor to help guide and reflect on your journey.
• Questioning the effectiveness and value of your sessions.
• Balancing experiences with formal learning.
• Applying what you’ve learnt in different contexts
Summary
We have a fabulous opportunity and the responsibility to apply this wisdom to the players, other coaches and everyone connected to football and guide the development of our national game to a healthier place.
It is a team game!
Thursday, 16 December 2010
FACA Conference - The Future Game
So what did we learn from the FA Coaches’ Association Conference?
Sure, The Future Game exceeded expectations and we all went way feeling valued by the FA in our capacity as grassroots coaches but of what practical use was it?
Interestingly the best bits were from some of the less well-known names. And the eagerly-awaited on-pitch session was very disappointing.
Fabio Capello’s faltering English did not help his offering and Peter Crouch’s footballer-speak did not either. But, fair play, both of them turned up to offer their support.
Here’s the highlights, in chronological order:
Sir Trevor Brooking (FA director of football development) said: ‘If we can make somebody who is bad, not bad, then we’ve got someone who will stay in the game.’
He went on to outline a problem familiar to all grassroots coaches – well-meaning but ill-informed parental input.
‘I saw a youth match a few weeks ago and witnessed a young player praised by parents for shooting, off target, three times in a row when he had better options available. You can understand why the parents did it but it was the wrong thing to do.’
Action point: The way to combat this is making those parents better–informed. Perhaps we should hold a parents’ evening to outline the club’s philosophy of football and make them aware of basic coaching principles.
Eric Harrison, McDonald’s head of coaching, had some good advice for coaches. He encouraged us to talk to players one-on-one to get messages across effectively, watch football in a different way to a fan, watch the best players – the ones who always keep possession and encourage our charges to get in position when not in possession.
Thoughts: I think anyone who studies coaching will automatically find themselves watching matches in a more analytical way. I used to cover football for the Daily Mail and, while that is also a different way of watching the game, had little theoretical knowledge of the game despite years of season-ticket observation at West Ham in my formative years.
Now I know how much I don’t know. But that makes me eager to learn more.
Alistair Smith was up next. I’d never heard of him but this ‘Learning Advisor to the FA’ was brilliant and an inspirational speaker.
His blueprint for ‘how to be a better coach’ struck all the right notes.
He encouraged us all to stop copying other coaches and find our own way. Stop collecting sessions and coach from first principles, don’t cut corners – put in the hours. Avoid command and control approaches to coaching and get a mentor to help you reflect on your sessions.
Praise for progress, not perfection.
Create a positive learning environment, build in progression and challenge into your sessions, create problem-solving opportunities, reinforce what you want but make it safe to fail. Balance ego and task-related feedback.
I think most coaches follow these guidelines anyway but the ‘coach from first principles’ struck a chord with me. Delay, deflect, deny etc, rather than rigidly following a set session plan.
Steve Rutter, FA Coach Education Manager, gave a short talk on what he was going to be doing in the on-the-pitch session. After lunch we trooped out to the seats to watch his session.
It ended up in a 9v9 game and he intervened so often some of the players were getting bored and switched off – and they were adults and coaches themselves.
The 9v9 format was also not really applicable to the watching grassroots coaches who are much more likely to be involved with smaller-sided games. Since it was a display session I expected him to engage with the audience and explain what and why he was doing some of the things he did.
He did not do this and we went away feeling disappointed and that this was an opportunity missed.
England and Tottenham striker Peter Crouch lent his support to the day too. ‘I was lucky that we played in small-sided games when I was younger and you get more touches of the ball and that’s what we got,’ he recalled. ‘It meant we enjoyed football, and developed technical ability and it wasn’t always about winning.’
Capello was there as well but although he didn’t say much of consequence it helped to make us all feel wanted, important, valued. The FA had pulled out all the stops to get the event on and make it good. They succeeded.
Sam Allardyce, a man who was to be sacked a few days later as Blackburn Rovers boss, said that even in the professional game there was just not enough time to cover what he wanted.
This sums up how I often feel after a session: That I’ve not done enough and could do more.
He advocated changing the game to the summer to improve the development of young players and, looking out of the window now at another wet day with the prospect of matches being postponed at the weekend, I agree. We all know it’s much easier coaching when the weather’s good.
He said: ‘I know how important coaching qualifications are when it comes to developing youngsters and we need more coaches at grassroots level to ensure that players are at a good standard as they progress into more senior football.’
He also made an interesting point about the importance of giving young players the best coaches and revealed that Dennis Bergkamp works with the Under-11s at Ajax. Big Sam is an advocate of working on your strengths, not your weaknesses.
David Sheepshanks was next on the stage. I had just thought of him as one of those football-administrating businessman with an ego to massage – boy was I proved wrong.
He’s the former Ipswich chairman and is now Chairman of the St George’s Park Board.
‘You are the present, you are the future. You are the most important people in football,’ he said.
He went on to show us a slide presentation of St George’s Park, the 330-acre site near Burton-upon-Trent that will be the ‘university of football’ when it opens, hopefully, just before the London Olympics in 2012.
Sheepshanks added: ‘At the moment we have 68 players to every coach, by 2018 we want that figure to be down to 25. Eighty per cent of the coaches who learn at St George’s Park will be grassroots coaches.’
His enthusiasm was infectious. Does that matter? I think it does because if I was looking at pumping money or resources into the game and heard a presentation from Sheepshanks my only question would be ‘where do I sign?’.
The FA’s Head of Learning, Danielle Every, outlined plans for a new web portal for coaches - a best-practice resource for all coaches to dip into to expand their knowledge and understanding of the game.
I see no downside here as long as it gets up and running pronto.
Then Jamie Houchen, from FA Learning, announced the launch in August 2011 of the FA Licensed Coaches’ Club to support the teaching of football throughout England. At £10 a year it seems a bargain and ensures all qualified coaches undergo continual professional development throughout their coaching careers o ensure they stay up-to-date with changing methodologies.
Anything that improves standards and the standing of coaches has got be applauded. It should bring a professional ethic to the amateur coach. I would encourage all coaches to become members and it would be nice if we could say that all age groups at Wadhurst have at least one FA Licensed Coach.
Stuart Pearce was the last speaker of the day. We were all getting a little weary by now but the England Under-21 manager’s delivery was electric. If he asked you to go over the top to face the enemy you’d leap out of your trench breathing fire. The man is a true orator.
No words on a page can convey the understated strength of his speech but here goes.
He said: ‘I can’t underline the importance of coaches on players aged 10, 11, 12. But as coaches you must know yourself – your strengths and your weaknesses. Don’t rush when you’re trying to get from A to B and learn to coach on your feet. Prepare to be challenged, because you will be.’
He even went on to describe himself as a mere learner in the field of coaching because of his lack of years in the job due to his lengthy playing career.
I’d be interested to hear any comments on any of the above.
Sure, The Future Game exceeded expectations and we all went way feeling valued by the FA in our capacity as grassroots coaches but of what practical use was it?
Interestingly the best bits were from some of the less well-known names. And the eagerly-awaited on-pitch session was very disappointing.
Fabio Capello’s faltering English did not help his offering and Peter Crouch’s footballer-speak did not either. But, fair play, both of them turned up to offer their support.
Here’s the highlights, in chronological order:
Sir Trevor Brooking (FA director of football development) said: ‘If we can make somebody who is bad, not bad, then we’ve got someone who will stay in the game.’
He went on to outline a problem familiar to all grassroots coaches – well-meaning but ill-informed parental input.
‘I saw a youth match a few weeks ago and witnessed a young player praised by parents for shooting, off target, three times in a row when he had better options available. You can understand why the parents did it but it was the wrong thing to do.’
Action point: The way to combat this is making those parents better–informed. Perhaps we should hold a parents’ evening to outline the club’s philosophy of football and make them aware of basic coaching principles.
Eric Harrison, McDonald’s head of coaching, had some good advice for coaches. He encouraged us to talk to players one-on-one to get messages across effectively, watch football in a different way to a fan, watch the best players – the ones who always keep possession and encourage our charges to get in position when not in possession.
Thoughts: I think anyone who studies coaching will automatically find themselves watching matches in a more analytical way. I used to cover football for the Daily Mail and, while that is also a different way of watching the game, had little theoretical knowledge of the game despite years of season-ticket observation at West Ham in my formative years.
Now I know how much I don’t know. But that makes me eager to learn more.
Alistair Smith was up next. I’d never heard of him but this ‘Learning Advisor to the FA’ was brilliant and an inspirational speaker.
His blueprint for ‘how to be a better coach’ struck all the right notes.
He encouraged us all to stop copying other coaches and find our own way. Stop collecting sessions and coach from first principles, don’t cut corners – put in the hours. Avoid command and control approaches to coaching and get a mentor to help you reflect on your sessions.
Praise for progress, not perfection.
Create a positive learning environment, build in progression and challenge into your sessions, create problem-solving opportunities, reinforce what you want but make it safe to fail. Balance ego and task-related feedback.
I think most coaches follow these guidelines anyway but the ‘coach from first principles’ struck a chord with me. Delay, deflect, deny etc, rather than rigidly following a set session plan.
Steve Rutter, FA Coach Education Manager, gave a short talk on what he was going to be doing in the on-the-pitch session. After lunch we trooped out to the seats to watch his session.
It ended up in a 9v9 game and he intervened so often some of the players were getting bored and switched off – and they were adults and coaches themselves.
The 9v9 format was also not really applicable to the watching grassroots coaches who are much more likely to be involved with smaller-sided games. Since it was a display session I expected him to engage with the audience and explain what and why he was doing some of the things he did.
He did not do this and we went away feeling disappointed and that this was an opportunity missed.
England and Tottenham striker Peter Crouch lent his support to the day too. ‘I was lucky that we played in small-sided games when I was younger and you get more touches of the ball and that’s what we got,’ he recalled. ‘It meant we enjoyed football, and developed technical ability and it wasn’t always about winning.’
Capello was there as well but although he didn’t say much of consequence it helped to make us all feel wanted, important, valued. The FA had pulled out all the stops to get the event on and make it good. They succeeded.
Sam Allardyce, a man who was to be sacked a few days later as Blackburn Rovers boss, said that even in the professional game there was just not enough time to cover what he wanted.
This sums up how I often feel after a session: That I’ve not done enough and could do more.
He advocated changing the game to the summer to improve the development of young players and, looking out of the window now at another wet day with the prospect of matches being postponed at the weekend, I agree. We all know it’s much easier coaching when the weather’s good.
He said: ‘I know how important coaching qualifications are when it comes to developing youngsters and we need more coaches at grassroots level to ensure that players are at a good standard as they progress into more senior football.’
He also made an interesting point about the importance of giving young players the best coaches and revealed that Dennis Bergkamp works with the Under-11s at Ajax. Big Sam is an advocate of working on your strengths, not your weaknesses.
David Sheepshanks was next on the stage. I had just thought of him as one of those football-administrating businessman with an ego to massage – boy was I proved wrong.
He’s the former Ipswich chairman and is now Chairman of the St George’s Park Board.
‘You are the present, you are the future. You are the most important people in football,’ he said.
He went on to show us a slide presentation of St George’s Park, the 330-acre site near Burton-upon-Trent that will be the ‘university of football’ when it opens, hopefully, just before the London Olympics in 2012.
Sheepshanks added: ‘At the moment we have 68 players to every coach, by 2018 we want that figure to be down to 25. Eighty per cent of the coaches who learn at St George’s Park will be grassroots coaches.’
His enthusiasm was infectious. Does that matter? I think it does because if I was looking at pumping money or resources into the game and heard a presentation from Sheepshanks my only question would be ‘where do I sign?’.
The FA’s Head of Learning, Danielle Every, outlined plans for a new web portal for coaches - a best-practice resource for all coaches to dip into to expand their knowledge and understanding of the game.
I see no downside here as long as it gets up and running pronto.
Then Jamie Houchen, from FA Learning, announced the launch in August 2011 of the FA Licensed Coaches’ Club to support the teaching of football throughout England. At £10 a year it seems a bargain and ensures all qualified coaches undergo continual professional development throughout their coaching careers o ensure they stay up-to-date with changing methodologies.
Anything that improves standards and the standing of coaches has got be applauded. It should bring a professional ethic to the amateur coach. I would encourage all coaches to become members and it would be nice if we could say that all age groups at Wadhurst have at least one FA Licensed Coach.
Stuart Pearce was the last speaker of the day. We were all getting a little weary by now but the England Under-21 manager’s delivery was electric. If he asked you to go over the top to face the enemy you’d leap out of your trench breathing fire. The man is a true orator.
No words on a page can convey the understated strength of his speech but here goes.
He said: ‘I can’t underline the importance of coaches on players aged 10, 11, 12. But as coaches you must know yourself – your strengths and your weaknesses. Don’t rush when you’re trying to get from A to B and learn to coach on your feet. Prepare to be challenged, because you will be.’
He even went on to describe himself as a mere learner in the field of coaching because of his lack of years in the job due to his lengthy playing career.
I’d be interested to hear any comments on any of the above.
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
FACA funny
At last week's FA Coaches' Association Conference at Wembley there was one moment that got everybody laughing.
Eric Harrison, McDonald's Head of Coaching, gave a short talk on what the burger giants are doing for the game and told us about his days under Alex Ferguson at Man Utd when he was helping to develop Beckham, Scholes, Butt and the Nevilles.
When he had finished the MC, Radio 5 Live's Mark Clemmit, told the 600-plus audience of grassroots coaches that we all had a chance to get Eric down to our club to take a session.
We were told that under one of our seats was taped a golden ticket to clinch the prize.
We all reached down to check and all were disappointed apart from one guy just behind me.
Proudly he held aloft the ticket.
Clemmit asked him to stand and tell us his name. 'Ali' he shouted to the MC.
'Come on down Ali,' cried Clemmit as we all clapped.
As he made his way to the podium, Clemmit reminded us what he had won. Eric would come to his club and conduct a special session using his insight and knowledge gleaned from years in the game.
By this time Ali had reached the stage.
'Where are you from Ali,' Clemmit asked.
'Egypt,' he replied.
Eric Harrison, McDonald's Head of Coaching, gave a short talk on what the burger giants are doing for the game and told us about his days under Alex Ferguson at Man Utd when he was helping to develop Beckham, Scholes, Butt and the Nevilles.
When he had finished the MC, Radio 5 Live's Mark Clemmit, told the 600-plus audience of grassroots coaches that we all had a chance to get Eric down to our club to take a session.
We were told that under one of our seats was taped a golden ticket to clinch the prize.
We all reached down to check and all were disappointed apart from one guy just behind me.
Proudly he held aloft the ticket.
Clemmit asked him to stand and tell us his name. 'Ali' he shouted to the MC.
'Come on down Ali,' cried Clemmit as we all clapped.
As he made his way to the podium, Clemmit reminded us what he had won. Eric would come to his club and conduct a special session using his insight and knowledge gleaned from years in the game.
By this time Ali had reached the stage.
'Where are you from Ali,' Clemmit asked.
'Egypt,' he replied.
Monday, 13 December 2010
Great drills
Just come across this great drill from the Uefa training ground site.
It's a possession masterclass.
I got the link from the excellent Youth Soccer Lesson Plans blog.
It's a possession masterclass.
I got the link from the excellent Youth Soccer Lesson Plans blog.
Friday, 10 December 2010
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
The Future Game - FA Coaches Association Conference
I'm going to the above next week at Wembley to see if it has any relevance to what we're trying to achieve at Wadhurst.
I'm sure something useful will come out of it. Although I usually see quite a disconnect between what the FA are trying to get us to do as coaches, particularly the Respect campaign, and what I see in the Premier League and from the national side.
Here's a link to the itinerary.
I'll compile a report and stick it here on the blog.
I'm sure something useful will come out of it. Although I usually see quite a disconnect between what the FA are trying to get us to do as coaches, particularly the Respect campaign, and what I see in the Premier League and from the national side.
Here's a link to the itinerary.
I'll compile a report and stick it here on the blog.
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