Today was my last game in charge of my U11s team. My teenage daughter has just got herself a part in a West End play, so a lot of my spare time will now be spent travelling to and from London with her. That basically means that I won't be able to dedicate much time on a Saturday morning to my team. I've coached them since year 2 until now, half way through year 6. There have been some challenging moments, not all with the players themselves, but overall they've been a fantastic bunch of boys who have been willing and eager to learn. I've been a great believer in educating myself too by doing my FA coaching courses and found the Youth Award Modules 1 and 2 to be well worth the time invested into them. You wouldn't expect a school teacher to start off with primary school kids and then not study more to teach them through to secondary school, so why should a football coach be any different?
But anyway, this blog post isn't directly about coach education, I'll do that another day. This one is about my coaching options going into the new year and beyond. Having said that, I have done a couple of FA courses on coaching futsal, so I've already been using this brilliant variant of football for my weekly coaching sessions. For those that don't know what futsal is, it's a 5-a-side game played indoor, but with a slightly denser ball with a much lower rebound than a standard football. You play to the lines on the court so there's no using the walls, and the goals are a different size. There are a few other rules that differ, but it's a very simple game to teach and it helps players (of all ages) develop the ability to look up, pass and move and there's loads of opportunities for 1v1 situations.
I'll really miss a lot of the training in my sessions and matches with the boys, but there's an awful lot that I won't miss. Putting the goals up, often on my own, and taking them down again, although with more help normally than putting them up! Then there's the admin side of things, teamer (which is brilliant if you use it properly and the parents of your team actually reply) and the simple fact that it's often bloody cold and wet! So what does this all have to do with doors opening and closing? Well, hopefully it means that I will still be able to do my futsal coaching sessions once a week and hopefully with most of the U11s. It can only be a good thing, both for me and the kids. For me it means I'll still be coaching and I won't have all the same crap that I've had, and for the boys it means a chance to develop some great skills and maybe even get a game against other futsal sides.
If you coach a team, whatever their age, I'd really recommend that you have a look into futsal as either a standalone game, or as I do, as a coaching tool as part of a bigger picture. After all, the Brazilians and the Spanish can't all be wrong can they?
By the way, we finished off the first half of the season with a fantastic performance and I couldn't have been more proud!!!
Saturday, 21 December 2013
Sunday, 24 November 2013
A brilliant, beautiful game that can be lost because of shameful behaviour...
I've had a pretty good day today. I played in a vets game this evening and we managed to win 4-3 and I bagged a hatrick. It was what you might call a direct approach and a battling performance against a very good Sundon Vets team. It shows that it's not always the best 'proper' footballing team on the day that wins. We struggled a bit to start off but tactically our coach decided the way to win was play quick balls to a target man (me!) and play off him. It worked a treat and they couldn't handle it.
This morning though was completely different. My son Matty plays for a fantastic team and their coach happens to be my vets team coach too. This morning, though, he played a 3-1-3-1 formation that really suits the players they have. The boys were brilliant and moved the ball around really, really well. To be fair, their opponents weren't a bad side and they've got some pretty tasty players, but the behaviour of their coach and one parent in particular was absolutely awful. We started off really quickly and were soon on top. The opposing coach started raising his voice, hollering and generally being horrible. By half time he was screaming at his team. He was joined in his 'chorus or terror' by one of the boy's parents. The dad was repeatedly heard swearing about how bad the team were playing. Now I'm not a prude, but we're talking about 10 year old boys here in the prime of their development years. The half time talks were what you might call a bit different. The opponents were sat down while the 'coach' (and I use the term loosely) balled them out about effort, commitment and just generally being bad. Our coach basically let the team listen to them and then said "I bet you're glad I'm not like him!".
The second half was much the same with both teams trying their best but our team coming out on top. The coach continued his barrage of abuse along with the father. It was awful to watch, witnessing the poor lad looking over at his father yelling abuse. I mean, clearly the lad was trying to play badly just to upset him! Eventually the dad said "f%ck this, I'm not staying here to watch this pile of sh*t" and promptly walked off. His son just stood there, started biting his nails and you could see the tears welling up in his eyes. To make it even worse, at the end of the game with the score 5-1 to our team, the coach again sat his team down and told them how rubbish they were. It's strange, because if he'd actually watched the game and not worried about the score, he might have realised that they were actually a decent team and the kid who's dad walked off was probably their best player!!!
What really worries me the most is the journey home the poor lad had to put up with with his disgruntled father and if he'll even bother playing in their next game. This is the time that the boys need encouragement and positive reinforcement, not screaming abusive coaches and parents. Sadly I see it all too often, where the only people that really care about the results in kids football are the adults. Is it really that hard to just watch and support your kid, even when things aren't going well? Do we really believe they're trying to not do their best?
Something I'd really like to do is video the parents and the coaches and then play them repeatedly at the next game...
This morning though was completely different. My son Matty plays for a fantastic team and their coach happens to be my vets team coach too. This morning, though, he played a 3-1-3-1 formation that really suits the players they have. The boys were brilliant and moved the ball around really, really well. To be fair, their opponents weren't a bad side and they've got some pretty tasty players, but the behaviour of their coach and one parent in particular was absolutely awful. We started off really quickly and were soon on top. The opposing coach started raising his voice, hollering and generally being horrible. By half time he was screaming at his team. He was joined in his 'chorus or terror' by one of the boy's parents. The dad was repeatedly heard swearing about how bad the team were playing. Now I'm not a prude, but we're talking about 10 year old boys here in the prime of their development years. The half time talks were what you might call a bit different. The opponents were sat down while the 'coach' (and I use the term loosely) balled them out about effort, commitment and just generally being bad. Our coach basically let the team listen to them and then said "I bet you're glad I'm not like him!".
The second half was much the same with both teams trying their best but our team coming out on top. The coach continued his barrage of abuse along with the father. It was awful to watch, witnessing the poor lad looking over at his father yelling abuse. I mean, clearly the lad was trying to play badly just to upset him! Eventually the dad said "f%ck this, I'm not staying here to watch this pile of sh*t" and promptly walked off. His son just stood there, started biting his nails and you could see the tears welling up in his eyes. To make it even worse, at the end of the game with the score 5-1 to our team, the coach again sat his team down and told them how rubbish they were. It's strange, because if he'd actually watched the game and not worried about the score, he might have realised that they were actually a decent team and the kid who's dad walked off was probably their best player!!!
What really worries me the most is the journey home the poor lad had to put up with with his disgruntled father and if he'll even bother playing in their next game. This is the time that the boys need encouragement and positive reinforcement, not screaming abusive coaches and parents. Sadly I see it all too often, where the only people that really care about the results in kids football are the adults. Is it really that hard to just watch and support your kid, even when things aren't going well? Do we really believe they're trying to not do their best?
Something I'd really like to do is video the parents and the coaches and then play them repeatedly at the next game...
Sunday, 10 November 2013
How can we get more people to help and how can everyone help?
Every club has a few people that do most of the work. It's the same everywhere and certainly not restricted to football clubs. Our club for instance has about 6 or 7 people that do virtually everything. I'm not taking away anything from the hours and hours that every coach puts into his team because, without the coaches there wouldn't be any teams, but running a club is a time-consuming business. You also have to remember that to get your team onto the pitch every Saturday or Sunday, the teams need registering, players need signing on, kit needs buying, pitches need booking, arrangements with the opponents need making, the team selection, formation and tactics need to be decided, the parents need informing of the details and the list goes on and on and on. This happens week in and week out and it could be made so much easier of more people helped out.
As the kids get older, more and more parents stay away, that's just one of those things (don't get me started on parents that treat kids football as a baby-sitting service!!!), but how could we spread this load? After all, the majority of stuff that needs doing is long before the whistle blows for kick-off. A couple of clubs I know offer discounted registration fees to parents of players that help out. They might arrange the pitch booking each week, or they might make the arrangements with the opponents. Some clubs even offer free registration for a player if the player's parent coaches the team. I'd like to see some sort of incentive scheme set up to include benefits of some description given to those parents that do offer their help. The FA National Development Manager For Youth Football is a guy called Nick Levett ( @NLevett on Twitter) and he recently tweeted "It's hard to get a volunteer to give twelve hours a week, but much simpler to get four volunteers to do three hours a week each". But while there's people like me that will do everything so their own lad can get a game with his mates, it's hard to get any help if there aren't any tangible benefits.
If you're still reading this by now, you're probably someone that would offer some help. Why don't you call your coach now and see what help he needs? I can promise you this, he will be extremely grateful and you might even be the reason he keeps coaching next season. I heard a story yesterday of a coach that called all the parents of his U11s team over at the end of a league match and asked for help. They all nodded, agreed to see what they could do and then went home. He then walked across the pitch and took the goals down on his own. He packed it in at the end of that season and the team folded because no-one else stepped forward to coach the team...
What would you do if your coach decided it was too much and walked away at the end of the season?
As the kids get older, more and more parents stay away, that's just one of those things (don't get me started on parents that treat kids football as a baby-sitting service!!!), but how could we spread this load? After all, the majority of stuff that needs doing is long before the whistle blows for kick-off. A couple of clubs I know offer discounted registration fees to parents of players that help out. They might arrange the pitch booking each week, or they might make the arrangements with the opponents. Some clubs even offer free registration for a player if the player's parent coaches the team. I'd like to see some sort of incentive scheme set up to include benefits of some description given to those parents that do offer their help. The FA National Development Manager For Youth Football is a guy called Nick Levett ( @NLevett on Twitter) and he recently tweeted "It's hard to get a volunteer to give twelve hours a week, but much simpler to get four volunteers to do three hours a week each". But while there's people like me that will do everything so their own lad can get a game with his mates, it's hard to get any help if there aren't any tangible benefits.
If you're still reading this by now, you're probably someone that would offer some help. Why don't you call your coach now and see what help he needs? I can promise you this, he will be extremely grateful and you might even be the reason he keeps coaching next season. I heard a story yesterday of a coach that called all the parents of his U11s team over at the end of a league match and asked for help. They all nodded, agreed to see what they could do and then went home. He then walked across the pitch and took the goals down on his own. He packed it in at the end of that season and the team folded because no-one else stepped forward to coach the team...
What would you do if your coach decided it was too much and walked away at the end of the season?
Monday, 21 October 2013
One weekend, two games and a complete contrast...
This weekend saw me coaching both U11s sides I'm involved with in what turned out to be very competitive games. And this weekend I have seen both the fantastic and not so fantastic sides of people involved with youth football.
My Saturday side had a home game against a team we've not played before. The match itself was a cracker that finished in a 1-1 draw, but there was an unpleasant undertone from the opposition players, coach and supporters almost from the off. Our ref, like many other refs on a Saturday morning, isn't qualified, but is a qualified coach and also a deputy head at a local school. He gives what he sees and explains every single decision in a clear way so that no-one is in any doubt as to what he's given and why he's given it. There were two players in particular that argued almost every decision that went against them. This isn't great at the best of times, but when it's coming from ten year olds you have to question where they're getting it from. I soon found out... My team watch Match Of The Day as much as anyone else, but we've taught them not to argue decisions. I'm sure they will as they get older, but at the moment it simply doesn't happen. During the second half a free kick wasn't given to our opponents because the ref thought they had a clear advantage. As it happens they made a couple of decisions that cost them that advantage but play continued. The assistant coach was heard to swear loudly in front of my subs before running around to the other side of the pitch where he started remonstrating with the ref. At this point some of the parent supporters joined in. It can only be described as unpleasant and even their linesman standing near me was embarrassed. Shortly afterwards a free kick was given against a player for pushing. He clearly used both hands to shove someone in the back and immediately started arguing when the whistle was blown. At this point he told the ref to "get a grip of your game". It's not the sort of game I want to be involved in...
I was asked to help out my son's Sunday side as their regular coach was doing his Youth Award Module 3 training. The team play in the Chiltern Sunday league in division 1 and they are a very capable bunch of players. They were due to play Luton Old Boys in a league match at the Luton Recreation ground and I was expecting it to be another really tough game. Say what you like about Luton, but if you're not from there, it's not got a great reputation! We didn't start too well, in fact it was a bit of a disaster. We were 0-4 down after 20 minutes and it didn't look too good but a free kick worthy of MOTD status got it back to 1-4 at half time. The truth be told it was actually 4 mistakes that cost the goals, so the half time talk was really positive. What happened next was an absolutely amazing advert for all that is brilliant with youth football. After conceding a goal almost from the kick off, an incredible 20 minutes saw the scores at 6-6. The 50 or so people watching were enthralled and everyone was praying for the ref to blow for full time. The home side forced a last chance and when the long-range shot was fumbled by our keeper into his own net, their linesman actually slumped and said "oh no, I can't believe that". When I asked him what he meant he said "that was such an amazing game that it should've finished in a draw". The final whistle went and we lost the game 6-7 but the applause from both sets of supporters showed me why I love coaching kids football. I'd happily be involved in games like that every week and the contrast between the two games was remarkable.
I reckon I could guess which coach has done more coaching badges and has done the Youth Module Awards...
My Saturday side had a home game against a team we've not played before. The match itself was a cracker that finished in a 1-1 draw, but there was an unpleasant undertone from the opposition players, coach and supporters almost from the off. Our ref, like many other refs on a Saturday morning, isn't qualified, but is a qualified coach and also a deputy head at a local school. He gives what he sees and explains every single decision in a clear way so that no-one is in any doubt as to what he's given and why he's given it. There were two players in particular that argued almost every decision that went against them. This isn't great at the best of times, but when it's coming from ten year olds you have to question where they're getting it from. I soon found out... My team watch Match Of The Day as much as anyone else, but we've taught them not to argue decisions. I'm sure they will as they get older, but at the moment it simply doesn't happen. During the second half a free kick wasn't given to our opponents because the ref thought they had a clear advantage. As it happens they made a couple of decisions that cost them that advantage but play continued. The assistant coach was heard to swear loudly in front of my subs before running around to the other side of the pitch where he started remonstrating with the ref. At this point some of the parent supporters joined in. It can only be described as unpleasant and even their linesman standing near me was embarrassed. Shortly afterwards a free kick was given against a player for pushing. He clearly used both hands to shove someone in the back and immediately started arguing when the whistle was blown. At this point he told the ref to "get a grip of your game". It's not the sort of game I want to be involved in...
I was asked to help out my son's Sunday side as their regular coach was doing his Youth Award Module 3 training. The team play in the Chiltern Sunday league in division 1 and they are a very capable bunch of players. They were due to play Luton Old Boys in a league match at the Luton Recreation ground and I was expecting it to be another really tough game. Say what you like about Luton, but if you're not from there, it's not got a great reputation! We didn't start too well, in fact it was a bit of a disaster. We were 0-4 down after 20 minutes and it didn't look too good but a free kick worthy of MOTD status got it back to 1-4 at half time. The truth be told it was actually 4 mistakes that cost the goals, so the half time talk was really positive. What happened next was an absolutely amazing advert for all that is brilliant with youth football. After conceding a goal almost from the kick off, an incredible 20 minutes saw the scores at 6-6. The 50 or so people watching were enthralled and everyone was praying for the ref to blow for full time. The home side forced a last chance and when the long-range shot was fumbled by our keeper into his own net, their linesman actually slumped and said "oh no, I can't believe that". When I asked him what he meant he said "that was such an amazing game that it should've finished in a draw". The final whistle went and we lost the game 6-7 but the applause from both sets of supporters showed me why I love coaching kids football. I'd happily be involved in games like that every week and the contrast between the two games was remarkable.
I reckon I could guess which coach has done more coaching badges and has done the Youth Module Awards...
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Some moments make it all worthwhile!!!
Last week I knew we were in for a tough game. We'd been drawn in the local cup against AFC Dunstable and I know from experience they're a very good side. They've got some great little players and their coach, David, is a really top bloke. I felt our best chance would be to shoot at every single opportunity and hope to score more than they would, Kevin Keegan style.
So with this in mind I put on a shooting session with particular emphasis on shooting from range. I arrived early and set up the Samba goals, laid out the pitch and had my plan all sorted. The boys had a great time and the session went really well. At the end I asked the boys if they had enjoyed it and all but one of them said they'd loved it. One lad was quiet and when I asked him one on one if he was ok he said he'd not really liked the session. He said he didn't feel like he'd got as many chances to shoot as the others and felt his shot was too soft to shoot from a long way out. I told him that sometimes I felt like that when I'd played but I practiced and practiced until I could shoot in a variety of ways and with both feet.
The next day I went to watch my son play in his school team and while I was their the lad I'd been talking to the night before came running up to me. He was playing in another team and had just been taken off. But he was thrilled to bits when he told me he'd scored a cracker from outside the box. He'd said he didn't really think he'd score but took a chance anyway and it had "whizzed in the top corner". I was ad pleased as he was :-)
We played Dunstable, got hardly any shots off and they beat us 0-3, but it didn't matter because both sides had played some great football and we all went home happy.
Tonight we had a session on passing and running into space so I expect there'll be a lot of dribbling on Saturday!!!
So with this in mind I put on a shooting session with particular emphasis on shooting from range. I arrived early and set up the Samba goals, laid out the pitch and had my plan all sorted. The boys had a great time and the session went really well. At the end I asked the boys if they had enjoyed it and all but one of them said they'd loved it. One lad was quiet and when I asked him one on one if he was ok he said he'd not really liked the session. He said he didn't feel like he'd got as many chances to shoot as the others and felt his shot was too soft to shoot from a long way out. I told him that sometimes I felt like that when I'd played but I practiced and practiced until I could shoot in a variety of ways and with both feet.
The next day I went to watch my son play in his school team and while I was their the lad I'd been talking to the night before came running up to me. He was playing in another team and had just been taken off. But he was thrilled to bits when he told me he'd scored a cracker from outside the box. He'd said he didn't really think he'd score but took a chance anyway and it had "whizzed in the top corner". I was ad pleased as he was :-)
We played Dunstable, got hardly any shots off and they beat us 0-3, but it didn't matter because both sides had played some great football and we all went home happy.
Tonight we had a session on passing and running into space so I expect there'll be a lot of dribbling on Saturday!!!
Sunday, 6 October 2013
It's a funny old game...
If you read my previous post you'll know that I had a woeful session last week, with discipline problems and a distinct lack of attitude. After the talking to I gave the boys I was hoping for a vast improvement on Saturday morning. Most of them turned up on time, but you can't really blame being late on a 10 year old when there's 15 miles to travel.
We were scheduled an 11am kick-off so we started our warm-up around 10:30. I normally start with some gentle jogging and dynamic stretching and throw a couple of balls into the marked area to give the boys a focus. We move on to some side skipping and a few other "normal" movements to get the muscles moving. After about 2 minutes one of the boys says "Tim, I need the toilet". "Me too", "and me". Before you know it 7 of my 10 players were trotting across the field to the changing rooms!!! By the time they all got back our opponents were well and truly into their warm-up and we'd barely started. I was frustrated to say the least but tried not to show it.
The game itself started well and we quickly went 1-0 up, but then I can only think the team got complacent, expecting a comfortable win, and before you know it we were 1-2 down. A stolen equaliser left the score at 2-2 at half time. My half time talk was basically that the other team were pretty poor and if we put our minds to it we could beat them comfortably. We played some decent football for the first 15 minutes of the second half and both teams created a few chances but no goals came. What happened next was straight from the training ground. The move started with a short goal-kick, a couple of short passes through the defence and holding midfielder saw the ball moved to the left midfielder. He pulled off a great trick and crossed from the byline. The ball was then laid off by the centre-forward and followed up with a precise side-footed finish from the edge of the area into the bottom corner from the attacking midfielder. Brilliant! Both sets of supporters applauded the goal and it was the talking point of the game by everyone after the final whistle. The game itself was then fairly even after that and saw an equaliser after a defensive mistake. We then somehow managed to sneak the winner in injury time. It was a win in the end but I can't help thinking that if the boys had a different mentality towards the game that we could have and should have walked this game. I just don't understand it?
How can I get them to change their attitude? It feels at the moment like they treat it as just somewhere to come and meet their mates and have a bit of a kick-around. Maybe that's all it is and I'm not the right man to run the team...
We were scheduled an 11am kick-off so we started our warm-up around 10:30. I normally start with some gentle jogging and dynamic stretching and throw a couple of balls into the marked area to give the boys a focus. We move on to some side skipping and a few other "normal" movements to get the muscles moving. After about 2 minutes one of the boys says "Tim, I need the toilet". "Me too", "and me". Before you know it 7 of my 10 players were trotting across the field to the changing rooms!!! By the time they all got back our opponents were well and truly into their warm-up and we'd barely started. I was frustrated to say the least but tried not to show it.
The game itself started well and we quickly went 1-0 up, but then I can only think the team got complacent, expecting a comfortable win, and before you know it we were 1-2 down. A stolen equaliser left the score at 2-2 at half time. My half time talk was basically that the other team were pretty poor and if we put our minds to it we could beat them comfortably. We played some decent football for the first 15 minutes of the second half and both teams created a few chances but no goals came. What happened next was straight from the training ground. The move started with a short goal-kick, a couple of short passes through the defence and holding midfielder saw the ball moved to the left midfielder. He pulled off a great trick and crossed from the byline. The ball was then laid off by the centre-forward and followed up with a precise side-footed finish from the edge of the area into the bottom corner from the attacking midfielder. Brilliant! Both sets of supporters applauded the goal and it was the talking point of the game by everyone after the final whistle. The game itself was then fairly even after that and saw an equaliser after a defensive mistake. We then somehow managed to sneak the winner in injury time. It was a win in the end but I can't help thinking that if the boys had a different mentality towards the game that we could have and should have walked this game. I just don't understand it?
How can I get them to change their attitude? It feels at the moment like they treat it as just somewhere to come and meet their mates and have a bit of a kick-around. Maybe that's all it is and I'm not the right man to run the team...
Thursday, 3 October 2013
It can't be great all the time...
So what do you do when it all goes pear-shaped?
There are some days when things just don't go to plan. Faulty equipment, forgetting to bring things and players not turning up are the most common, but sometimes it's the ones that do turn up that can really throw a spanner in the works. It's what you do with the situation and what you learn from it that can make a difference in the future. Last night was a prime example of a session you initially just want to forget but then realise it could be an excellent opportunity...
Kids of 10 have all sorts of pressures at home and school and sometimes when they turn up to football they just aren't in the right frame of mind. They couldn't concentrate, they couldn't understand what I wanted them to do even though most of them have done it before. Some of them weren't listening when we went through the session, some just simply couldn't pick it up and some had no intention of learning anything! Whatever the reasons, we seemed to spend half the session either sat down explaining and simplifying it and then simplifying it further. In the end, with the light fading, we abandoned it altogether and played a game. I didn't want the boys going home dejected so I thought a game would be the best thing. What I should've done is explained that because of their behaviour the session was over, but I didn't and that's a lesson I've learned. Unfortunately because of the way some of them were feeling, a couple of reckless tackles went in and I had to severely reprimand a couple of boys.
I have to see this as an opportunity. At the end of the session I left the boys under no illusion as to what I expect from now on so it gives me the chance to make some changes. Hopefully some of the parents will realise what's expected of them too! I wonder what their attitudes will be like when they turn up for our match on Saturday?
There are some days when things just don't go to plan. Faulty equipment, forgetting to bring things and players not turning up are the most common, but sometimes it's the ones that do turn up that can really throw a spanner in the works. It's what you do with the situation and what you learn from it that can make a difference in the future. Last night was a prime example of a session you initially just want to forget but then realise it could be an excellent opportunity...
Kids of 10 have all sorts of pressures at home and school and sometimes when they turn up to football they just aren't in the right frame of mind. They couldn't concentrate, they couldn't understand what I wanted them to do even though most of them have done it before. Some of them weren't listening when we went through the session, some just simply couldn't pick it up and some had no intention of learning anything! Whatever the reasons, we seemed to spend half the session either sat down explaining and simplifying it and then simplifying it further. In the end, with the light fading, we abandoned it altogether and played a game. I didn't want the boys going home dejected so I thought a game would be the best thing. What I should've done is explained that because of their behaviour the session was over, but I didn't and that's a lesson I've learned. Unfortunately because of the way some of them were feeling, a couple of reckless tackles went in and I had to severely reprimand a couple of boys.
I have to see this as an opportunity. At the end of the session I left the boys under no illusion as to what I expect from now on so it gives me the chance to make some changes. Hopefully some of the parents will realise what's expected of them too! I wonder what their attitudes will be like when they turn up for our match on Saturday?
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