Crosfield’s Paul Smalley and Ian Bateman tell The Boot Room how the club ethos developed
What are the values and beliefs which underpin the club ethos? How was it decided? PS: When the club was founded in 1998 it was on the basis of football for all. We had never been a club who valued winning over developing players. There had, however, been some variation of interpretation so we decided to formalise this – and write the club ethos document. We held a couple of meetings, essentially of coaches, and some interested parents came along too. We started by asking the question – why are we here – and we came up with the three ‘questions’ and answers at the start of the ethos. Once it had been produced we took it to the club’s monthly management meeting where it was adopted as our policy.
IB: We also faced a situation with one particular team who were losing players on a regular basis. The key reason seemed to be due to coach behavior and the limited game time which some players were receiving. Although we had codes of conduct for players, parents and coaches none of them seemed to send a clear message to all parties as to what the club actually stood for. A key moment was actually asking the players why they played. This gave us our starting point.
How did you communicate the ethos with parents/new players and how have you managed to get their support? PS: We initially did a tour of all the mini-soccer training sessions and held pitchside parent and coach meetings. We outlined the thinking behind the ethos and gave every parent a copy. On the whole, parents reacted positively – it was in line with what they had already experienced. We now have a ‘momentum’: most of our new players join because of word of mouth.
Has the ethos changed in any way? If so, why? PS: A year after we introduced the ethos, we decided to ‘harden’ the line. An ethos is essentially guidance – and we wanted to ensure the content became mandatory, so they became the club ‘ethos and rules’.
How do you think the ethos and methods will change to meet the needs of the children, coaches and the game? PS: Some of the points in the ethos and rules refer to mini-soccer and I would like to see them extended throughout the whole club. Equally the ethos does not currently talk about style of play.
What problems have you encountered implementing the ethos? PS: As the players get older, some of the coaches/parents/players become more competitive (perhaps this is natural) and there is a tension between the desire of some to win, and others to develop all players. With ‘proper football’ (11-a-side) there is still a tendency in some coaches to want to play players in their strongest position all the time.
IB: In the first instance, we faced major resistance from the 11-a-side teams. We decided to affect the mini-soccer teams first and then manage the programme through the club as the mini-soccer sides played 11-a-side. For season 2011/ 2012 we have the support from all the age groups upto U13s. Interestingly enough the Under 13s will be operating 3 squads in the forthcoming season where as some of the older squads are having retention issues.
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