Getting to know your players Having had a football-free summer, there will be coaches all over the country itching to get the footballs and cones out and get back out onto the pitch with the players. However, before the games start coming thick and fast, the start of a new season is a perfect opportunity to reflect on the effectiveness of your current practice and approach to working with players.
Consider the following questions: - What do young players want from a coaching session? - What do your coaching sessions currently look like? - What sort of team do the players want to be?
Using the answers to these questions and developing your coaching approach accordingly will help create a vibrant, engaging and effective learning environment. This, however, is no easy task.
What do young players want from a coaching session? Most grassroots coaches will have experienced it:
“When are we having a game?” “I’m bored” “Why are we doing this?”
The feedback and signals which players give to coaches raise important questions about the intention of practice design. Do we create practices which players actually want to take part in? Understanding young players’ motivation and designing appropriate coaching activities is fundamental in working more effectively with young players.
Research
As coaches we all think we know the game of football; but do we all know about children and what they really want from their early football experience?
As part of the research conducted for the Youth Development Review hundreds of children were asked to rank a series of statements in order of importance. The top six statements across the 40 groups were as follows:
1. Trying my hardest is more important to me than winning 2. I love playing football because it’s fun 3. It’s a really good game and I love it! 4. It helps keep me fit and healthy 5. I like meeting new friends through football 6. I like playing with my friends
Coaching tip: If, as research tells us, young players want to be with their friends, have fun, get better and play games, then this should be the starting-point when coaches are planning activities with children.
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