Conclusion
Lynn: And I do wonder sometimes, we’re going onto the pitch and Michael’s playing for Manchester United and England, but it wasn’t for our glory. I mean we’re proud as punch, but it’s Michael. Not us. Whereas some parents can get carried away. Don’t get us wrong though, Michael knows we’re so proud, but it’s just how you put it across.
Some people have thought that Graeme’s been left out. But he wanted to be part of whatever we’ve done, wherever we went. We concentrated on Michael to a certain point, but we said to Graeme, ‘You’ll get your chance. And whatever you’re going to be doing, we’ll be behind you 100% of the way.’ Because you’re building relationships up, family relationships are as important as the football. I think that can help, whereas if you’ve got one sibling and you get all carried away and everyone’s getting so involved in this one person. You forget about the relationships. You forget about the other children.
And there are so many people who seriously will say, ‘Michael is a footballer, how do I get my son to be a footballer?’
Vince: Somebody asked us, seriously, ‘What do you feed Michael!? Well he’s a professional footballer, what do you feed him?’
Lynn: I just said he was a big baby, he was just automatically big. This goalkeeper was quite stocky. And she says ‘Ahh, I’m gonna start feeding him up then.’ And she’s given him so many sausages! And Mars bars. And honestly, he was just going outwards, bless his cotton socks. And we laughed at it, but you know. Some of the comments of people are unbelievable. We do pinch ourselves, and wonder how he’s got there, playing Champions’ League for Manchester United, and tournaments for England.
We do pinch ourselves, and wonder how he’s got there, playing Champions’ League and Manchester United, and tournaments for England
• MacNamara, Á., Button, A. & Collins, D. (2010). “The Role of Psychological Characteristics in Facilitating the Pathway to Elite Performance. Part 1: Identifying mental skills and behaviours". The Sport Psychologist, 24, 52-73.
• Rees, D., Lopez, E., Averett, S., Argys., L. (2008). Birth order and participation in school sports and other extracurricular activities. Economics of Education Review 27, 354–362.
• Holt, N., Tamminen, K., Black, D., Mandigo, J., & Fox, K. (2009). Youth sport parenting styles and practices. Journal of Sport Exercise Psychology, 31, 37-59.
• Ford, P., Ward, P., Hodges, N., & Williams, A. (2009). The role of deliberate practice and play in career progression in sport: the early engagement hypothesis. High Ability Studies, 20, 65-75.
• Ford, P., & Williams, A. (2011). No relative age effect in the birth dates of award-winning athletes in male professional team sports. Research Quarterly for Exercise & Sport, 82, 373-376. Research summarised above by Tim Pitt.
• Ostojic et al. (2014). The Biological Age of 14-year-old Boys and Success in Adult Soccer: Do Early
• Maturers Predominate in the Top-level Game? Research in Sports Medicine, 22:398–407.
• Csikszentmihalyi, Michael., Rathunde, K., & Whalen, S. (1993). Talented teenagers: The roots of success and failure. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Christensen, Michael.K., & Sørensen, J.K. (2009) Sport or school? Dreams and dilemmas for talented young Danish football players. European Physical Education Review, 1, 115-133.
• Holt, N. L., & Mitchell. T. (2006). Talent development in English professional soccer. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 37, 77-98.
• Ibid (adapted model).
For more information and resources on the importance of psychology in player development please visit
www.TheFA.com/st-georges-park/fa-learning/fa-national-courses and have a look at the FA Psychology Courses. There’s also a Level 1 online course that builds on the themes in this book:
the-fa.com/psychology
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