Let The Children Play
This will be the first in a series of coaching blogs, designed with the intent of offering a small insight into the logic behind some of our coaching methods. Hopefully the information and debates contained within these blogs will be beneficial to parents & players, and senior & junior coaches alike. The information which I present to you is neither definitive nor fact, but gives you the opportunity to be critical and analytical of the multitude of methods of the development of young players.
The phrase ‘let the children play’ should immediately initiate thoughts of pure enjoyment through football, an atmosphere in which children have a significant input into the methodology of their development, and essentially having the opportunity to enjoy their football in a comfortable and relaxed environment. As grassroots coaches, some of us are often guilty of stifling young players creativity and belief through a range of typical coaching misbeliefs. It is too common that we witness coaches on the sidelines of mini-soccer games across the country bellowing commands and putting extreme levels of pressure on the players to perform well, but more importantly – win.
It is often the placing of importance onto winning which instigates these attitudes, and creates a horrible environment in which young children struggle to develop, let alone continue to participate in the sport. In order to create a good environment for young players to flourish, we, as adults, have to consider why and how we began on our journey into football. For many of us, it was on the streets, at the local park, or in a car park with mates, without the need for bibs, and cones, and extensive equipment. Teams were created by ‘choosing numbers’ or ‘doing captains’, and any imbalance in the teams was rectified by trading big for small, or strong for weak, or mate for mate, until the teams were almost fair – and that was good enough. Jumpers were the goalpost, and any refereeing decision was settled by a quick debate between friends, which may or may not have ended up in a falling out. But essentially, as children, we took ownership of our sport, and tweaked and tampered with whatever equipment and facilities we had until it was good enough.
Unfortunately, we are now of an age where many children do not experience the outdoors upbringing that many of us did, and their knowledge and experience of football is based around FIFA on the Xbox, or matches on a television screen, instead of getting out there and discovering it for themselves. This can be put down to a number of reasons; cultural laziness, technological developments, health and safety, and uncertainty of the outside world, but whatever the reasoning is, it is happening, children are not enjoying the ‘jumpers for goalposts’ upbringing that many of us did.
That being said, it is now our job as coaches to instigate the ‘jumpers for goalposts’ environment within our coaching sessions. Did our football upbringing do our development any harm? I don’t think so, so as coaches we shouldn’t be afraid of allowing players ownership of sessions, by allowing them to have a significant impact on what they do, with the role of the coach being to create a safe environment in which they can do it. Some coaches are guilty of over-coaching and stifling players’ development. It is difficult, but sometimes we have to stand back and admit that sometimes (only sometimes), the kids might (just might) know best.
It's time to think, Think Coaching.
This will be the first in a series of coaching blogs, designed with the intent of offering a small insight into the logic behind some of our coaching methods. Hopefully the information and debates contained within these blogs will be beneficial to parents & players, and senior & junior coaches alike. The information which I present to you is neither definitive nor fact, but gives you the opportunity to be critical and analytical of the multitude of methods of the development of young players.
The phrase ‘let the children play’ should immediately initiate thoughts of pure enjoyment through football, an atmosphere in which children have a significant input into the methodology of their development, and essentially having the opportunity to enjoy their football in a comfortable and relaxed environment. As grassroots coaches, some of us are often guilty of stifling young players creativity and belief through a range of typical coaching misbeliefs. It is too common that we witness coaches on the sidelines of mini-soccer games across the country bellowing commands and putting extreme levels of pressure on the players to perform well, but more importantly – win.
It is often the placing of importance onto winning which instigates these attitudes, and creates a horrible environment in which young children struggle to develop, let alone continue to participate in the sport. In order to create a good environment for young players to flourish, we, as adults, have to consider why and how we began on our journey into football. For many of us, it was on the streets, at the local park, or in a car park with mates, without the need for bibs, and cones, and extensive equipment. Teams were created by ‘choosing numbers’ or ‘doing captains’, and any imbalance in the teams was rectified by trading big for small, or strong for weak, or mate for mate, until the teams were almost fair – and that was good enough. Jumpers were the goalpost, and any refereeing decision was settled by a quick debate between friends, which may or may not have ended up in a falling out. But essentially, as children, we took ownership of our sport, and tweaked and tampered with whatever equipment and facilities we had until it was good enough.
Unfortunately, we are now of an age where many children do not experience the outdoors upbringing that many of us did, and their knowledge and experience of football is based around FIFA on the Xbox, or matches on a television screen, instead of getting out there and discovering it for themselves. This can be put down to a number of reasons; cultural laziness, technological developments, health and safety, and uncertainty of the outside world, but whatever the reasoning is, it is happening, children are not enjoying the ‘jumpers for goalposts’ upbringing that many of us did.
That being said, it is now our job as coaches to instigate the ‘jumpers for goalposts’ environment within our coaching sessions. Did our football upbringing do our development any harm? I don’t think so, so as coaches we shouldn’t be afraid of allowing players ownership of sessions, by allowing them to have a significant impact on what they do, with the role of the coach being to create a safe environment in which they can do it. Some coaches are guilty of over-coaching and stifling players’ development. It is difficult, but sometimes we have to stand back and admit that sometimes (only sometimes), the kids might (just might) know best.
It's time to think, Think Coaching.