Starting A.. Class

For whatever reason you may have to organise a session for youngsters.

What do you do and how do you do it if you do not have any previous training to call on?

You could sign on a coaching course to become qualified but what happens between now and then?

YES YOU COULD PANIC!
OR
YOU COULD MAKE USE OF SOME TIPS TO HELP YOU.

A STARTING POINT

• Your young players will have no idea of your experience as a player, coach or a spectator.
• To them you are another adult coming to coach them.
• Stick with what you know is OK or what you have read from this site.
• Do not overcomplicate things by trying to be better than the Premier League coaches and managers.
• Youngsters want to enjoy themselves – that’s why they play football. They don’t want to hear you put right every defeat your country/club has ever had.
• Parents / carers want their children to be safe - You must be safe!
• Realistic -You will not turn these players into World Cup heroes in a few weeks.

BEING PREPARED IS HALF WAY TO SUCCESS

Usually the venue is a well established one where the group meet every week. If this is not the case or if the following guidelines are not in place then you may need to address them at once:-

• Parents / carers need to know the times of the training. Pick up times are important, do parents have a system for sharing pickups?
• Parents / carers know where they deliver their children, allowing children to run across a car park on a bright Summer evening is completely different from a dark Winter evening.
• Parents / carers should collect their children from the coach and not expect the child to wonder into a car park or along a street looking for their car ride home.
• Parents / carers know that they cannot leave their youngsters with only one adult coach as this is placing both adult and youngsters at risk.
• Parents / carers know the equipment and clothing that each player is expected to bring with them. They also know to provide a drink as hard work requires some form of liquid intake.
• Parents / carers know that it is their responsibility to inform the coach of any medical condition or injury that their child may have that may require the intervention of the coach at any time. For example a diabetic may need to stop for a snack during training, the coach needs to know this.
• Do any of the group have Religious beliefs that may have consequences for their training, for example are their Muslim players in your team who may be fasting, you cannot expect them to be training to their full potential if they have not eaten since before sunrise and perhaps will not be eating again until after your training.
• Be prepared to record any injuries so that you have a record of them, you do this for health records or for use by any medical staff for easy reference later. Also record any that result in a player exhibiting obvious pain or discomfort before they able to resume training. This is good practice because you may be able to demonstrate a connection between a previous incident and a current injury. You are then able to pass this information on to the parents / carers for further action if necessary.

A SESSION PLAN

• This is a lot easier than it seems. You decide on the length of time you have to work with and plan for a warm up and a warm down which should average out at 5 – 10 minutes for a warm up (depending on weather conditions) and 10 minutes for a warm down.
• When you subtract a minimum of 15 minutes from your session you have the time left to work with. You must always finish any session with a game of some type otherwise how will you know if the players have learned anything or improved at all? If you decide that your game will be 15 – 20 minutes long then what ever is left is your direct coaching time.
• What do you do to warm them up or warm them down at the end?– please refer to the relevant information on this site.
• What are you comfortable working with? If you are not totally sure of your subject matter then always stick to the easiest topic for yourself. The players will not know especially if it is part of an organised session that flows.

THE ACTUAL SESSION

The simplest sessions are usually the most beneficial to both you and your players if you are starting out (or even when more experienced). Mark out an area and allow the players to have a ball each and encourage them to experiment. This will require you to inspect the area for holes, dog mess, glass etc to ensure it is safe to train on. Do have your mobile on you with the list of all the players emergency contact numbers. Do have your First Aid kit with you as well as sufficient equipment for the session. Is there another adult with you?

An Example Session Close Control / Turning

• 16 players

Intro / Warm up.

• Introduce yourself and outline what they will be doing and what you expect from them. Do check for injuries or illness, also if there are any players wearing jewellery that may cause a Health and Safety risk. Gum is not allowed! Caps and hats are allowed BUT these also must not be the types that could injury to others.
• 6 minutes warm up

Technique

• Give them a ball each in a clearly marked area. Ask them to become familiar with the ball and playing surface by keeping the ball close to them as they move the ball around – avoiding each other.
• If you see good play stop the group and ask for a further demonstration then ask the others to use this technique as well as any other they can think of.
• Try to stay on the outside of the group to see everyone and not allow things to happen behind you.
• Use encouragement repeatedly – children respond to praise.
• Identify the player with their head up and use this good play as an example to the others.
• Ask them when it is safe to allow the ball further from them and get someone to demonstrate and others to copy.
• This approach can be used for running with the ball, turning, dribbling etc.
• If you are able to demonstrate then do so, BUT be very aware that a poor demonstration may change the groups opinion of your coaching. So instead if you are not confident choose one of the players who can perform the technique.
• Don’t try to crowd the session with everything, it is better for the group to try fewer techniques and be closer to mastering a couple rather that being flooded with them and failing to grasp any at all due to too little practice time.
• If you feel the players are competent to progress then move on, don’t allow them time to become bored with the same repeated practice.
• Repeatedly ask the players questions about what they are working on. In each group there will be different types of learners some of which may require reinforcement in order to grasp a new concept. Above all be patient with the different speed of learners you are working with.

Small Sided Game

• Introduce a small sided game or even 2 small sided games. Players need to have practice in a competitive situation to improve their new techniques. To keep the level of interest, play a league competition where they all play each other for 5 minutes. Always ensure you even the teams out so that all teams are able to complete against each other or a more or less equal basis.
• If you need to add conditions for the games, such as goals only to be scored from inside a certain area to encourage quality of passing, then make sure they are relevant to the work already covered that evening.

Warm Down

• Allow time to complete a full warm down and during this you can finish with a feedback session which will give you a clear indication of what they have learned and how much they have enjoyed the session.

Dismissal

• This is the most critical part of any evening coaching session. The players will be excited and tired after a great session and they may not be concentrating fully on their own safety so it is your responsibility to continue to ensure their safety. Players are not permitted to leave until a parent / carer comes to collect them. If parents do want their youngsters to travel home alone or in groups you must have a letter to confirm this. Parents / carers sitting in cars and waiting for their youngsters to find them should be discouraged. All these requirements may seem exaggerated to some adults and children but it is so much easier with hindsight to pinpoint where a mistake was made and a young child injured, hurt or even killed.

Self Evaluation

Once you have had time to digest the session you should write your own self evaluation so that you can highlight the successes and any areas you may need to improve on. Keep these views they may well help you in the future. Above all enjoy your coaching.