How Can We Reach Parent Coaches?

In this latest rant about how to improve the standard of coaching and youth football within this great nation of ours, I would like to discuss an idea I have been thinking of for quite some time. It seems simple to implement, and I believe it could be quite effective. What ignited this today is while driving, I was listening to Talksport, hearing Darren Gough and Adrian Durham converse with Trevor Brooking and Les Howie as they were discussing youth football and coaching philosophies.

When a coach regularly attends courses, reads about the latest advancements in coaching, watches and analyses other coaches, subscribes to Youtube channels and magazines, they are kept up to date with the latest ideas and practices, and can implement these in their coaching sessions. With this continually improved knowledge, one likes to high five and butt-slap their counterparts about how great they are in regards to how much they know and how much they have improved. It is a great feeling to be good at something, and to be inspired to continuously learn and improve, becoming better and better. We can talk about LTPD, PPP and many other acronyms, and what we do to implement these successfully with our players, and therefore share our experiences of what has worked and why.

So why is England still very far behind its foreign opposition? Why are we struggling to produce players like Germany and Spain? Why do our youth teams do so poorly in international tournaments? Why do we have a lack of creative talent that can pull it out the bag at the very top level? I will liken it in a way to those of NASA compared to the rest of the US population. In the summer of 1969, America put a man on the moon. Since then, science and technology has gone on to improve vastly beyond the comprehension of the average man. The Mars Rover, Galileo, Hubble, CERN, even smart phones, are all incredible inventions and are wonderful accolades that show the great achievements of mankind. In the same country as NASA, you have people who don’t know what religion Buddhist Monks are, believe their army has been at war with Pakistan, have no idea what the religion is in Israel, think that Canada is a state, as well as countless other examples of stupidity, ignorance, and represent a large facet of what can happen to men and women in this developed but easy world.

The Football Association is renovating, rebranding, analysing and improving. Some may say “It’s about time”, but it is happening now, and we have to deal with it rather than complain about it. They have seen what other countries do and are trying to implement their successful strategies into our footballing way of life. Those who have completed the youth modules, who have subscribed to the coaching magazines, who attend CDP events, who actively look to stay sharp as a coach, will be well aware of this. Does this help the country as a whole? No. It only helps those in academies, centres of excellence, and who are fortunate to have a knowledgeable and qualified youth coach at their team. The rest of the country is seemingly left behind. There are many disadvantages of this as it severely decreases the talent pool. Our competitors around Europe have a lot more qualified coaches, and a lot more highly qualified coaches than we do. Another key factor is that they are far more open minded when it comes to football.

If the knowledge is there, why doesn’t everyone actively seek to improve? With this, there comes a few hurdles:

1.       You don’t know what you don’t know. Firstly, if you think you’re doing a good job, why would you need to improve? Secondly, if you don’t know that these resources are out there, you won’t be looking for them anyway.

2.       Old attitudes. If it’s what you have been brought up on, no one can tell you to do otherwise.

3.       Time. Many amateur coaches have jobs and families. Such commitments can get in the way of coaching development.

4.       Money. Times are hard, and some people can be priced out of courses. There are lots of free resources out there, but numbers one, two and three can obstruct this.

5.       Incentive. If you’re just a dad trying to help out, or you have been roped into coaching your kid’s team because no one else will do it, you might not have dreams of one day becoming England manager, therefore, you will most likely not be embarking on any coaching courses in the near future.

It will be quite rare to find someone involved in youth or amateur football in this country that does not watch games on TV at least once a week. I believe that it is vital that the FA uses this to reach out to its coaches. Let’s reach people in their living rooms. Let’s put it out there where it is hard to be avoided. I’m sure that on Match of the Day, they can spare ninety seconds to show a short video, once a week, introducing a new idea or showing best practices. I’d rather they cut a small part of Man Utd’s half hour highlights, or take away a small segment of Alan Hansen’s Liverpool love fest, in order to educate our parent coaches on the advantages of a goalkeeping rolling the ball as opposed to kicking it, or why pre-season fitness should include a ball.

A phrase I heard recently was “No laps, no lectures, no lines”. This is something we can easily implement in our sessions, but it is so often overlooked by parent coaches because it goes against the way that they have been teaching for years, and the way that they were taught when they were younger. Kids can say the most stupid things, and an ill-disciplined mischievous little punk can sometimes be the bane of your existence, but if you ask them, the proof is in the pudding. Ask little Johnny Eight Year Old in the moments after the manager’s pre-game talk about how he wants the team to play like Barcelona, that they’re going to give 110%, and that if they don’t give their all, they will be pulled off. We know some coaches can be a lot more intense and serious than the level demands, and that they can often go off for minutes at a time. So ask Johnny, what exactly does the coach want you to do? Don’t know. What did he mean when he said holding midfielder? Don’t know. Did you listen and pay attention the whole time? No. What were you thinking of while he was talking? I just wanted to play football.

A lot of coaches waffle, talk for too long, speak in riddles, and talk utter bollocks. Some of it comes from nerves, some from simply not knowing what to say, but all feel they have to say something. It’s better to not say anything in these situations. With a weekly two minute segment, coaches may be more informed, sometimes about what to do, but sometimes about what not to do. It will probably be difficult to get some shows to align with this, foreign leagues and the Champions League, as they are not governed by the Football Association. When it comes to English leagues and competitions, it might be easier. If the show itself will not allow a brief two minute segment to be introduced for coaching, then perhaps the FA could buy some ad space. Whatever the agreement, as the proprietor of football in this country, surely the FA holds all the cards. It will make English players better in the long run, which can only be a good thing when it comes to TV figures.

A simple ninety second or two minute infomercial could go like this:

Ø  Cut to an average middle aged man in a tracksuit, possibly with a bit of a gut, maybe bald.

Ø  “Hi, I’m John/Dave/Barry/Chris/Ranjit and I’d like to take a moment to talk to you about why we should try rotating positions and pitch time in youth football”

Ø  Show some kids in spotless brand new Umbro kits (cannot have white shorts, no amateur team in the country plays with white shorts) playing a small sided game.

Ø  Dick/Tom/Harry/Ahmed strolls along the touchline while the game is in play, talking to the camera with a concerned but understanding look on his face.

Ø  “As a young boy, I remember wanting to do everything while on the pitch, but I was always put in defence. I wanted to have a go up front, but sometimes we are typecast by physical attributes. Had life been different and I was given a turn, I could have been the next England striker, but I was never given a turn. Who knows what may have happened? It could have been any of us, if we were just given a chance”.

Ø  Wallis/Luke/Julian/Graham/Khalifa stands at the side of the pitch with Johnny Eight Year Old.

Ø  “What position do you play, Johnny?”

Ø  “In goal”.

Ø  “Do you like it in there?”

Ø  “Sometimes”.

Ø  “What don’t you like?”

Ø  “When I let in a goal, everyone tells me it is my fault and it makes me not want to play there. Sometimes it can get a bit boring when I have had nothing to do”.

Ø  “Would you like to play somewhere else?”

Ø  “I want to try playing in midfield. I would like to score some goals”.

Ø  Fred/Dan/Ron/Raj turns back to the camera.

Ø  “We mustn’t forget that this game is for kids”.

Ø  Rustles Johnny’s hair.

Ø  “Why don’t we give them what they want?”

Ø  Show some close-ups of players fighting for the ball, only capturing from the knee down.

Ø  Now talking to a concerned but informed looking mum.

Ø  “Do all of the parents pay the same fees for their boys to be a part of this club?”

Ø  “Yes, in fact we do”.

Ø  “Sometimes do you see some boys get more game time than others?”

Ø  “Yes, actually, that does happen”.

Ø  “Do you believe that is fair?”

Ø  “No, not at all”.

Ø  “Is it more important for the team to win, or for your young boys to have fair treatment and to develop as players and people?”

Ø  “I just want to see Johnny out there playing and having fun. Winning is great, but seeing him run around, play with his friends and learn new skills is far more important”.

Ø  Looking back at the camera.

Ø  “Think about it for a second, are your weaker players ever going to improve if you don’t play them? Are the stronger players likely to become more arrogant and less hard working if they are always played? How will that big lad at the back who wants a turn up front ever learn how to be a forward if he is never given a chance? When it comes to football, if players only ever play in the same position, their learning and understanding of the game will be severely limited. Let’s look at Ajax [insert other examples of good youth development policies] which has a great history of producing fantastic young players. In their academy, players rotate positions so that they can learn more about the demands and the specifics of the game. It is only when they are older that they become specialists in their positions. Come on, give your players a go. Let them experience the roles and responsibilities of all the different positions.

Ø  Pan out to a group shot of both teams.

Ø  Kids all shout “It’s our game”.

Ø  For more useful coaching tips, subscribe to our Youtube Channel.

It takes only a small amount of time, is informative, is not threatening, yet will be a revelation to some of the parent coaches up and down the land. Other such examples of things that can be talked about are:

Goalkeeper distribution: Why rolling the ball out can be better than drop kicking it?
Getting your players to communicate better
Running laps: Why this has no relevance to football
Not using a ball during pre-season: How much fun this actually is
Why the world won’t end if you pass the ball backwards
How helpful suggestions from parents can often conflict with coaches and confuse players
Why shouting is not helping
Creativity: Don’t stifle it, but encourage it
Giving players ownership: How letting them make some decisions will not cause the ship to sink
Lectures: How listening to your Coach Carter impression can damage their enthusiasm
Conditioned games: Just let them play, but at the same time, add rules and conditions to be able to encourage growth towards the learning outcome
Line drills: How standing still does not improve player performance
Intensity: How making the simplest of tasks a competition can improve realism within practice
The donkey: How hoofing the ball forwards isn’t always appropriate
Respect: For the players, fans, and officials, and how this makes the game better

There are many, many more. As part of this initiative, local coaches could be invited to observe professionals in action. Where they might not have the time, the FA could implement a mentor scheme. It could be more qualified coaches within the club occasionally go along to observe others and give advice and feedback. It could be that the club requests for FA coaches to go to observe sessions and give pointers. That way, those who are clueless, those who are stuck in the dark ages, and those who want help but cannot actively pursue it, are given the help required.

I’m sure we’ve all been there, but it happens across the land. When working as a coach for a team, the manager (often a parent or someone equally helpful) will report that the team needs to improve shooting. In actual fact, that may not be the problem, or at least the root may lie somewhere else, but lack of goals means poor shooting, right? Well it could be several things, including not creating enough scoring chances, not taking a touch before shooting, shooting from too far, trying to get the ball too close to goal before shooting, not working the ball far enough up the field into shooting positions due to lack of possession and ball retention, lack of support for the player on the ball when in the opponent’s half etc. This manifests itself as a lack of goals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the problem is the actual shooting technique.

The whole idea of using the players and the parents to provide answers and feedback is a way of hitting home. When it’s a kid telling you that it is no fun to always go in goal, or that they wish they weren’t shouted at, then we are more likely to believe them. The FA has done good adverts before with Ray Winstone, and the one with Les Ferdinand, Howard Webb and Barry Evans from Eastenders. The exposure to these was severely poor, and very few people will have seen them, and eve fewer will remember them.

The FA needs to reach people in their living rooms. They need to be on TV at times when they know people will be watching. It will promote knowledge, improvement and a greater understanding of the game. I don’t see why this can’t be done and I would love to see it implemented soon. I’m sure the BBC and maybe even Sky would oblige. It would be far better than seeing stutter through his Frank Lampard bumming escapades and listening to Mark Lawrenson criticise everyone using a barrage of large puns.

Let’s do this.

Follow @CoachingFamily on Twitter.
http://www.youtube.com/user/NYRBTrainingPrograms
http://www.youtube.com/user/nscaa/feed
http://www.youtube.com/user/england/feed
http://www.youtube.com/user/PerformanceFFT/feed
http://www.youtube.com/user/WORLDCLASSCOACHING/feed