Messi - The Good Friend & Colleague

"I like to score goals, but I also like to be friends with the people I play with. It’s good to be valued as a person, it’s important that they have a good concept of who you are beyond being the guy that scores a lot of goals." - Lionel Messi

In a recent interview with Spanish daily newspaper El País, FC Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi spoke of his desire to be remembered as a good friend and colleague to his team mates rather than as the best player in the world.

To hear such a comment from arguably the greatest ever footballer in the history of the game and who still has the best years ahead of him is an incredibly powerful tool for coaches and teachers working with young people.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/leo-messi-im-more-concerned-with-being-a-good-person-than-being-the-best-footballer-in-the-world

The Youth Development Review

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones" - John Cage

The English FA, after 2 years of intensive research headed by national football development manager Nick Levett, have finalised and approved changes to how youth football is organised in England.

"These positive changes have been put in place to improve enjoyment, fun and development of young players allowing more touches, on a better proportioned pitch with an increase of involvement in the game as a whole."

The link below takes you directly to some of the excellent resources the FA have produced in relation to the youth development review. They are a must read for any coach and parent involved in youth football.

http://www.thefa.com/my-football/player/youth-football/youth-development-review

Result vs Performance

When you as a coach or parent come to the weekend and that all important U10 league fixture is all you can think about, what's going through your head? Is it that 3 points will help the team with promotion and you don't care how the points are won?... or is it that you want to see the players enjoy themselves, to learn from the experience and develop as players and people within a competitive environment by playing together as a team, regardless of the result?

Gian Marco Campagnolo is a lecturer in Science, Technology & Innovation Studies at the University of Edinburgh and is a UEFA B licensed coach. He spoke to the Edinburgh Evening News about his thoughts on the result and performance at a grassroots level. 

http://www.fundsport.com/news/results-holding-back-football-development

The FA Youth Awards - Creating the English Messi?

Independent journalist Glenn Moore reports on his experience of taking the FA Youth Award Module 1 which the FA believe (as do I) will change the future of the grassroots game forever and for the better.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/coaching-the-coach-to-bring-out-the-best-part-2-coaching-the-next-generation-6259057.html

The 5live Debate - Grassroots Football Development 

& Funding

Today on BBC Radio 5 Live, presenter Victoria Derbyshire hosted an important debate on the development and funding of grassroots football. There was some really interesting comments from the FA's Nick Levett, vice president of Wallsend Boys Club Sid Sharp and Fulham's Youth Academy Director Huw Jennings along with some important input from listeners.

Pretty much the whole show was dedicated to the topic. If you're genially interested about youth and grassroots football THEN LISTEN TO THE DEBATE!

UK ONLY - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b015n7hl/Victoria_Derbyshire_Grassroots_Football_Funding/

A Decision Made For Adults

It's been reported today by the BBC that a Junior Football League in Telford, Shropshire has began censoring Sunday grassroots youth football scored to 'protect the welfare of players'.

'The Telford Junior league said regardless of actual scores, it would list games as 1-0, 0-1 or 0-0'.

As a coach I am all about the welfare of the players in my team but I do feel here that this decision has been made not for the benefit of the child but the adult. The U13 team I coach in Greater London have lost their last 3 league games 13-2, 13-2 and 13-1. Not any of the players talked about the score line, only that they had been beaten. The only people who made a fuss about the score were the parents.

The last time I checked, youth football was for kids, not adults.

It's the parents and coaches who are embarrassed to talk about scores with other parents and coaches from other teams.

This then poses the question, what/who is youth football there for, the result/the adult? Surely not for kids, that would be stupid...

The article goes on to quote Richard Biffin, chairman of Admaston Juniors. He said "Children's welfare has to come first...One young goalkeeper cried after 20 goals and that's not right".

What I would say to that is why did he cry? Was it only that he conceded 20 goals in a match or was it that he conceded 20 goals in a match and cried because he was put under unnecessary pressure from coaches, parents, ADULTS! That he was made to feel that the match was so important he couldn't make a mistake and in doing so would let down the coach and everyone on his team?

The goalkeeper in my team, having conceded 39 goals in 3 games still comes to training with a massive smile on his face. He plays with no fear and no pressure. Why? Because his parents and his coaches encourage, praise and support him in what he does, good or 'bad'. With the good things we tell him why they were good and with the 'bad', we try to improve him as a player and build on his experience and game knowledge so that the 'bad' can slowly disappear.

A really interesting topic of conversation. Your thoughts welcome.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-15255060

AVB's Footballing Philosophy

In 2009 Andre Villas-Boas (AVB), the then assistant to Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan was interviewed by Daniel Sousa, a 24-year-old student in the faculty of sport at the University of Porto.

In the interview, AVB 'explains his theories about how the game should be played and gives a fascinating and detailed insight in what to expect from his Chelsea team'.

The interview is incredibly detailed and really reveals AVB to be an honest and intelligent football coach.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8699902/Chelsea-manager-Andre-Villas-Boass-footballing-philosophy.html

FourFourTwo Youth Development Reports

Over the last 4 months, FourFourTwo football magazine have been reporting on youth football development in Europe and South America. The current November issue looks at Uruguay, who with a population less than Scotland, reached the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup and won the 2011 Copa America (the equivalent of the European Championships).

The attached files come from the September issue where youth development in England is the focus.

Back issues of the magazine are available from the below link.

http://haymarket.subscribeonline.co.uk/back-issues/fourfourtwo-back-issues

The FA 4 Corner LTPD Model

The above attributes in the picture contribute towards developing the complete footballer, but do coaches look at the FA's 4 Corner Long Term Player Development Model and apply it to every training session and every match day they are involved in?

Like I said in my Wednesday post - 'Coach & Parent Education' - there needs to be a massive shake-up of how young players are coached. How that happens is for coaches and parents to review what they understand to be good coaching and re-educate themselves with the FA's 4 Corner LTPD Model.

Watching the young players at football training this week, there was a HUGE gap in where the 4 Corner LTPD Model should have been. To build the young people and players of the future that gap needs filled NOW!, otherwise nothing will change and England, like tonight's performance against Montenegro, shall continue to produce players without great Technical, Psychological, Physical and Social skills.

This link - http://www.falearningshop.com/p-878-falearningshopcom-the-future-game-grassroots.aspx - directs you to the FA Learning website where you can buy The Future Game - Grassroots pack. I suggest you buy it as it's a fantastic resource for everything I've just talked about. 

Back in July I posted a review of it here - http://elcollectiu.blogspot.com/2011/07/non-i-want-you-to-do-it-like-this.html

Rebel, Risk Taker, Thinker, Different

Yesterday saw the passing of Steve Jobs, Co-founder of Apple Computers.

He had nothing to do with football and possibly knew little about it but what he was as a man, in my mind, links directly to what I believe all players, coaches and teachers should be.

Rebel, Risk Taker, Thinker, Different - all the things he was and in many ways still is within all Apple products. Those 4 characteristics are what as coaches we should be encouraging our young people footballers to be. They might sound extreme to a few but lets look at players/coaches who represent those ideas.

Eric Cantona, Diego Maradona, George Best, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi... Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger...

Players and managers we love who have changed the way we think and approach football. Just like Jobs, he changed the way people looked at technology and for the better.

In this excellent 15 minute talk given in 2005 at Stanford University, Jobs talks about his life and career and the importance to "live before you die"

"...Don't be trapped by Dogma which is living with the results of other peoples thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become".

As coaches, teachers, parents, let us sometimes stop thinking what we understand to be best for our children and allow them to be rebels, risk takers, thinkers, different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

Coach & Parent Education

"It is not PlayStation for dads"
- Les Howie

The English FA believe, (as do I), that the time is now to change how football is ran at youth and grassroots level. I've mentioned him before but Nick Levett, the FA's national development manager for youth football and mini-soccer has just about finished his mammoth tour of the country, putting forward plans the FA believe will change the game forever and for the better.

Having this week been to visit a club for 3 evenings in Greater London to see coaching methods and behaviour, the changes the FA have in mind can not come sooner enough. But it's not just the 'format' children play their football, it's the coaches themselves who to me just don't understand how to teach the game. What I saw was children not 'learning how' to play football but being 'told how' to play it - A HUGE DIFFERENCE!

The FA have the resources for coaches to educate themselves with better methods and game knowledge but it's a MASSIVE challenge to get coaches to actually want to do it.

Being the Football Development Officer (F.D.O) at my club I, like probably many other F.D.O's, will find it a huge task to change and win "hearts and minds" of coaches and parents alike. It will be a long road but one worth walking down.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/it-is-not-playstation-for-dads-fas-grassroots-plan-for-richer-england-future-2252321.html

✕ To Pass, ◯ To Shoot

With the new FIFA 12 being released last Friday I was reminded of a post-match interview in 2010 between the then Arsenal captain Cesc Fàbregas and Theo Walcott... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAEdSSIJTIg&feature=related 

A lot is said about the negative impact computer games are supposed to have on young children today but from my experience in coaching, talking here about football games, they can improve real game understanding (off-side rule, direct/indirect free-kicks) and encourage players to try new things they might have experienced in the game on the pitch at training or on a match day (skills, combination play with team mates, communication - through on-line multiplayer games). 

There are obviously larger issues to discuss here regarding home entertainment, not just computer games. Hopefully this is something that I can post about in the future.

5 Point Press

"5 Points Press is an independent journal of news and opinion on the New York Soccer Scene. It covers all aspects including local leagues, supporters culture, and professional teams".

http://issuu.com/5pointspress

Kicking and Screening

Tonight London will host it's first ever International Football Film Festival. Kicking and Screening, an annual New York based event that brings together football and film enthusiasts to celebrate the beautiful game on the big screen is setting up a series of week long events which hope to "engage, connect, and inspire" football fanatics and non football lovers by showing them a side of football that, in the words of Tom Watt one of the co-producers of the event, "a Sky or BBC camera might not normally take them".

The events first screening is the excellent documentary 'Once In A Lifetime' - The rise and fall of the legendary New York Cosmos, the team that brought Pele to America, set against the backdrop of New York City in the 1970s.

http://kickingandscreening.com/

Festival Lineup - 
http://www.kickingandscreening.com/blog/2011/08/football-film-festival-soccer-london-2011-everyman-announce-lineup-schedule.html

MVB

Having recently posted on the Dutch team AJAX Youth Academy I though I would inspire you to look at one of their teams (and the worlds) greatest players, Marco Van Basten.

In the video below you can see arguably one of the greatest ever goals scored by the great man himself in the 1988 European Championship Final verses the USSR.

Why Don't You Just Grow Up!

A powerful and emotive video from The FA's series of Respect films focusing here on extreme parental behaviour.

Now I must say, thankfully, that I have never ever seen anything like this before but have spoken to other coaches/managers/parents who have been witness to this sort of behaviour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-6NMMZU1kQ

Football Psychology

Dan Abrahams is a Football psychologist to Premier League new boys QPR and several players from the top and bottom of the football league pyramid. 

His thoughts on coaching and young footballers are incredibly insightful and have certainly challenged my approach and thinking to coaching.

He is currently preparing the release of a FREE ebook available to anyone who requests one. In it he will be sharing his years of experience of Psychology aimed at coaches, young footballers, parents and teachers.

To sign-up for a copy of his ebook just click on the link below and at the top of the page you will find a section to type your email address into.

http://www.danabrahams.com/blog/football-psychology-playing-in-the-present.php

Also keep up to date with Dan by following his twitter feed which is where most of his thoughts are posted.

http://twitter.com/DanAbrahams77

A Young Footballers Focus

"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying"
- Michael Jordan

I've recently found coaching my youth team to be quite challenging experience as they are turing up to training and match days with a lack of focus which results in misbehaviour and poor effort. I'm relatively new to dealing with, and disciplining, children and have struggled with this side of coaching.

If there is any advice people could give then I'd be really keen to hear from you and how you deal with children in this area, whether in the home, school or at a football training session or game.

I have though found on the website www.footy4kids.co.uk some useful links that deal with discipline and motivation which I hope will be useful. Your comments on this topic would be extremely welcomed.

http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/management-and-discipline.htm
http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/establishing_behaviour_boundaries.htm

What's Important

Nick Levett, National Development Manager (Youth and Mini Soccer) at The Football Association has been traveling the length and breadth of the country presenting the FA's Youth Development Review which will hopefully change the future of grassroots football in England.

An important part of the review Levett presents looks at children's response to questions about the football they play and why they play it.

The image below is a slide taken from his presentation that asked children what is important to them. The results show interesting reading from top to bottom.

The Power Of Words

Just a few though-provoking and inspiring quotes that I often look back on to remind myself about the importance of being a good coach and teacher.

"A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are" 

"Players and parents need to know what a coach stands for, AND what he or she won't stand for"

"Kids don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care"

"Professional coaches measure success in rings. College coaches measure success in championships. High School coaches measure success in titles. Youth coaches measure success in smiles"