CONTENTS
- INTRODUCTION
- MAKING SURE YOUR PLAYERS ARE DEVELOPING
- KEEPING PARENTS ON BOARD
- NUTRITION GUIDES
- MOVING UP AN AGE GROUP
- TROUBLESHOOTING – WHAT IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG?
- PLAY-PRACTICE-PROGRESS-PLAY – THE THEORY BEHIND OUR
- SESSIONS
- AUTUMN SEASON – HIT THE GROUND RUNNING!
- WINTER SEASON – CHRISTMAS BREAK? TRAINING INDOORS?
- SPRING SEASON – FINISH STRONG!
- PERFORMANCE REVIEW
The end of international tournaments always marks the point at which coaches in the grassroots game start looking towards the coming season.
At my club, Altrincham JFC, the registrations process is well under way and we are also onboarding new volunteers and supporting them as they commence their coaching journey.
For those of us who’ve been through multiple seasons, the break is much needed, it gives us chance to reflect on the previous season and plan for the one ahead.
For the new coaches, there will be nerves and, as the first session approaches, those nerves will continue to grow. Even if, like me, you played the game into your 30s, stepping onto a pitch for the first time is a daunting experience. It’s made more nerve-wracking by the fact that typically new volunteers are working with the youngest (and in my experience, most challenging) age-groups.
I still remember my first session well. It was Louie Cordwell’s Ball Mastery and Turns session from The Coaching Manual. It was a disaster and I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to continue coaching because everything I thought I knew about the game was of very little value to the players in that first session.
Obviously, I didn’t quit, I sat down after the session and analysed it. I’d made a classic mistake. I’d tried to squeeze all 4 parts of the session into the slot we had available and I’d moved from practice to practice before the players had got it. Coaching Tip 1: Don’t put pressure on yourself to do all parts of a session, it’s better for you (and your players) if you spend longer on one part as long as they get it right!
We have since simplified the content for our earliest age groups, and that is what you’ll find in our 2024-2025 season plans. We borrowed an approach that we observed working brilliantly for our friends at Pro Football Academy in Manchester. A 3 or 4 part session based on Play-Practice-Play (or Whole-Part-Whole in oldspeak)