The Coach Diary Football Blog

Author: The Coach Diary

  • Dublin Futsal Academy Launches This Week

    Dublin Futsal Academy Launches This Week

    *****Press Release*****

    Dublin Futsal Academy Workshop:

    We are delighted to announce that the official launch of the Dublin Futsal Academy will take place on Friday 23rd January at IT Blanchardstown to coincide with its first training camp with guests from the Manchester Futsal Academy. The Friday night session will be from 6pm to 9.30p.m and will include an introduction to our guest coaches, an understanding of Futsal plus a question and answer session.

    The Saturday session takes place in Corduff Sports Complex from 1pm to 5pm (we know children may run late if they have games that morning). We are limiting places for this first camp so book early to guarantee a place.

    The price for the weekend camp is €40 per child.

    This will be the first in a number of new initiatives that the Dublin Futsal Academy will be introducing during the year and we had made contact with a number of other international academies which we will be working with.

    About Dublin Futsal Academy

    Alan Doyle & Mick Noonan went over to the UK to visit a number of clubs and got access to training sessions and spoke with academy directors on how to improve the chances of Irish boys in getting a trial/contract with a pro club in the UK or Europe. (They have met and formed relationships with a number of premiership and championship clubs). All these clubs were very helpful and have welcomed us back in the future. The constant mantra was that Irish kids don’t get enough ‘contact time’ with a ball. The average 12yr old boy at an academy in the UK will be getting at least 12 hours a week football which is 4 times as much as an Irish boy. They also do homework every-week and have assessments every month.

    English FA

    From this research week in the UK we learned that we need to up the amount of contact time with the ball in Ireland. We sat down and decided that through Futsal this can be achieved. Using BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT FOOT and perfecting the basics of receiving and passing the ball along with mastering tricks and techniques that will help you get out of tight situations along with over 75% contact time.

    Following on from this we went over to the English FA’s – A Catalyst for Change. A 2 day Futsal seminar held in the beautiful St Georges Park, the English FA’s headquarters. They are pushing Futsal to all the grass roots clubs. Over the weekend they had Futsal displays on their state of the art Futsal pitch and included talks by ex players both club and international English and European players along with the Spanish manager who won the Futsal World Cup. Over 200 people attended the Futsal conference over the weekend with us being the only two representatives from Ireland.

    As a result of our trip the UK Futsal academy have requested to play an Irish u12 team and u14 team. The Manchester Futsal coming over to Dublin this week to run a week-end seminar. They have also invited our club over to a 4 Nations tournament in Manchester in August this year. The English FA helping out also with coach education. This is only the start of what we are hoping will be a major change in Irish Schoolboy football development.

    Futsal

    As you are aware we having been piloting the Futsal Academy over the past number of weeks and we are delighted with the positive feed-back and interest that it has raised. Futsal is about teaching your child new skills and confidence that they can also utilise in the more competitive 11 a side leagues. The surface, ball and rules create an emphasis on;

    • Improvisation;
    • Creativity;
    • Technique;
    • Ball control;
    • Passing in small spaces;
    • Repetition;

    These are some of the skills that are sadly being lost in the grass game. The combination of small working groups and qualified coaches will offer your child to develop their skills in a friendly environment. We have attached a link which outlines a comprehensive booklet of the benefits of Futsal released by the FA and includes a list of the world’s top professionals who have progressed through Futsal.

    Booklet: Benefits of Futsal English FA

    We are not competing against your DDSL, SDFL OR NDSL teams, what we are offering are additional ball time and an opportunity to develop new skills that will supplement your child’s game development. Places are strictly limited as we are focusing on the quality of the time that our coaches can give the children. We have included an itinerary for the week-end along with a brief resume of the coaches.

    This is the promo video from the recent Euro 2014 Championships

    About Manchester Futsal Academy 

    Simon Wright – Chairman and Co-founder of Manchester Futsal Club

    • Formed the club in 2006
    • Responsible for all club development plans and strategic partnerships
    • FA Small Sided and Futsal Project Manager 2010-13.
    • Football Development Officer Liverpool FA and Manchester College

    Ilya Ovechkin – Head of Youth Coaching/1st Team Player/Co-founder of Manchester Futsal Club

    • 15 years of playing experience from youth to Adult in Russia and England
    • 7 years coaching Futsal with Manchester Futsal Club – FA Futsal Level 1 qualified
    • Responsible for management and development of the Manchester Futsal Club Youth Programme
    • 120 players currently registered across Manchester Futsal Club Development Centres and Youth Academy programme.

    Chris Vernon – First Team Strength and Conditioning Coach/Youth Coach

    • Responsible for developing and delivering all Strength and Conditioning programmes for the club
    • Studying Futsal Specific Strength and Conditioning at Manchester Metropolitan University
    • Qualified Personal Trainer at City Football Academy
    • Youth Coach for Manchester Futsal Club.

    Jordan Parker – First Team GK at Manchester Futsal Club and England Futsal Goalkeeper

    • Former academy player at Everton FC, Blackburn FC and Carlisle FC.
    • Made his full debut for the England National Futsal team against aged 19 against Latvia in the recent UEFA Futsal EUROs preliminary round qualifiers friendly fixtures
    • Part of the England squad travelling to Malta to play in the UEFA Futsal Euros against Malta, Andorra and Latvia w/b 12 January
    • Signed for Manchester Futsal Club in the 2014/15 season

    Twitter: @MFC_Futsal

    Facebook: ManchesterFutsal

    If you require further information please contact Alan at dublinfutalacademy@gmail.com or 085 2271799

    -END

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  • RESPECT: Cork Schoolboy League

    RESPECT: Cork Schoolboy League

    The Cork Schoolboy League are getting serious on Sideline Behaviour. Over recent months Eddie Doyle Hon.Secretary of the League has been sending out notices to his members on the marked deterioration of the behaviour of adult mentors and spectators.

    Taken from an email send out in November, Eddie wrote,

    “Not a weekend goes by without reports of conflict between mentors and referees, mentors and opposing players, spectators and opposing players and, even between spectators and spectators.

    The Management Committee of the Cork Schoolboys League will view all such incidents with the utmost seriousness  – particularly in cases of verbal/physical abuse of players.

    The Management Committee wishes to remind all adults involved in our games that the players are children – and we all have a duty of care towards them.

    Clubs in membership of the Cork Schoolboys League are fully responsible for the actions of their appointed officials and for the actions of their supporters.

    You, as secretary, are requested to inform all adults involved in the running of your schoolboys teams that:

    1. Any team official found to have verbally abused match officials will serve a suspension from all football activities.
    2. Any team official found to have abused/threatened a schoolboy player will serve a lengthy suspension and incur a substantial fine for the relevant club.
    3. Any finding of aggressive/threatening behaviour by parents/supporters will result in a substantial fine and/or further sanctions (points deduction, team suspension or expulsion) for the relevant club.

    It is the view of the Cork Schoolboys League that there can be no excuse for any instance of an adult official/spectator threatening or abusing an underage player. Please treat the above as an official warning from the Cork Schoolboys League”.

    -end of Email

    This week another email was sent out to members reiterating the message from the previous email:

    “Following on from our email below on November 2 the CSL is initiating a respect programme which we would expect all clubs to note carefully. We will be using the FA Respect videos and the message is very clear in each video.

    We will use the news section of the website www.corkschoolboysleague.ie and the CSL twitter @corksl to publish the respect videos. The first video has been uploaded on the website and twitter today.

    Please advise all your players,coaches, parents and supporters of this initiative”.

    -end of email.

    As you know I welcome any initiative that is going to keep spectators on the sidelines of youth sports in check. I still feel that leagues in Dublin and around Ireland are still not doing enough and although many got involved with the Silent Sideline weekends, it’s important that we carry that message into each and every weekend.

    Let’s not forget these are children and not adults. They play for fun. We are in the ‘development zone’ and not the entertainment zone!

    End of Article

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  • Merry Christmas Everyone!!

    Merry Christmas Everyone!!

    Wishing all our subscribers a very Merry Christmas and more Success & Happiness for 2015. Thank you for all your contributions in 2014. I personally have learnt so much from you and I hope you have learnt from the content on The Coach Diary.

    I have more plans for 2015 and will certainly continue my education in the field of Children and how they learn, play & develop. This will allow me to provide you with some more amazing content for your own development.

    Things to look forward in 2015: 

    Also

    • Podcasts with coaches from around Ireland and the world;
    • More Video content: game related exercises;
    • and much more……

    Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year, enjoy the break and see you all in 2015!!!

    – End

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  • Futsal: Saints & Scholars

    Futsal: Saints & Scholars

    Saints and Scholars Futsal Club was established in March 2014, due to the need for a Futsal team in South Dublin.

    Main Objective: Create a strong Futsal team and to further promote the Futsal game in South Dublin and all over Ireland.

    The team is under the guidance of Martin Perciavalle with the assistance of Sebastian Perciavalle. Involved since 2009 in Irish Futsal, Martin as a coach and Sebastian, first as a player and now a days, a successful GK Futsal coach.

    They have recently helped Ireland to qualify for the European Deaf Futsal Cup, held in Bulgaria, November 2014.

    “In our academy players will get a minimum of 1000 touches per training session”.

    They are looking to be the leaders in the development of well-rounded Futsal players. They are currently looking for players from u12s upwards.

    Kids will have an opportunity to feed into the representative teams of Football in Dublin and/or their own Senior futsal team (currently playing the Emerald Futsal League in it’s rookie year).

    Saints & Scholars values:

    • Education
    • Sportsmanship
    • Hard Work
    • Dedication
    • Integrity
    • Professionalism

    I spoke recently to head coach Martin Perciavalle, “In our academy players will get a minimum of 1000 touches per training session, resulting in players improving techniques such as dribbling, passing and close control at an accelerated rate……..Also players will be more accurate with their passing as opposed to just kicking the ball wildly off a wall as what happens in astro. The good thing is, there is no Futsal League for these age groups, therefore, we can really focus on developing players, having fun and enjoining the game”.

    Details:

    You can take a look at Irish National League ‘Emerald Futsal League” 

    If any other clubs want to promote their academies please get in touch. Promoting Futsal and getting the youngsters playing at a young age, will have huge benefits in the future. Let’s continue to promote this wonderful game.

    End

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  • Psychology: Key Factors in Sport

    Psychology: Key Factors in Sport

    This following post is from an info-graph constructed by Ohio University’s Online Master in Coaching Education program. It visualised the ten ways psychology affects athletic performance.

    Sports is not just about the thrill or the love for the game—it is about an opportunity for an athlete to discover his limits and push himself further, to challenge himself and excel. Although athletes are arguably different from the rest of us, there are factors that help them make the transition from great to outstanding.

    Find out what these factors are and how they contribute to the overall conditioning of the best athletes in the world.

    1. Being Aware

    The best athletes are aware of their physical, mental and emotional states. From time to time, in the middle of practice or the game itself, an athlete must be able to “check in” and determine his or her level of preparedness and ability to perform. Looking inwards helps create awareness of important changes and modifications that need to be made. Awareness is a critical part of an athlete’s preparation to achieve a peak mental state. At this level, an athlete maintains better control at eliminating distractions and thoughts that have a negative impact on their performance.

    2. Maintaining a Routine

    There is a reason why athletes perform the same sequence of actions over and over again—to establish a routine. A routine is a way for an individual to develop what is known as muscle memory, which is a series of movements that have become familiar to the individual through repetition and frequent practice. A routine can also build condition responses, in which an athlete is able to perform a movement or action automatically. A routine, whether it is through physical, mental or emotional training, will help eliminate guesswork during an event, such as in a competition.

    3. Setting Goals

    A goal helps create a sense of direction and anticipation in an athlete and it can also be a good reference point when comparing progress during training. The key to successful performance in sports is being able to set specific and measurable goals that present a challenge, thereby creating a sense of fulfilment with each completion.

    4. Visualising

    Visualising a challenge or a problem is an important step in problem solving. Visualisation involves making a mental picture of a desired outcome to help in improving focus, confidence and calmness. It also helps identify any potential risks, challenges and negative outcomes so that the athlete is better prepared by either preventing the problem or finding a solution for it.

    5. Self-Talk

    Although they may have access to some of the best trainers and equipment, sports athletes only have themselves to rely on when the time comes to perform. One of the key factors that help them maintain their focus is self-talk—specifically, instructional self-talk. This type of self-conditioning trains the athlete to instruct himself about the specific steps he has to make to achieve a certain outcome. He could, for example, say something like, “Focus on the target… Breathe slowly… Raise the left elbow…” etc. Doing so helps the athlete work through the routine and motivates him at the same time.

    6. Relaxation

    Sports athletes utilize different ways to relax. They may, for example, turn to sleep, massages, deep breathing, music and meditation to help them manage stress and fatigue, improve their focus, recharge and visualize.

    7. Concentration

    Concentration allows a sports athlete to focus on the specific tasks that need to be done, from the starting position they make to their desired end result. The more focused an athlete becomes, the better he will be at doing what he does.

    8. Developing Confidence

    Sports athletes who have confidence in what they can do are far better at performing at the top of their game than athletes who are fearful, anxious or stressed. Knowing that they can rely on their athletic abilities makes them much more committed and focused, with better control of themselves.

    For sports athletes, confidence is developed gradually over the years and is often a combination of many factors, including self-esteem, external support, reinforcement, reward, and perception. In some cases, even some harmless superstitious beliefs can make a difference. Athletes are either extrinsically or intrinsically motivated but either way are more likely to perform at their best.

    9. Maintaining Flow Mindset

    A flow mindset is a state where an individual attains heightened calmness, focus and confidence. Most athletes call achieving this state as “being in the zone”. Most athletes develop this gradually, then learn how to maintain it for a more successful performance.

    10. Control

    Control allows sports athletes to maintain balanced emotions and use what excites and triggers them in a positive way. Although they are acutely aware of potentially negative factors that may affect their game, they are able to control how they react and remain committed to their goals.

    -end

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  • Podcast 1: Catalan FA setting up in Dublin

    Podcast 1: Catalan FA setting up in Dublin

    Last week I caught up with Albert Vinas (Catalan FA), Colum Barron (Director/Head coach) & David Berber (Director of Operations) and we spoke about their Catalan Elite Football Academy opening 2015.

    https://soundcloud.com/thecoachdiary/albert-vinas-catalan-elite-football-pod-cast-1

    – End

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    Thanks for reading. I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary

  • What’s really important is getting better, NOT WINNING!

    What’s really important is getting better, NOT WINNING!

    Let’s be honest a child would rather get better at what they are doing, than focus on winning all the time. Winning is not really that important. Here are some of the things that aren’t really important and winning is one of them:

    • Being “better” then someone else on your team, is NOT REALLY IMPORTANT;.
    • Playing with the A from a young age is NOT REALLY IMPORTANT;
    • Being the starter or the best player on the team is NOT REALLY IMPORTANT;
    • Trying to score all the goals is NOT REALLY IMPORTANT;
    • Making sure you play in the same position every week is NOT REALLY IMPORTANT.

    So you might ask, if all those things aren’t REALLY important.

    What is REALLY important?

    Psychologist like Dr. Goldberg say it’s WHO you are and HOW you are in the process of the competition. That is the most important thing about playing sports.

    Things like:

    • Having CHARACTER;
    • Being a TEAM PLAYER;
    • LIFTING the level of your teammates’ play;
    • Being HONEST & TRUSTWORTHY;
    • Playing FAIR;
    • Pursuing EXCELLENCE and WORKING HARD in everything you do;
    • Being a LEADER, regardless of whether you are the captain or not;
    • Meeting both VICTORY & DEFEAT with dignity and grace;
    • Being a great ROLE MODEL;
    • Interacting with all others with RESPECT.

    I would also say:

    • Being POSITIVE towards your teammates;
    • Working HARD to HELP out;
    • PREPARING properly for training and the game;
    • Being ON TIME;
    • Eating the right FOODS;
    • Getting the right amount of SLEEP;
    • Being HYDRATED;
    • DOING YOUR BEST for the team regardless of what position you are asked to play in.
    • NEVER GIVE UP, even when you’re losing;
    • Every-time you play is an opportunity to GET BETTER;
    • PLAYING on your own;
    • and playing with a SMILE!

    This is what is REALLY IMPORTANT in sports!

    -End

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