The Coach Diary Football Blog

Author: The Coach Diary

  • Excellent coaching site and Blog

    Excellent coaching site and Blog

    Tim Wareing holds his UEFA European A licence & has over 10 years of coaching experience. Living in Belfast, Northern Ireland, former Academy Director of Lisburn Distillery Football Club in the Irish Premier League.

    “The purpose of his site is to bring all his sessions and data together to assist fellow coaches & managers. Whether you coach in school, or Academy or you’re a parent coaching your child’s team you will find lots of great coaching ideas, drills and some excellent posts on grassroots football.

    Click on link below to bring you direct to Tim’s site

    http://www.trainingsoccer.org/

  • Ronaldo Can score in the Dark

    Ronaldo Can score in the Dark

    I love this video, its brilliant!

    [media id=18]

  • Irish Kids disappoint the worlds best Academy coaches..

    Irish Kids disappoint the worlds best Academy coaches..

    The reality is that our kids are far less superior to our Iberian neighbours and why? Well the game in Europe is age appropriate and the focus is to develop the kids technically, allowing more touches of the ball and encouraging them to express themselves by taking risks and being spontaneous. They want the kids to enjoy the game and play with a smile, be flamboyant, take the players on….Dribbling is taught at a very earlier age and always encouraged.

    Encourage more touches

    Kids begin learning with smaller size balls; when I lived in Portugal we played and trained with size 2 and size 3 balls (in our spare time we played with a Futsal or Olympic handballs) all the time. Using smaller size balls allows kids to get a feel for the ball and its much easier to control with both feet.It’s also much easier to master a skills. Bigger footballs are heavier and harder to control for younger kids. Futsal has a huge part to play in this country and every child taking up football or Soccer should really begin with Futsal. Kids need to be learning and developing in the game with small sided games, i’e. 3v3s, 4v4s  or 5v5s etc

    Currently our focus is results driven, leagues, cups, top goal scorer, getting the ball forward and playing bigger kids over the smaller more technical and why? Well to win of course…..!

    Why do we have an All Ireland competition for 9 and 10 year old’s…totally daft???!!! 

    What they said!

    This year 3 FCBarcelona coaches, 1 Sporting Club de Portugal Coach, 1 Sporting Braga Coach and Horst Wein to name a few all had the opportunity to watch Irish kids of various ages and abilities and they all expressed the same concerns, Irish kids are not intelligent (Game intelligence) and technically very poor.. “They weren’t able to take instructions in and could not understand the basis of a very simple phase of play”

    I don’t blame the kids, the blames lies with SFAI, The leagues, FAI, The Coaches. The fact is we have leagues at such a young age and this takes the focus from away from developing over winning. Something that could so easily be rectified with a board meeting. We don’t have enough qualified coaches working at the youngest age groups. Although we have some of the best surfaces and facilities in Europe and much better than facilities local clubs in Brazil, Spain or Portugal and out kids are provided with the best equipment and enthusiastic coaches (who give up their time for no pay) in most cases.

    We are not making the most of these beautiful GREEN pitches we have all over Ireland. With these surfaces, its a shame we don’t encourage and coach total football, like our European neighbours. We still look to England for solutions, which we won’t find in a hurry as they themselves are looking towards the Bay of Biscay.

    The Leagues

    If you look at our league structures they are solely focused on winning and fast tracking kids to the adults game of 11v11 players on full sized pitches and what has this done for developing kids in Ireland? Well, not much, we are producing less kids every year for the English market. Yeah we still get the handful that go across the water but as research has shown its not long before they return home.

    A recent report stated in an average year, 50 young Irish footballers are contracted to play with British clubs. But according to a recent study carried out by the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), 85% subsequently fail to make the grade as professional footballers.

    In May I spoke to the coordinator of the SSG of one of Dublin’s biggest leagues, I asked why are we playing competitive leagues as such a young age  and why 11v11 at age 11 even 12? (which is still pretty much the case, we just moved the age group).  I was astonished to hear the negative attitude of this person, he/she was more concerned with the response of what the big DUBLIN clubs would do if changes were made. Not to my surprise, they showed no concern for the kids or even expressed an opinion of youth development.

    We have come along way, but we still have a long way to go….. we’ll get there…one day. Its never to late to make change. The changes are coming but when the game is run by volunteers don’t expect things to happen quickly. Finance will have a big part to play if we are to see nation attitude change towards developing young kids. A player centred approach is what is required from bottom to top.

    Some interesting Stats: 

    • On average 50 kids go to England every year, 18 sign contracts
    • 94% who are good enough to get deals with an English club, don’t get as far as a second contract.
    • 75% come home and never play at League of Ireland level.
    • Liverpool Academy stated: 98% of players who are taken in by the English academy fall out by the time they are 18
    • Only 0.021% of u21’s players currently playing in the Barclays u21 league will make it to the premier league.
    • 10% of players in premier league academies make it to the professional game.
    • Over 4000 registered pros in the UK.
    • PFA estimate Over 700 kids released every year by English clubs as per Oshor Williams of the PFA’s education department, which offers support and training to prepare them for a life outside professional football. Of those entering the game aged 16, two years down the line, 50% will be outside professional football. If we look at the same cohort at 21, the attrition rate is 75% or above.
    • There are about 297 former professional footballers currently in prison. 150 young offenders 147 adults
    • Most are under 25 and around 87% sentenced for drugs offences.
    • 40% of pro footballers go bankrupt within five years of leaving the game.
    • 33% divorced with a year of retirement.

    There are 12,500 players in the English academy system, but only 0.5% of under-nines at top clubs are likely to make it to the first team. There are also suggestions that drop-out rate in football is similar to other sports, such as rugby union, which can lose 76% of players between the ages of 13 and 16.

    Sources ( XPRO,BBC Sport and The PFA)

    -End

    I always like to hear your opinions. Please comment below or email me info@thecoachdiary.com If, you don’t have anything to add then please forward this on to a friend. Thanks for reading. I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary

  • What makes a Champion?

    What makes a Champion?

    Champions come in all ages and sizes. My best friend was a champion. My cousin was a champion. Many I worked with are champions. Many of you who are reading this are champions. Children become what they learn in most cases. And if wer’e lucky, they also learn what they’re taught. But children learn the most by doing!

    The key word here is children. The earlier we begin to teach our little ones correct principles, the more likely that they will grow up living these principles. They will seldom grow apart from them. Their Brains are like sponges, soaking up every little bit of information we teach them.

    The single most important thing to teach children is to believe in themselves. This is the foundation of every champion.

    Appreciation

    Todays society is severly lacking in appreciation. Children will not become little champions if they are not taught to appreciate. Think of all the things that warrant appreciation.

    • Family
    • Health
    • Food
    • Roof over their head
    • Friends
    • Teachers
    • Animals
    • Nature
    • Planet
    • God
    • Pocket Money
    • Clothing
    • Football Coach
    • Equipment
    • Facilities
    • Transportation…the list goes on and on.

    Make every teachable moment count

    ” You yourself must be teachable if you are to teach” – Audrey Hunt

    Humility is being teachable. We can be confident, knowledgable, intelligent and still be humble.

    Real champions have humility and are teachable. They set high standards for themselves. When they fail (and they do), they pick themselves up and begin again. A  piano student once asked his teacher how many times must I practice, the answer is always the same – ” until you get it right.” The same goes for any sport and including football.

    I encourage all kids to become champions, I push them to better themselves and I would always encourage them to give it their all, leave nothing at home. They are not doing it for me they become the best for themselves and no-one else.

    “It doesn’t matter how many times we are given good advice, it won’t help us one bit if we do not have a teachable spirit”

    Are you up to it?

    If you can answer yes to the following questions, you then can be sure you are teachable and in return able to teach your children.

    • Do I admit it when I’m wrong?
    • Do I become defensive when I’m criticised?
    • Am I open to new ideas?
    • Do I ask questions?
    • Am I a good listener by listening more than talking?
    • Do I have self-discipline?
    • Do I give up easily?
    • Do you bring out the best in others?
    • Am I self-serving?

    There is no greater calling than that of a teacher/coach. Teacher, coaches can influence peoples lives the most. Some children, its all they have and these people can make someone feel loved and accepted, when no one else did.

    Being a teacher/coach with the right intentions is one of the greatest gifts children can receive..being one with the wrong intentions can literally crush a child!

  • Braga are back in town

    Braga are back in town

    Hugo Vicente the Academy Director of Sporting Club De Braga is in town this weekend where he will be putting on a Portuguese style session at St. Francis football club. I’m looking forward to meeting him and brushing up on my Portuguese. Will be interesting to hear his opinions on the technical level of Irish kids compared to Portuguese boys and girls.

    Braga are the 4th biggest club in Portugal behind Porto, Benfica and Sporting.

    Sporting Clube de Braga is commonly known as Sporting de Braga or simply Braga. They play at the AXA Stadium which is also known as ‘The Quarry’ or the ‘Tool Box’. This is due to the design where the stadium is built inside a Quarry with cables attaching the 2 main stands. The ground was built for UEFA Euro 2004 and cost less then 60 million euros to built. In fact is cost 333million to build 7 new stadia and 77million to upgrade 3 more compare to 410 million it took to build the Aviva.

    Braga

    had been known as Arsenal do Minho and changed their kits from green and white hoops to their Arsenal style red in 1935. This is due to their coach, Jozsef Szabo, visiting and watching Arsenal at the old Highbury ground.
    The emblem of Sporting de Braga is the city of Braga’s shield with Mother Mary and baby Jesus. On the top of the emblem is the golden Mural Crown of Braga, with the name Sporting Clube de Braga on it. Many fans of Braga have said that Mother Mary gives them luck. The Braga fans are known as “Arsenalistas”

    Hugo comes to Ireland through DBSportsTours in conjunction with twsports

  • New Rules for Kids Football in Stockholm

    New Rules for Kids Football in Stockholm

    Some weeks ago the Stockholm football federation announced a new set of rules that will quite dramatically change how football is experienced by children under the age of 14. The package of rules comes into effect in 2012 and clubs not signing up to them will be unable to receive certification to play in the Stockholm football leagues.

    The Rules

    have been drawn up according to the findings of a lengthy survey of coaches and perhaps more importantly, players. The announcement has not so far received a great deal of coverage, but there must be at least some concern in the boardrooms and boot rooms of the bigger clubs.

    There are four main criteria in the certificates, one concerns communicating the aims of the new football strategy to players and parents and another aims to further the zero tolerance campaign aimed at eliminating abusive language and behaviour.

    The two new rules the clubs must promise to adhere to are:

    1. No poaching until 14. Clubs will no longer be able to approach and recruit players aged under 14 that are registered with other clubs.
    2. There will be a “start guarantee” for players in matches. All players must sometimes be in the starting line-up and all substitutes must play. To help ensure this, there will only be three substitutes allowed in 7-a-side matches.

    A further significant change is not one they can sign up to, it will be imposed upon them by the organisers of the St Erik’s Cup (the Stockholm football league structure), it is that:

    • There will no longer league tables for under 12s. Only when 11-a-side is played at age 13.

    I imagine clubs are already working out fairly obvious ways around the laws: How to let players and their parents know it might be a good time to contact a certain bigger club themselves to enquire about a try out, for instance.

    Calculating league tables

    in-house so everyone involved knows how they are faring. And I guess the leagues will still be divided into “Easy”, “Medium” or “Difficult”, as they have been in lower ages until now.
    Substitution rules only affect those actually summoned to the match, hopefully there will be self-regulation ensuring that all players in a squad get a fair share of call-ups.

    Of course, we will have to wait for a season or more to be able to properly evaluate the effects. I guess they will one day hope to measure a reduced drop-out rate amongst 11-13 year-olds. Bigger clubs may well warn that the more talented players will not get the dedicated training they need. While others will argue that having more players still playing the game at a later age will lead to a greater pool of players at the top end later: late-developers should be less likely to be lost for ever.

    The federation is offering a variety of training for club officials and trainers to help push the strategy forward. I feel optimistic that it will eventually lead to more children playing football with less pressure, for longer.

    Footblogball guest write Aidan Isherwood reported on this from Sweden

  • The Facts: Lay off the kids and let them enjoy the game

    The Facts: Lay off the kids and let them enjoy the game

    In an average year, 50 young Irish footballers are contracted to play with British clubs. But according to a recent study carried out by the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), 85% subsequently fail to make the grade as professional footballers.

    I don’t know about the rest of Ireland but it makes me laugh when I hear 11 years old being groomed for Clubs in the UK and told that they will be getting pro contracts when they turn 16…that 5 years away! Most player can change every 6 months not to mention that they still have to hit puberty. I wish some of these so called adults who are meant to be guiding this young and sometimes vulnerable kids would just back off and let the kids enjoy the game without the added pressure of trying to become a professional footballer. At the end of the day its all about money and the next best thing!

    The facts don’t lie and some of the most promising young footballers never even get a change at league of Ireland never mind the UK. Players should be focusing on developing themselves, learning the game and not trying to compete against a other team members or player from another club. Every young sports kid should be trying to better themselves both in sport, education and life.

    Expectations must be directly associated with the age and maturity of the child, to often we are asking our players to do things that fully grown men do and then we ridicule when they can’t perform they way the pros do. Unfair and difficult expectations bring possible negative results. ( failure). The child’s self esteem is built on his successes, not his or her failures.

    Some interesting Facts

    • In 2009 their were around 390 young players contracted to UK clubs and beyond
    • The main issues facing young players are homesickness, Injury, Career Advice (Or Not) and Disciplinary Issues.
    • Most players released by clubs are left out in the cold and generally have to sort out his or her own future.
    • A percentage do not return home to Ireland because they feel they will be perceived as failures.
    • 85% of all young players who sign  pro contract at 16 will not be playing their trade at that club when the turn 19. Many are forced to play non-league or look for a career outside of football.
    • Most have neglected their education and have little or no skills.
    • Trials are permitted but they must fall between the 14-16 age bracket and during certain times of the year
    • In 2010 the FAI players Support Service and High performance Units jointly hosted 2 information seminars for parents and guardians of players likely to pursue a pro career abroad. The first one was attended by 36 parents of players and the second 21 . In total 57 players.

    The facts don’t lie

    and we as coaches must not be filling children and parents head with false expectations. Most kids who make the grade, were never talked about at a young age and went under the radar right up until they made their professional debuts.

    Most of these players were late developers and had proper support and guidance by their parents, coaches and guardians at a very young age. They didn’t live with the pressures and expectations that some young talented kids have to live with.

    They receive encouragement in a consistent manner and were thought values thus allowing to develop confidence in themselves and do better in life.

    Research: UK Welfare Officer DFA Report