The Coach Diary Football Blog

Category: Irish Grassroots Football

  • Worth Every Bit of Your Time!

    Worth Every Bit of Your Time!

    Recent research suggest that the reason some kids don’t participate in sports is because they can’t move properly. Our kids are not moving enough and when they do, it’s not very much and it’s definitely not multi directional.

    Back pain is no longer just an issue amongst elder, more and more kids are suffering with lower back pain than ever before. Why, they are sitting for long periods of time from the minute they wake up; sitting in the car, to sitting all day in school, not allowed run in the yard and back in the car to sitting at home in front of the TV, computer or ipad. We are now facing the biggest ever obesity crises amongst children. We need to get out kids moving more!!

    PE is now the singular most important subject in schools today, yet schools treat it with disregard and put no value on it. The most important aspect in life, is your health. Without it, you can’t do very much.

    With this in mind I highly recommend these two post by Mark O’Sullivan from Footblogball.

    The Class of 2008

    This week I spoke with a parent who has an 8 year old in a sports club for the last 2 years. His son will this month go on “trials” for that clubs academy! They train 3-4 times a week. I asked him about the training they were doing (lots of isolated technique) and the criteria for being selected for the academy. I can only conclude that the club in question has a talent identification system based on some bizarre blind chromosomal twist of faith where all the molecules land in perfect order for a natural talent to appear.

    Today a friend and I with some parents had our weekly Sunday morning fun football session. The kids are born 2008 and are full of creativity and joy. The families even bring their younger siblings who find it natural to kick/nudge/smash in to a football while sitting on a plastic car. Unfortunately there were no plastic cars in my size.

    One of the games we played was not planned but strictly off the cuff mainly inspired by the kids and their immediate environment. The 10 kids were a team in control of 4 footballs within a certain area. Then 3 adults were given the task of “taking” the 4 footballs from the 10 kids. After 3 minutes of much screaming and laughter we took a break and sat down together. We asked the kids “how many ways can you come up with to keep the 4 footballs away from the adults?”. One kid said “we can dribble with the ball” another said “we can turn away from you with the ball”. We said “there may be one more way”. Silence, some discussion then one kid says “we can pass the ball to each other”. It was a real eureka moment that brought great excitement as they tried to envisage how they would pass the ball to each other while helpless adults ran around chasing air. So we played on and the constant shouting of “pass, pass, pass” followed by laughter echoed around the whole area for the remainder of the game. These kids born 2008 had worked it out for themselves through play.

    Children are being influenced at a younger age to move from a natural “play” experience to an organised training experience. Imposing on them an adult version of the game where the sport is played for adult reasons (career, winning, making the team) with all the pressure it brings. This early movement to deliberate practice ignores the role of deliberate play in a child’s development and places more focus on extrinsic motivation. This implies that we do not understand that learning and development takes times. By rushing this we miss some great learning opportunities that may later be shown up as technical/ tactical/ cognitive deficiencies.

    “Today adults think that kids can only learn in adult organised environments ( school, organised sports) what is worse is that kids are starting to believe it”

    It is during adolescence that children need to take ownership of their own development. This ownership needs to be discovered and not forced upon them during childhood.

    With children there is no special goal or purpose to play. If children are allowed to discover the game at their own pace they will look for solutions to enable them to perform the skills they feel are necessary to play. Intrinsically motivated they fail and fail better. It is a world full of mistakes of no particular concern to them but mainly of no concern to you … Coach!

    Post Two

    Next up is, Lynn Kidman is a coach educator who since 1994 has been training coaches to inspire athletes and develop great human beings. Lynn has helped to develop several coaching education programmes which base their philosophy on athlete-centred coaching. Lynn has authored Developing Decision Makers: an empowerment approach to coachingand Athlete-centred Coaching: Developing inspired and inspiring people. She has also co-authored (with Stephanie Hanrahan), The Coaching Process: A guide to improving your effectiveness.

    Read On…

    Mark blog is FOOTBLOGBALL Follow Mark on Twitter @markstkhlm

    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

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  • Coach Diary Updates

    Coach Diary Updates

    By the time you get this email Dan will have landed in Dublin. Just in case you don’t know what I’m talking about, go here to find out > DAN ABRAHAMS.

    March has arrived and the Silent Sideline Weekend is upon us. If you haven’t sign up yet you still can. Packs are also available, however we have limited stocks. To find out more email support@silentsidelineweekend.com.

    Signed Up So far: Just to mention that many clubs from the KDUL, NDSL, CARLOW JUVENILE LEAGUE, METRO GIRLS LEAGUE are also supporting but haven’t entered their details into the system. However we know, the kids have their support. Please enter your club NOW! > Sign Up

    Ashbourne United, Ardee Celtic, Ballymun United, Blayney Academy FC, Blessington FC, Brookfield Celtic, Carlton and Rothwell Ginants JFC (UK), Cashel Town Schoolgirls, Castleknock Celtic FC, Castle Villa AFC, CarlowJuvenileLeague, Carrick United AFC, Coerver Coaching Munster, Cherry Orchard FC, Corofin United FC, DDSL (tbc), Douglas Hall AFC, Drogheda Town FC, Dunshaughlin Youths, East Meath United, Fettercairn YFC, Fingal County Council Sports, ISRS Dublin (Refs), Harolds Cross Y.C, Hartstown Huntstown FC, Howth Celtic, Jobstown Celtic, Kilbarrack United FC, Kildare League, Kitchener Soccer Club (Canada), Laytown United, Liffey Celtic Underage, Liffey Valley Rangers, Lusk United, Malahide United AFC, Metropolitan Girls League, Moyglas (TSSDL), Naas AFC, Nireas Paros FC (Greece), NorthDublinSchoolboyLeague, Nor’West Optimist Soccer (Canada), Peterhead BC Phoenix (UK), Palmerstown FC, Rivermeade FC, Rivervalley Rangers FC, SandyhillShangan, Shannon Hibernians, Shankill FC, Skerries Town FC, Strand Celtic FC (Sligo) St.Francis FC, St.Kevin’s Boys, St.Malachys, St.Pauls Artane, Terenure FC, Tipperary Town Ladies Soccer, Trim Celtic AFC, Wayside Celtic FC, Woodlawn Sportslink & Your club next…

    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

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  • Is your coaching relevant?

    Is your coaching relevant?

    One of the hardest things with coaching is to make sure your coaching is relevant. Relevant to the times and age specific. If your sending the players off on a run around a pitch, to warm up; then I can tell you that, you’re not relevant. What I mean by relevant, is relevant to the time; relevant to the wants and needs of those players.

    With kids having less and less contact with the ball, it’s important that you plan your session so that each player is challenged in a game like situation. There is a much better transfer of technique through playing in games and the physical conditioning is much more football-specific and intense in small-sided games. All players, especially young players enjoy playing games much more than line drills, which is hugely motivational. It’s in these types of games that kids develop, Game Intelligence; Perception; Understanding of the game and improve their decision making. All the things that will see a player develop over-time.

    “Time wasting, can equate to 11 extra hours of extra training over the course of a typical year”

    Too often kids are left running around a pitch with no ball or standing around with no ball. This type of training is not relevant to our times. Every player should have a ball or least chasing another one for it. If they say a pro player touches the ball on average, over 2 minutes in an 90 minute game, then it’s highly likely a youth player touches the ball far less. Last year I counted how many times each player touched the ball in an 11v11, u12s game. I was astonished to find, that each player touched the ball just over 16 times in an 60 minute match. Incredible, I know and I suggest you try this to see for yourself.

    “A common mistake among those who work in sport is spending a disproportional amount of time on “x’s and o’s” as compared to time spent learning about people.” – Mike Krzyzewski

    So, when you plan your sessions, make sure you’re relevant. Make sure each player has a ball and make sure each player is getting over 200 touches, per hour long training session. This should be the minimum. Most importantly make sure its FUN and make sure you’re having fun!

    One of the most important things to remember as a coach, is to provide your players with variety. Each session should be well prepared. Focus on one key thing that the players will learn from and keep with the times. Remember you’re teaching so they should be learning something.

    And finally…last week I was sent an article by a coach in the US and it contained an interesting thing about time wasting. This is what was said:

    At most practices, there’s an inevitable five-minute downtime — often disguised as a too-long water Break — while the coach scurries around to set the cones for the next activity. When Lepore (coach) finished a drill he merely asked players to remove a certain color of cone and they were ready to move on to the next activity with zero down time.

    “We often use a stopwatch in evaluating practices,” Lepore noted, “how long downtimes last, how long transitions are from one activity to the next. We try to measure how many touches, how many repetitions, how many of the players are involved.”

    The differences may seem trivial at first but efficiency is surely among the most significant determinants of success is how productive training is. Consider a coach who starts a practice exactly on time and transitions directly from activity to activity. Compared to a coach who starts 2 and half minutes after the designated time and takes just one minute to transition the difference will be almost 11 extra hours of extra training over the course of a typical year.

    At roughly six touches per minute that’s about 4,000 more touches. Add just one additional touch per minute by making things more efficient during running time — smaller groups with a ball; less time chasing lost balls; clearer directions followed the first time, and you add another 9000 touches per year, the equivalent of another 20-plus hours of training. —-END

    Time keeping is an essential part of quality coaching, use it wisely!

    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

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  • Are the players feeling unchallenged?

    Are the players feeling unchallenged?

    It’s a difficult time of year to keep your players motivated, all this bad weather means very few matches are being played.

    When you train so much (the journey) and then there is no outcome (the game) it can be hard for players to stay focused. I’m in this dilemma myself. When a players put so much into training and then week after week there is no end result, they can start to lose focus and feel disheartened.

    ‘Players loved to be challenged, if they are not being challenged they become bored’

    You could end up with players come to training lacking enthusiasm and some might not attend at all. When players know there is going to be no game at the weekend they will lose the desire to train and their attitude can shift as they are not being challenged enough.

    The game is the challenge; it is their opportunity to show you what they have learnt. All kids want to do, is play and when they’re not playing (the game) they can become disillusioned. We are dealing with a generation that don’t really understands what it’s like to be bored. Everything they do is organised, so being bored is not normal to them. That’s why we need to be prepared for times like this and the players also need to be prepared to challenge themselves and not fall into a bored state of mind. Ultimately it’s going to be you who challenges them.

    Here are a few things to focus on during these weeks:

    1. Make training FUN, you too might be feeling a little uninterested not having last weekends match points to work on. If you’re showing a lack of interest so will the players.
    2. Make sure training is challenging your players to think & make decisions at all times.
    3. Use the ball at all times.
    4. Make training game related and interesting.
    5. Use cognitive training methods to keep them focused and sharp. see Cogi Training.com 
    6. Leave time for a game at the end and for free play i.e. no conditions
    7. Put on an extra session at the weekend and try to use this time for games only. The best part of training is always the game towards the end.
    8. Organise friendlies with opposition teams, if you can get an 11 aside, there are plenty of SSG pitches, so why not play two 7v7 games at once. This way all the kids are playing and getting lots of touches, plenty goals and it’s more competitive than training.
    9. Use this time to assess your players, give them an evaluation of their session so far.
    10. If you didn’t take a break over Christmas and your feeling tired of seeing the same faces, hearing your voice – take sometime out. Take the week off; a break is good for everyone.

    I hope this helps and please comment below if you’re experiencing the same issues and tell me, what’s working for you?

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    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

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  • SFAI League Infighting Creating a lot of Collateral Damage

    SFAI League Infighting Creating a lot of Collateral Damage

    If you are a little confused about what’s going on with all the attention on the SFAI cup this year. This well scripted article explains a lot about what’s gone on. Here it is:

    Richard O’ Donovan discusses the current state of schoolboy soccer in Ireland, a topic that is very close to his heart.

     

    “Legitimacy is based on three things:

    1. The people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice – if they speak up, they will be heard;
    2. The law has to be predictable (i.e. it should be the same or similar from one year to the next);
    3. The authority has to be fair. It can’t treat one group differently from another.”

    Malcolm Gladwell (citing Tom Tyler, David Kennedy & Lawrence Sherman) in his new book David & Goliath

    The legitimacy of the rule making, or perhaps more accurately the rule administering of the FAI may about to be tested at the grass root level of Irish football, and yet despite its gravity, the story thus has largely been unreported across the country.

    As of this weekend (8th/9th February) 24 of the 25 qualifying teams (11 clubs) from the Cork region of the Schoolboy Football Association of Ireland’s (SFAI’s) National Cup Competitions will, as things stand ,refuse to fulfil their fixtures at the current stage of the competitions – the stage where the nation’s 8 regions begin to interact.

    If this turns out to be the Cork club’s decisions, the SFAI, will in almost all likelihood award the ties in question to the Lee sider’s respective opponents and in doing so, they will quickly seek to brush what has become an ugly episode in underage Irish football under the rug.

    However if this is what is actually allowed to happen, and no light is shone on the actions of those around the country who are supposed to be guiding and governing our young players then that would be a great injustice.

    For now we can still hope that an amicable solution will prevail before the impending fixtures arrive, but if things go as expected then at least we can hope that this shameful episode does not go under reported.

    Make no question, the conduct of the FAI as a whole should be in the spotlight here, this is not just a small issue to be dismissed.

    How we got here> CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

     

    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

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  • DCU Sports Coaching Masterclass Series

    DCU Sports Coaching Masterclass Series

    DCU Sports have a small number of places remaining on a unique series of sports workshops which will run over the next 6 weeks. This will fit in nicely with our own workshop with Sports Psychologist Dan Abrahams on Saturday March 8th.

    INTERESTED IN SPORTING SUCCESS, LEARNING FROM THE BEST?……

    DCU are pleased to announce their sporting masterclasses. These workshops have been designed to cover areas that have been shown to be of great value in performance sports settings yet aren’t traditionally covered in formal coaching qualifications. The workshops offer the opportunity to learn from highly successful coaches who are happy to share their own experiences, ideas and methods with aspiring coaches, sports scientists and interested parties. The format and content will be suitable for coaches and managers from all sporting backgrounds.

    Presenters include:

    A number of different contributors from various sports have been carefully selected to cover the areas chosen

    • Billy Walsh – European, World and Olympic medal winning boxing coach and leader of the Irish Boxing High Performance Unit. Former Coach of the Year
    • Jim Gavin – Manager to Dublin’s All Ireland winning football team
    • Liam Sheedy – Manager to Tipperary’s All Ireland winning hurling team
    • Gary Keegan – Irish Institute of Sport Chief and the coach responsible for developing the high performance unit of Irish Boxing
    • Rory Fitzpatrick – Coach to Annalise Murphy, Ireland’s recently crowned European Champion and Olympic sailor

    Dates – Each workshop has a different format and presenters:

    1. Wednesday 12 February 7.30-10pm
    2. Wednesday 26 February 7.30-10pm
    3. Wednesday 12 March 7.30-10pm

    Format:

    Each session will consist of two presentations delivered by highly experienced coaches/managers followed by a discussion forum at the end. There will be a short break between each session and refreshments will be provided.

    Booking only at – Cost €35 (for all 3 workshops): BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE

    Follow them on Twitter @DCUcoaching

    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

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  • Silent Sideline Weekend Update

    Silent Sideline Weekend Update

    The weekend is really taking shape now and I want to thank everyone for supporting the campaign and all those who have enquired about it to date. Like I mentioned before, a Silent Sideline Weekend has been tried and some have succeed but many have failed. I’m delighted to say that this weekend will not fail.  The reaction, the support and the media coverage has been incredible.

    Did you know that this will be the first time that an entire country is willing to get involved in a Silent Sideline weekend, which is pretty incredible when you think about it.

    Below you will find a list of clubs and league who have signed up so far. Included in the list are teams from the UK, Greece, US and Ireland of course. The response has been phenomenal and I couldn’t have expected such a commitment from clubs at such an early stage. So thank you all; your club members and players should be very proud.

    Who’s Signed Up so far:

    Ardee Celtic, Ballymun United, Blayney Academy FC, Castleknock Celtic FC, Castle Villa AFC, Carlow Juvenile League, Carrick United AFC, Coerver Coaching Munster, Cherry Orchard FC, Corofin United FC, East Meath United, DDSL, Douglas Hall AFC, Drogheda Town FC, Dunshaughlin Youths, Hartstown Huntstown FC, Kilbarrack United FC, Kildare League, Laytown United, Liffey Celtic Underage, Liffey Valley Rangers, Lusk United, Metropolitan Girls League, Nireas Paros FC, Peterhead BC Phoenix, Palmerstown FC, Naas AFC, NDSL, Malahide United AFC, Nor’West Optimist Soccer, Rivermeade FC, Shannon Hibernians, Shankill FC, St.Francis FC, St.Kevin’s Boys, St.Malachys, and Terenure FC with many more to be added in the coming days.

    Silent Sideline Weekend Packs

    In the coming weeks I will be sending out information and providing packs for clubs to purchase. The wristbands included in the packs, are priced at a very low cost to the clubs, in order to be re-sold at a higher price. A way to raise so much needed funds for your club. It is entirely up to each club if they wish to purchase the packs or not. You are under no obligation to do so. If you know of any other clubs who might be interested in getting involved please forward on this email.

    Included in the Packs are:

    • 100+ flyers
    • 50-200 Silent Sideline Wristbands
    • 2 Silent Sideline High Vis Vest
    • 1 Collection Box

    Please support the campaign to help improve participation in Youth Sports.

    1. Listen to the first interview about the SSLW by clicking on this link> ‘GAME ON’ 2FM 
    2. Midwest Radio >MidWest Radio Interview

    Another great Article by Mark O’Sullivan >Why do you do, what you do?

    Sign Up Now

    Weekend of 29th & 30th March 2014

    Fill out my online form.

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    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

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