The Coach Diary Football Blog

Category: Irish Grassroots Football

  • How I wish I could watch our u19s play LIVE on TV

    How I wish I could watch our u19s play LIVE on TV

    When it comes to soccer in this country, we fall well behind other nations promoting and supporting our teams.

    Under age and schools Rugby is shown on TV, GAA minors both boys and girls etc but when it comes to soccer you can’t even watch a International team compete in a European competition, unless you have satellite or pay for it on UEFA.COM.

    Go to any other European country and you can watch the national teams play on TV, whether it be u19s or senior and specially when one is competing in a international tournament.  I know for a fact that the other 7 nations in the UEFA u19s tournament will all have theirs games shown live on national TV or at least delayed coverage.

    FAI and RTE  should be promoting the fact that the u19s team are represenitng Ireland in a top UEFA competition today Wednesday 20th July KO 8pm.

    This is the perfect opportunity to promote a game that is falling behind other sports like GAA and Rugby; although still the most popular game but certainly not the best organised. Its times like these that could really give “the beautiful game” a much needed lift!

    All the best to the boys in Green, I’ll be watchin…somehow!

    Click on the link to meet the squad http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=101917&catid=4&Itemid=12

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  • How much exercise is enough?

    How much exercise is enough?

    When most adults think about exercise, they imagine working out in the gym on a treadmill or lifting weights. But for kids, exercise means playing and being physically active.

    Kids exercise when they have PE class at school, soccer training, or dance class.

    They’re also exercising on they’re breaks, riding bikes, or playing tag etc

    The Many Benefits of Exercise

    Everyone can benefit from regular exercise. Kids who are active will:

    Besides enjoying the health benefits of regular exercise, kids who are physically fit sleep better and are better able to handle physical and emotional challenges — from running to catch a bus to studying for a test.

    The Three Elements of Fitness

    If you’ve ever watched kids on a playground, you’ve seen the three elements of fitness in action when they:

    1. Run away from the kid who’s “it” (endurance)
    2. Cross the monkey bars (strength)
    3. Bend down to tie their shoes (flexibility)

    Parents should encourage their kids to do a variety of activities so that they can work on all three elements.

    Endurance

    is developed when kids regularly engage in aerobic activity. During aerobic exercise, the heart beats faster and a person breathes harder. When done regularly and for continuous periods of time, aerobic activity strengthens the heart and improves the body’s ability to deliver oxygen to all its cells.

    Parents need to ensure that their kids get enough exercise. So, how much is enough? All kids 2 years and older should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise on most, preferably all, days of the week.

    The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) offers expanded activity guidelines for infants, toddlers and preschoolers:

    Infants

    No specific daily requirements and physical activity should encourage motor development.

    Toddler

    At least 1 ½ Hours of exercise per day, with 30 minutes planned physical activity AND 60 minutes unstructured physical activity. (free play)

    Pre Schooler

    At least 2 hours exercise per day, consisting of 60 minutes planned physical activity AND 60 minutes unstructured physical activity. (free play)

    School Age

    Again 2 Hours minimum per day which can be broken into bouts of 15 minutes or more. Infants and young children should not be inactive for prolonged periods of time – no more than 1 hour unless they’re sleeping and school-age children should not be inactive for periods longer than 2 hours.

    Improving Kids Strength

    doesn’t have to mean lifting weights. Although some kids benefit from weightlifting, it should be done under the supervision of an experienced adult who works with them.

    But most kids don’t need a formal weight-training program to be strong. Push-ups, stomach crunches, pull-ups, and other exercises help tone and strengthen muscles. Kids also incorporate strength activities in their play when they climb, do a handstand, swing on the monkey bars or wrestle.

    Stretching exercises

    help improve flexibility, allowing muscles and joints to bend and move easily through their full range of motion. Kids look for opportunities every day to stretch when they try to get a toy just out of reach, practice a split, or do a cartwheel.

    The percentage of overweight and obese kids and teens has more than doubled over the past 30 years. Although many factors contribute to this epidemic, children are becoming more sedentary. In other words, they’re sitting around a lot more than they used to.

    According to recent study the average child is watching about 3 hours of television a day. And the average kid spends 5½ hours on all screen media combined (TV, videos and DVDs, computer time outside of schoolwork, and video games).

    One of the best ways to get kids to be more active is to limit the amount of time spent in sedentary activities, especially watching TV or playing video games.

    Combining regular physical activity with a healthy diet is the key to a healthy lifestyle.

    Here are some tips for raising fit kids:

    • Help your child participate in a variety of activities that are age-appropriate.
    • Establish a regular schedule for physical activity.
    • Incorporate activity into daily routines, such as taking the stairs instead of a lift.
    • Embrace a healthier lifestyle yourself, so you’ll be a positive role model for your family.
    • Keep it fun, so you can count on your child to come back for more.

    Kids enjoy sports more when its FUN!

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  • 2011-2012 Plan

    2011-2012 Plan

    I have been asked to re-post this, so here it is!

    Below is a plan I have drawn up for season 2011-2012. Communication is key to this working. Gather the information received from the players and parents and then draft based on what they say. Put it all in writing and hand it to each parent at your Pre-season meeting. Time spent with the parents will be a worthwhile exercise, quality time.

    Write your pledge about the playing time each player will get and those parents who want only the best to play can see in advance what your about. This will let everyone know where they stand. Remember breaks are important, so always schedule a break in the season. Playing soccer is just one part of a family life.

    Plan for season 2011-2012

    • Explain how the trials will work
    • Explain how the teams will be chosen to the players and parents.
    • Who will be in charge of evaluating the players?
    • New season is a clean slate for all players.
    • Players will be evaluated based on their overall season performance and their skills at the time of the trial not based on previous clubs, how much they have won or who their parents are.
    • Explain how playing time will be determined – Be specific – don’t just say everyone will play. Commit to giving each child at least half of every game and if a player doesn’t start a game then make sure he starts the next for example.
    • Defend how we play and develop versus long ball tactics and winning.
    • Move players around in positions, this will help them develop an understanding for the other positions on the pitch.

    Poll your Players

    • Ask the players what they want and need?
    • What is their favourite thing about playing football?
    • What is the least favourite?
    • How important is winning? 5 being extremely and 1 being not important
    • How important is it for you to play equal time versus minimum meaningful time?
    • Ask players for 5 ideas that will make training and games more fun?
    • Ask players to define what would be a successful season for him/her?
    • Do you play other sports?
    • Are thinking of taking up any other sports?

    Poll the Yourself

    • Why did you sign up to coach a team?
    • What is your favourite thing about coaching?
    • What is your least favourite?
    • How will you organise the team?
    • How do you define a successful season?

    Poll your Parents

    • How many training sessions per week do you think is sufficient?
    • How many games per week?
    • Is there anything we should know or understand about your child?
    • How do you define a successful season?
    • What days suits you for training
    • Any further comments or issues?

    The Plan

    You may be surprised at some of the Answer you get, including yourself!

    Gather the information received from players and parents and daft a plan for your team for the season ahead.

    • Put your plans, commitments, in writing – your pledge.
    • Make a copy for everyone and set up a pre season meeting. Time spent with the parents will be a worthwhile and essential.
    • Write a pledge that states clearly how playing time will be divided. Write that everyone will get a minimum amount of minutes, it will keep things honest.
    • The parents that want to play the “best” can see in advance what you’re about and how the team will be played. The parents that want everyone to play “everyone the same” can see where you stand.
    • Explain how places will be defined, I know this can be difficult, the better you plan in advance and commit on paper, the better off you will be during the season. This helps to take personalities and politics out of the picture.

    After reviewing the survey explain to players and parents..

    • How many training sessions per week, how long each practice will be?
    • How many weeks the season will last.
    • Plans for post season tournaments, trips etc?
    • Players and parents to get days off during the season. Breaks, rest , family time is just as important.  Lets players and parents know that organised football is a small part of a balanced family life. Parents may have other kids to keep happy.
    • Be clear about what you expect from the parents and players.
    • State rules for missing training or games, what the procedure is to notify the coach (the need to know in advance) and what the consequences are for missing training and games.
    • What players get suspended for and the reason why they might be asked to sit-out a match.
    • Being good in School can bring rewards.
    • Define your overall ethos and coaching methods.
    • Communication is key, but you don’t need to get personal with parents. Getting to personal makes it harder if you ever have to release a player.

    The Meeting

    Invites players and all parents along to the meeting, don’t complicate things. Parents are about to place their child in your hands, the least they can do is get to know you a little and know what you’re about. At least one parent on any child should attend the meeting.

    1. You’re number one aim should be to let parents know that primarily kids should be having fun.
    2. It’s also a good ice breaker
    3. It also reminds parents how much they know and don’t know about the game.
    4. It should stop all that screaming and shouting at kids on the sidelines.
    • Allow about 20 minutes for your talk.
    • Then take questions until there are no more.

    Good Luck and remember its just a game..

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  • Horst Wein

    Horst Wein

    The Horst will be in Ireland next weekend kicking off on Friday 22nd July @ 7pm at Portmarnock Sport and Leisure Club. Other venues TBC

    If your club or league is interested in hosting this amazing coach please get in touch ASAP.

    Mr Horst Wein will introduce his world renowned YOUTH FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT MODEL.

    Portmarnock Sports and Leisure Centre (PSLC) (Top of Carrick Hill Road, Portmarnock).

    Friday 22nd July

    7.15pm to 10.00pm

    Registration from 6.50pm

    €10 per person

    OR

    Saturday 23rd July

    10.15am to 1.00pm

    Registration from 9.45am

    €10 per person

    Youth Development

    The IRISH YOUTH FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT MODEL has been designed by perhaps the world’s foremost mentor of football coaches, Horst Wein. The contents of his books, some published by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, since 1985 have changed the game at youth level in many Spanish clubs and are now taught in 53 countries of the four continents to more than 11 500 coaches. Horst was Head Coach of Nike FC in the UK from 2000-2003 and has consulted at such top clubs around the world as Arsenal, Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, Villareal, Peñarol Montevideo, Leeds Utd, Schalke O4, Pachuca, America and Pumas from México.

    He also cooperated with the United Nations in a project to use the game of football as a school of life for excluded children in South America. He is the author of 35 sports text books, some of them translated in 8 languages and the world’s first ever multimedia book in football coaching.

    His model gives also the answers to the big dilemma that all youth coaches face every weekend: How do I develop all the young players in my care to the maximum of their potential, when I am constantly put under pressure from their parents and the football administrations which encourage more winning games and leagues instead of favouring long term development ?

    Experts and officials are commenting since a decade the lack of creative talent in Irish football. To overcome this, Horst with his different vision of developing young football players, proposes the answers and will explain and demonstrate them practically and theoretically in his taster sessions in Ireland this weekend.

    The taster sessions serve as an appetizer for his main clinic on 30th September to the 2nd October in Dublin: Developing Game Intelligence in Football

    Brought to you by The Beautiful Game

    Attached link is an interview Horst did with an Indian Radio station last May.

    Horst on Indian Radio podcast

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  • Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill creativity?

    Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill creativity?

    Worth posting and certainly worth 20 minutes of your time.

    [media id=16]

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  • Pre-Season Training

    Pre-Season Training

    Verheijen has been a member of the coaching staff of the national teams of the Netherlands, Russia and South Korea, has been at 3 world cups and 3 Euros. He has also worked with a number of European club sides, including Barca, Zenit, and Chelsea and Man City. He has also been a personal fitness coach to Craig Bellamy.

    Verheijen was appointed to the position of Assistant Manager to the Wales in February 2011, is a primarily a fitness coach, Verheijen has publicly criticsed the training methods of a number of English teams, such as London-based clubs Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs as well as former club Manchester City.

    Earlier in his career, Verheijen publicly criticised the coaching methods of Dutch team Feyenord, but returned there to advise on the pre-season build this July

    Post below by Footblogball

    Pre Season Training

    The general guidelines for preseason training Raymond Verheijen uses in pre-season when working with clubs like Barca, Zenit, Chelsea, Man City or Feyenoord.

    Week 1 : Mon tactical, Tue conditioning 11v11/8v8 (for example 3x10min), Wed off, Thu tactical, Fri tactical, Sat amateur game, Sun off.

    Week 2 : Mon tactical but no games, Tue conditioning 11v11/8v8 (3x11min), Wed off, Thu tactical, Fri tactical, Sat amateur game, Sun off.

    Week 3 : Mon tactical no games, Tue conditioning 7v7/5v5 (e.g. 4x5min), Wed off, Thu tactical, Fri tactical, Sat pro game, Sun recovery.

    Week 4 : Mon off, Tue tactical, Wed pro game (group 1) & conditioning 7v7/5v5 (group 2, e.g. 4×5.5min), Thu recovery (group 1+2). Fri off, Sat tactical, Sun pro game (group 2) & football conditioning games 7v7/6v6/5v5 (group 1, e.g. 4×5.5min).

    Week 5 : Mon recovery (group 1+2), Tue off, Wed tactical, Thu football conditioning games 4v4/3v3 (2x6x1min Work/2minRest),Fri tactical (pm), Sat tactical (pm), Sun top game (last game before start of season with strongest team).

    Week 6 : Mon recovery for starting XI & football conditioning games for subs 4×5, 5min 7v7/5v5, Tue off, Wed tactical, Thu conditioning games 4v4/3v3 (e.g. 2x6x1minWork/1.5minRest), Fri tactical (pm), Sat tactical (pm), Sun 1st league game.

    Summary

    The main objective of pre-season is to have all your players back training at the same time. Organise as many friendlies as possible, this will stand to them team when the season officially kicks off.

    One of the golden rules in pre-season is NO conditioning session or physical testing on Day one. Players need 1st day to restart the engine. Also, never conditioning on consecutive days.

    At least one tactical day between conditioning days to avoid the accumulation of fatigue. To cut a long story short, with this approach your team will be as fit as any other team & look even fitter as their is no accumulation of fatigue. More importantly you will have significantly less injuries, so you can train and play more often with the  best players and develop your strongest team.”

    Your training should mirror the game, so don’t do anything that doesn’t resemble the game. Good luck for the season ahead and remember to let “all the kids play”

    -End

    I always like to hear your opinions and views. If you feel you have something to say, 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. As always, thanks for reading.

    I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary

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  • Your Kids, Your Say

    Your Kids, Your Say

    All over England this summer the English FA are on the road running a series of roadshows focusing on the future of children’s soccer.

    (FAI road show were are you?)

    It comes on the back of over a year of consultation that forms part of The FA’s Youth Development review.

    The ‘Your Kids, Your Say’ events will provide the opportunity for grassroots volunteers to come and hear the proposals being put forward and then discuss their implications.

    Many coaches and parents will get a chance to ask questions of key FA staff and seek help and advice on overcoming some local challenges they face.

    We Value your opinion..

    As we know to well, many adult values are very different from children’s views and values and it is this that should drive young player development system.

    Gareth Southgate says,  “If there are hurdles and challenges to be overcome then the football family needs to work together to achieve these, ensuring that we create the best possible opportunity and environment for young people to play, enjoy and learn the game of football”.

    The English FA are saying, “Children’s football in England needs to be based on common sense, be exciting and innovative and be world-leading. We have a fantastic opportunity to be at the forefront of change and, whilst not forgetting the excellent work that the army of volunteers and parents do for children across the country, ensure that we all pull together in the same direction”.

    The key areas of discussion in the roadshows will be topics such as; Formats of the game, Child-centred approaches to competition, Addressing relative age effect and Developments to Mini Soccer.

    In Summary

    What I can’t undertand, is we have a Dutch man who’s title is International Performance Director; yet we see absolutely no Dutch ideas or methodologies in Irish Youth Soccer and I know his title is “International Performance Director” but wouldn’t we be better off with a Dutch man in charge of “Youth Performance”.

    In Holland all the best coaches are down at the Grassroots level and working with the kids every week and in Ireland most of our best coaches are working within the professional game or with the Football Federation.

    The Pressure is on

    So many countries in Europe are restructuring Youth Football, because like Ireland it has got out of hand and been run by morons, over competitive coaches and parents. The men at the top who make the decisions, (clearly no intelligent ones have been made in the last few years) who go from one opening of an envelope to another and pose for all the medal ceremonies at the end of the season “A la politician style”

    None to similar to FIFA delegtion only not travelling by plane, our lot travel in bus loads to vote against changes for the better of the kids, they stick by each other and back each other when it comes to making change, change that they don’t want to happen anytime soon. But it will happen whether they like it or not, because the FAI are under pressure to achieve, under pressure to restructure and follow the example of so many other European countries.

    The game here is suffering , kids are moving to other codes like GAA and Rugby which are better organised, have better and safer facilities and look after the children that play. So the pressure is on, whether they like it or not!


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