When young players start out in the game they don’t necessarily have aspirations to be professionals. They just love the fact that they can burn up energy and play with friends. There is no career expectations no value of their ability and more importantly no pressure. If this participation is developed over a prolonged period, heading into early teens for instance then professional reference comes into play.
Now some may already have been touched by the academy stick by then and experienced approval and rejection, so when do you feel that the game should become SERIOUS!
It depends on what is mean by ‘serious’
If your not having fun playing then your probably in the wrong sport or the wrong team. I personally have found the harder I have trained and the more work I have put in (which may be deemed as serious) with my team the more fun I have on match day, the more successful my team is, and as a coach I try to replicate this.
With a younger age group of course you can work them hard without them really noticing that all the drills/games they are doing/playing are helping thier own game.
Obviously as partcipants get older the drills in training become more stratgeic and technical but the better the individuals and the team become at the drills again the more likely the enjoyment on game day.
Kate is right!
The challenge for the Coach then, is to keep it interesting for the players, so they understand what you are trying to achieve.
And most important make sure it’s game related!!!
A REPLY TO KATE WILSON FROM football4football.com Head of development DEAN GORRE
At an early age football is all about having fun and each year as they get older the fun becomes more apparant when their skill level goes up. Tactics become more apart of the game as they get older which increases their skill level when playing and training.
Each year a player stays with a team and keeps the same players around them they become more aware of every players abilities know their strengths and weaknesses and as a team they can work together to help each other out. This will make the team stronger and go on to win more making playing football more fun for all.
The key words for all kids coaching is Development and Enjoyment. As a coach of many years i have always tried to ensure that the sessions i put on for kids are enjoyable for them, that they understand what i am asking them to do and what they will achieve by following my advise. If they enjoy the sessions then they are having ‘fun’. I must say though that it is vital to ensure that the session you put on has a purpose and that purpose must be to develop a childs individual technique and skills. A child will enjoy your coaching sessions so much more if they feel that they are becoming a better player as the weeks go by.