Football Coaching Grass Roots

[kingcarr21]

Anybody else here a qualified FA football coach? I have been doing it for almost a year now and it can have its challenges.

 

I help coach the Croft U16s and as you can imagine this age group has all sorts of challenges, swearing, Girlfriends and attitude are some of the things we have to deal with as coaches.

 

So I have completed my Level 1 Football coaching course with the FA. Really good course learning about the England DNA and its 4 corner model. The future certainly looks brighter with the way we are coaching kids. I am currently in the middle of doing my level 2.

 

So a little insight into our season, we were top of the league for a while but this was mainly down to the fact we had played more games. Now the other teams are fulfilling their fixtures we have dropped down to 3rd. We have drew 1 and lost 2 of our last 3 games. I find that the team just doesn't work well together as a team and they still have a 'Park football mentality'. They look for excuses when they go behind and take no responsibility, blaming formations and the wind for us being 4-0 down at half time yesterday.

 

My question is how do we deal with this as coaches? I've suggested to the other 2 coaches that our training session on Friday be spent having a good chat as a group and giving out some home truths, but in a constructive way. I'm not interested in the results of our matches, all I'm interested in as a coach is that the lads enjoy their football and being respectful to everyone, football can teach many life skills but these lessons are being missed by the lads attitudes to their football.

 

We have a really good bunch of lads, they get on well together but they still see it as a kick about down the park even though some of them are going for scholarships to become footballers.

 

Apologies if I have gone off on a tangent. Just thought I would reach out to anybody on here who may have dealt with something similar or are just interested in grass roots football

[Izzy]

2 hours ago, kingcarr21 said:

Anybody else here a qualified FA football coach? I have been doing it for almost a year now and it can have its challenges.

 

I help coach the Croft U16s and as you can imagine this age group has all sorts of challenges, swearing, Girlfriends and attitude are some of the things we have to deal with as coaches.

 

So I have completed my Level 1 Football coaching course with the FA. Really good course learning about the England DNA and its 4 corner model. The future certainly looks brighter with the way we are coaching kids. I am currently in the middle of doing my level 2.

 

So a little insight into our season, we were top of the league for a while but this was mainly down to the fact we had played more games. Now the other teams are fulfilling their fixtures we have dropped down to 3rd. We have drew 1 and lost 2 of our last 3 games. I find that the team just doesn't work well together as a team and they still have a 'Park football mentality'. They look for excuses when they go behind and take no responsibility, blaming formations and the wind for us being 4-0 down at half time yesterday.

 

My question is how do we deal with this as coaches? I've suggested to the other 2 coaches that our training session on Friday be spent having a good chat as a group and giving out some home truths, but in a constructive way. I'm not interested in the results of our matches, all I'm interested in as a coach is that the lads enjoy their football and being respectful to everyone, football can teach many life skills but these lessons are being missed by the lads attitudes to their football.

 

We have a really good bunch of lads, they get on well together but they still see it as a kick about down the park even though some of them are going for scholarships to become footballers.

 

Apologies if I have gone off on a tangent. Just thought I would reach out to anybody on here who may have dealt with something similar or are just interested in grass roots football

I did my level 1 back in November and really enjoyed it. Considering doing level 2 if my club will pay for it!

 

I coach under 10's so slightly different challenges to you. My lads are generally privileged, spoilt and soft as grease. They're country bumpkins who've led a sheltered life and when they come up against inner city teams, they shit their pants. Most are quite small and timid and don't like the physical side of the game so they tend to get bullied week in, week out. It's only 7 a side until next year when they move up to 9 a side, bigger pitch & goals and offsides. Out of the 11 lads I've got, I'd only class 3 as decent footballers and the rest just get in the way tbh.

 

In saying all that, they're good kids and they're learning loads. I'm very conscious that it's not about results but I can see the parents getting frustrated each week. We've managed to stop getting battered every time but have lost the last five matches by the odd goal or two and they could do with a win soon. To answer your question, I do give them some tough but constructive feedback an well as catching them doing things right. What I've started to do is ask them what they need to improve on and get them to take responsibility for what we work on it training.

 

I like the FA model and it's all about players taking responsibility - even at such a young age. It's just about continuous improvement for me and as long as they're having fun with their mates it's all good. I do feel like some of the parents just see the club as a glorified babysitting service and I wish more would get involved.

 

All the best for the rest of the season!

[Soar Fox]

How long does the Level 1 course take to complete? Due to persistent knee injuries I stopped playing football about 3 years ago. I want to get into coaching and I’ve been asked by a work colleague to help him out with his under 11’s team. 

 

If I am going to do it I want to do it properly and go on some courses. 

[kingcarr21]

34 minutes ago, Steve_Walsh5 said:

How long does the Level 1 course take to complete? Due to persistent knee injuries I stopped playing football about 3 years ago. I want to get into coaching and I’ve been asked by a work colleague to help him out with his under 11’s team. 

 

If I am going to do it I want to do it properly and go on some courses. 

The level 1 course for me was 2 weekends (both Sat and Sun 9-5) then a Tuesday 6-9:30pm for First Aid and Wednesday 6-9:30pm for Safeguarding Children. Did it at Brockington College.

 

I started volunteering with my cousins U16s team at Croft and they put me through my courses. I've not paid a penny.

 

Its a really good course. I really enjoyed it. The Saturday and Sunday sessions would be both practical and theory. Half spent in Classroom and on the 3G pitches. Well worth it

[Soar Fox]

21 minutes ago, kingcarr21 said:

The level 1 course for me was 2 weekends (both Sat and Sun 9-5) then a Tuesday 6-9:30pm for First Aid and Wednesday 6-9:30pm for Safeguarding Children. Did it at Brockington College.

 

I started volunteering with my cousins U16s team at Croft and they put me through my courses. I've not paid a penny.

 

Its a really good course. I really enjoyed it. The Saturday and Sunday sessions would be both practical and theory. Half spent in Classroom and on the 3G pitches. Well worth it

Cheers definitely something I am going to have a look into. 

[stripeyfox]

I did my Level 1 a couple of years ago. The course itself was a lot of fun (although I was knackered after it - as there was quite a lot more "football' than I was expecting)!

 

I help to coach my son's Under 11's. We face some of the same challenges as Izzy in that we are a village team with by and large the same group of boys since mini kickers and we tend to get out muscled by the big teams from Leicester. We have a good bunch of kids. I find the coaching quite difficult personally but I am lucky to have a couple of the other dads who help out. As a coaching team, I think we find it difficult to separate wanting to win (everyone does, right?) from development of players but we try our best.

 

My own personal challenge is my son seems to be losing interest. He isn't (and will never be) one of the best players but he is a lot better than he thinks he is. Took my an hour to convince him to come to the game yesterday and then he came off after a couple of minutes saying he'd hurt his ankle. I don't want to force him to play but there is an element to his personality of "chucking it in" so I am doing my best to convince him to carry on until the end of the season at least.

 

[stripeyfox]

1 hour ago, kingcarr21 said:

The level 1 course for me was 2 weekends (both Sat and Sun 9-5) then a Tuesday 6-9:30pm for First Aid and Wednesday 6-9:30pm for Safeguarding Children. Did it at Brockington College.

 

I started volunteering with my cousins U16s team at Croft and they put me through my courses. I've not paid a penny.

 

Its a really good course. I really enjoyed it. The Saturday and Sunday sessions would be both practical and theory. Half spent in Classroom and on the 3G pitches. Well worth it

I did mine at Brockington in 2015. It was in August and it was fooking boiling (one of our practical days was the day we drew at home 1-1 with Spurs in the title season). I hadn't even kicked a ball for about 10 years so it came as a bit of a shock!

 

[Izzy]

1 hour ago, Steve_Walsh5 said:

How long does the Level 1 course take to complete? Due to persistent knee injuries I stopped playing football about 3 years ago. I want to get into coaching and I’ve been asked by a work colleague to help him out with his under 11’s team. 

 

If I am going to do it I want to do it properly and go on some courses. 

During the level 1 course, I didn't realise we'd all be expected to participate in all the training sessions. I was completely fvcked after each day as we're all 'guinea pigs' in each others practices. There were some younger blokes in our group who rang rings round the old cvnts like me and it got a bit competitive with tackles flying in but all good exercise I suppose! You were allowed to sit out sessions and observe though if you were injured...

 

I'd definitely recommend doing your level 1 if coaching young kids. The Safeguarding and First Aid evening classes alone was worth it for me as I learnt loads of stuff I didn't know.

 

Sounds a bit snobby but I can tell which opposition coaches have done their badge and which haven't by the way they behave and speak to their kids on a match day. 

 

If you can spare 4 weekend days one month and a couple of evenings I'd highly recommend it. Also made me feel the FA were on the right track too and that the game is in good hands...

[stripeyfox]

1 minute ago, Izzy said:

During the level 1 course, I didn't realise we'd all be expected to participate in all the training sessions. I was completely fvcked after each day as we're all 'guinea pigs' in each others practices. There were some younger blokes in our group who rang rings round the old cvnts like me and it got a bit competitive with tackles flying in but all good exercise I suppose! You were allowed to sit out sessions and observe though if you were injured...

 

I'd definitely recommend doing your level 1 if coaching young kids. The Safeguarding and First Aid evening classes alone was worth it for me as I learnt loads of stuff I didn't know.

 

Sounds a bit snobby but I can tell which opposition coaches have done their badge and which haven't by the way they behave and speak to their kids on a match day. 

 

If you can spare 4 weekend days one month and a couple of evenings I'd highly recommend it. Also made me feel the FA were on the right track too and that the game is in good hands...

This. I had no idea either. There was one drill where you started from the halfway line, played a one-two and had to beat the keeper. There was one guy who was probably pushing 50 but who had played in goal at Senior League level and he was proper hard to beat. Everyone was getting proper competitive trying to score but he was rushing out blocking, saving, tipping them round the post. And that was just one drill! Made some good contacts on the course and still see coaches around the county on our travels.

 

We played at Fleckney yesterday and drew 3-3. Was really good that coaches from both sides were involved in encouraging players from each team. Our keeper had a great game and their coach was first on at the final whistle to go an shake his hand and I overheard him having a little chat with him. Nice to see. 

 

Also, we had a young kid ref the game - probably not older than 14 I'd say but he did really well. He confidently ran the game, right from calling the linesmen over beforehand to tell them what he expected of them right through to the final whistle he didn't put a foot wrong.

 

 

[stripeyfox]

2 hours ago, Steve_Walsh5 said:

How long does the Level 1 course take to complete? Due to persistent knee injuries I stopped playing football about 3 years ago. I want to get into coaching and I’ve been asked by a work colleague to help him out with his under 11’s team. 

 

If I am going to do it I want to do it properly and go on some courses. 

As others have said it is 2 weekends (all day - take a packed lunch) and three evenings (First Aid, Safeguarding etc). It is possible to do the evening modules separately I think. And although there is a decent amount of "participation", there doesn't have to be if you are injured or disabled for example. The FA want to include everyone so you don't have to be a footballer as such. The former chairman of our club did his from his wheelchair so your dodgy knee shouldn't be a barrier.

 

Ring the FA at Holmes Park (assuming you're in Leicestershire) - they're pretty helpful and you can probably get the club to pay for the course too

 

[Izzy]

30 minutes ago, stripeyfox said:

I did my Level 1 a couple of years ago. The course itself was a lot of fun (although I was knackered after it - as there was quite a lot more "football' than I was expecting)!

 

I help to coach my son's Under 11's. We face some of the same challenges as Izzy in that we are a village team with by and large the same group of boys since mini kickers and we tend to get out muscled by the big teams from Leicester. We have a good bunch of kids. I find the coaching quite difficult personally but I am lucky to have a couple of the other dads who help out. As a coaching team, I think we find it difficult to separate wanting to win (everyone does, right?) from development of players but we try our best.

 

My own personal challenge is my son seems to be losing interest. He isn't (and will never be) one of the best players but he is a lot better than he thinks he is. Took my an hour to convince him to come to the game yesterday and then he came off after a couple of minutes saying he'd hurt his ankle. I don't want to force him to play but there is an element to his personality of "chucking it in" so I am doing my best to convince him to carry on until the end of the season at least.

 

Similar to my boy, but I think we might have solved it  

 

He's a big lump with no technical ability (imagine a 9 year old, white, Wes Morgan) so he usually plays at the back but he's got no pace. The opposition forwards were running rings around him every week and I could tell he was losing interest.

 

Then a few weeks ago our keeper didn't turn up so my fellow coach suggested my boy go in goal. He reluctantly agreed but he was fooking brilliant  On Saturday he saved a penalty and was voted MOTM by his team mates. I think he's found his position!

 

18 minutes ago, stripeyfox said:

This. I had no idea either. There was one drill where you started from the halfway line, played a one-two and had to beat the keeper. There was one guy who was probably pushing 50 but who had played in goal at Senior League level and he was proper hard to beat. Everyone was getting proper competitive trying to score but he was rushing out blocking, saving, tipping them round the post. And that was just one drill! Made some good contacts on the course and still see coaches around the county on our travels.

 

We played at Fleckney yesterday and drew 3-3. Was really good that coaches from both sides were involved in encouraging players from each team. Our keeper had a great game and their coach was first on at the final whistle to go an shake his hand and I overheard him having a little chat with him. Nice to see. 

 

Also, we had a young kid ref the game - probably not older than 14 I'd say but he did really well. He confidently ran the game, right from calling the linesmen over beforehand to tell them what he expected of them right through to the final whistle he didn't put a foot wrong.

 

Love this. I really appreciate it when coaches of other team praise my lads and I always do my best to do the same.

 

Just before Xmas we actually won away and after the game their coach was ripping into his kids. Calling them 'fairies' and 'ballerinas' and the poor kids looked distraught. I thought that's bang out of order so I left my boys and walked over to the other team, said a polite "excuse me" and proceeded to tell them they were unlucky not to get a draw and played some nice passing football. I singled a couple out for their skills and contribution and then said thanks and walked away.

 

Should have seen their coaches face 

[stripeyfox]

9 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Similar to my boy, but I think we might have solved it  

 

He's a big lump with no technical ability (imagine a 9 year old, white, Wes Morgan) so he usually plays at the back but he's got no pace. The opposition forwards were running rings around him every week and I could tell he was losing interest.

 

Then a few weeks ago our keeper didn't turn up so my fellow coach suggested my boy go in goal. He reluctantly agreed but he was fooking brilliant  On Saturday he saved a penalty and was voted MOTM by his team mates. I think he's found his position!

 

Love this. I really appreciate it when coaches of other team praise my lads and I always do my best to do the same.

 

Just before Xmas we actually won away and after the game their coach was ripping into his kids. Calling them 'fairies' and 'ballerinas' and the poor kids looked distraught. I thought that's bang out of order so I left my boys and walked over to the other team, said a polite "excuse me" and proceeded to tell them they were unlucky not to get a draw and played some nice passing football. I singled a couple out for their skills and contribution and then said thanks and walked away.

 

Should have seen their coaches face 

I always try to do this. Their keeper on Sunday was really unlucky with one of our goals in particular - he made a blinding save and it fell to one of his own defenders but he dithered on it and our striker put the rebound in. You could see he was so upset by it so at the end of the game I went over to him and told him I thought he played really well and was unlucky with that goal. I shook his little hand and put an arm round his shoulder and I think he appreciated it.

 

As you say, you can tell which Coaches have done the course. I've seen and heard some really bad things from some coaches. We played a game at home the other week and their coach was a right loud mouth and his "coaching technique" basically involved him yawping things at his players like "go on Jayden - you can beat their full back he's shit" and "have a shot, their keeper is crap". There's no place for that in kids football.

 

One of our coaches told him to wind his neck in and he quietened for a few moments but then it just started again. The guy was an complete moron but what can you do?

 

[Izzy]

44 minutes ago, stripeyfox said:

I always try to do this. Their keeper on Sunday was really unlucky with one of our goals in particular - he made a blinding save and it fell to one of his own defenders but he dithered on it and our striker put the rebound in. You could see he was so upset by it so at the end of the game I went over to him and told him I thought he played really well and was unlucky with that goal. I shook his little hand and put an arm round his shoulder and I think he appreciated it.

 

As you say, you can tell which Coaches have done the course. I've seen and heard some really bad things from some coaches. We played a game at home the other week and their coach was a right loud mouth and his "coaching technique" basically involved him yawping things at his players like "go on Jayden - you can beat their full back he's shit" and "have a shot, their keeper is crap". There's no place for that in kids football.

 

One of our coaches told him to wind his neck in and he quietened for a few moments but then it just started again. The guy was an complete moron but what can you do?

 

Our club Chairman helps me out coaching the U10's as his boy also plays in the team. He's been doing this for years and its only my first season but he's told me on a few occasions that he's rang our local FA to complain about the behaviour of certain opposition coaches.

 

I've no idea if there's been any come back or if any action was taken, but I guess that's all you can do (apart from confront them at the time). 

[Guest ttfn]

10 hours ago, kingcarr21 said:

Anybody else here a qualified FA football coach? I have been doing it for almost a year now and it can have its challenges.

 

I help coach the Croft U16s and as you can imagine this age group has all sorts of challenges, swearing, Girlfriends and attitude are some of the things we have to deal with as coaches.

 

So I have completed my Level 1 Football coaching course with the FA. Really good course learning about the England DNA and its 4 corner model. The future certainly looks brighter with the way we are coaching kids. I am currently in the middle of doing my level 2.

 

So a little insight into our season, we were top of the league for a while but this was mainly down to the fact we had played more games. Now the other teams are fulfilling their fixtures we have dropped down to 3rd. We have drew 1 and lost 2 of our last 3 games. I find that the team just doesn't work well together as a team and they still have a 'Park football mentality'. They look for excuses when they go behind and take no responsibility, blaming formations and the wind for us being 4-0 down at half time yesterday.

 

My question is how do we deal with this as coaches? I've suggested to the other 2 coaches that our training session on Friday be spent having a good chat as a group and giving out some home truths, but in a constructive way. I'm not interested in the results of our matches, all I'm interested in as a coach is that the lads enjoy their football and being respectful to everyone, football can teach many life skills but these lessons are being missed by the lads attitudes to their football.

 

We have a really good bunch of lads, they get on well together but they still see it as a kick about down the park even though some of them are going for scholarships to become footballers.

 

Apologies if I have gone off on a tangent. Just thought I would reach out to anybody on here who may have dealt with something similar or are just interested in grass roots football

Just get them to redouble their efforts on the training ground.

 

(NB may only work if they’re a smashing bunch of lads).

[Vlad the Fox]

10 hours ago, kingcarr21 said:

Anybody else here a qualified FA football coach? I have been doing it for almost a year now and it can have its challenges.

 

I help coach the Croft U16s and as you can imagine this age group has all sorts of challenges, swearing, Girlfriends and attitude are some of the things we have to deal with as coaches.

 

So I have completed my Level 1 Football coaching course with the FA. Really good course learning about the England DNA and its 4 corner model. The future certainly looks brighter with the way we are coaching kids. I am currently in the middle of doing my level 2.

 

So a little insight into our season, we were top of the league for a while but this was mainly down to the fact we had played more games. Now the other teams are fulfilling their fixtures we have dropped down to 3rd. We have drew 1 and lost 2 of our last 3 games. I find that the team just doesn't work well together as a team and they still have a 'Park football mentality'. They look for excuses when they go behind and take no responsibility, blaming formations and the wind for us being 4-0 down at half time yesterday.

 

My question is how do we deal with this as coaches? I've suggested to the other 2 coaches that our training session on Friday be spent having a good chat as a group and giving out some home truths, but in a constructive way. I'm not interested in the results of our matches, all I'm interested in as a coach is that the lads enjoy their football and being respectful to everyone, football can teach many life skills but these lessons are being missed by the lads attitudes to their football.

 

We have a really good bunch of lads, they get on well together but they still see it as a kick about down the park even though some of them are going for scholarships to become footballers.

 

Apologies if I have gone off on a tangent. Just thought I would reach out to anybody on here who may have dealt with something similar or are just interested in grass roots football

I did my level one just over a year ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’d been coaching my team for about five years now but struggled for time until then.

 

As as for the attitude regarding their football I regularly remind the boys how far they have come, and with hard work they can move further forward. I also try and make the players realise that they’re responsible for what happens on the pitch and to work for each other. Structured training sessions with a focus should help with the kick around attitude though we stopped the end of training session match to a game focused on an aspect of the training session as otherwise it was just a schoolyard kickaround with everything forgotten. 

 

It is something I really enjoy, I’ve trained various ages within our club at times and they all offer different challenges and rewards. But like yours my team are a good bunch of lads though at times they get a bit too lively and I have to calm them down,. They are younger than yours however and are still at an age where a quiet word with their parents or group message can help to get them to refocus. I’ll also add that my parents are fantastic and very supportive which does help.