An Occasional Column

I was recently asked to take some sessions with a Club's U12 team because the Club was experiencing problems, mainly of a disciplinary nature.

It got me thinking! How could players so young be such a problem?

Common practice in many Club's is to simply ask people with enthusiasm to help out; maybe parents of some of the players. This can be naive in the extreme as young players learn bad habits that stay with them for life.

As a rule of thumb, at least one coach with each team must know what is needed and be capable of implementing it. That coach is responsible to ensure the other coaches/mentors he is working with follow good practice.

Coaches should ‘know the child' as well as ‘know the game'.

An eminent coach once said to me, ‘a club's best coaches should operate with the youngest children'.

The old truism that ‘practice makes perfect' isn't quite true after all; rather ‘practice makes permanent' while ‘perfect practice makes perfect'!

Mickey Harte, on a visit to my Club some years ago, watched players performing a drill and made a simple observation when addressing the players eagerly gathered around him ‘That was very good but how could you do that drill better?' Next time the players performed the drill, the improvement was immediately visible!

Often young people are not asked about how they are treated or about the things they like in their coaches.

In general, I've found young people like coaches to treat them with respect and not as if they were either objects or mini-adults.

Young players like us coaches to listen to and take notice of their opinions and feelings. And that means all players, not just the most talented.

Ideally a coach should have:

KNOWLEDGE: Coaches should know how children behave. They should know their sport well, preferably to have participated in it. It gives the coach credibility.

PERSONALITY: The best coaches are friendly, happy, patient, understanding and have a sense of humour. It's supposed to be enjoyable!

AUTHORITY: Children like coaches to be firm but fair, while boys particularly like to be worked hard.

All, however don't like being shouted at.

TAKING PERSONAL INTEREST: Especially as the young get older and more able, coaches should take an interest in what they do outside sport.

REACTION TO PERFORMANCE: If they do well, children want coaches to say ‘Well done' without going over the top. When they do poorly, coaches should encourage and explain what went wrong.

Being shouted at or ignored is the biggest insult to a child. 

ENCOURAGEMENT: Is the only thing a child wants during competitive games.

DECISION MAKING: Younger children trust coaches and expect them to make the right decisions.

Older, more experienced young players like to be consulted. All love to be stimulated rather than instructed.

ORGANISATION: To the young, coaches should be organised with well planned, appropriate and structured coaching sessions. Coach should be first to arrive.

INSTRUCTION AND FEEDBACK: Children do like to be shown what to do, how they do it and to have mistakes corrected. In short, they like to be taught properly.

An amusing anecdote sums it all up:

A man was walking past a graveyard when he noticed a headstone with the following inscription:

As you are now, so once was I; as I am now, you are sure to be,

So may I say, as now I lie, prepare yourself, to follow me.

The man, or maybe it was a young boy or girl, took out a piece of chalk and wrote underneath the inscription:

To follow you I'm not content, until I know which way you went!

For coaches, you are leaders; young players look up to you, therefore you have a responsibility to guide them well. Often a coach has more influence than a parent.

For Clubs and young players I would suggest choose your role models and coaches with care. 

Appreciate those coaches who simply want to develop players to be the best they can be.

Their satisfaction is in watching them grow.

When the chips are down these are the coaches you'll find players turn to.

Avoid those who would use you to bolster their own profile or success.