Triage for youth football coaches – how to cure a sickly team

Sourced from http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/

We have begun or are about to begin the 2011 pre-season. Trials have begun and many more in Junior Football Clubs will commence soon.
The selection processes at the Clubs can be a painful and disheartening experience for many young players and parents. You just hope the Clubs have their act together, keep nepotisim at bay, ensure that parents and players understand that playing in the Club at the desired level the previous season  is no guarantee of selection for the next, and that competent coaches are making the decisions.

A lot of unecessary sadness in junior/youth football originates in the pre-season selection process. It can affect attitudes of parents and players for years to come.

Players cut from trials should be given reasons for their non selection, that's very important, because we don't want to loose these players from the game and if they are young, next season they will have grown and just may surprise.

Players not selected at one level in their age group must be actively and carefully managed into another team in the Club.

But someone has to decide. Most Club coahes and officials find this process stressful. Its at this time the we parents need to keep our feet on the ground and keep any disappointment we may privately feel for our children, well hidden. Focus on the positives of playing the beautiful game and enjoy them playing , whatever team they play in this season. We never get these days back!
When the selections are over, training commences, you know the season has really begun.

Trial games are very, very important at every level of the game, particularly in junior / youth football. Regular attendance at training (however many times you train a week) should be a not- negotiable component of being in a Football team in Junior or Youth Football - at any level of in the competition.

Coaches  struggle every week with developing / improving their team, making them more competitive. Its a rocky road.

This article provides some very useful advice:

Triage for youth football coaches – how to cure a sickly team

Analysis of your players' strengths and weaknesses – both individually and as a group – should take place during matches, not during training sessions.

Tests such as timed sprints, how long it takes a player to dribble round a line of cones, the number of times they can juggle the ball and how many passes to a static player they can make in 30 seconds are irrelevant when assessing how well your players perform during a match.

Players can even display a lot of skills when playing with their friends during small-sided games but it's not much use if they can't apply their skills in a pressurised match situation. So that's where the analysis should take place.

How to analyse team performance

As soon as the whistle goes to start a match, you're like a doctor faced with an injured patient and, as you are certain to be faced with a number of problems, triage is required. Which symptom is the most worrying? Which problem is potentially life threatening and needs immediate treatment?
Triage can be completed during the first half of a match and the result will help you give an effective half-time team talk. It will almost certainly provide the focus of your next coaching session.
To make an accurate diagnosis, you need to examine your patient in a logical, progressive way.

First, what are the symptoms?

When you are mentally or physically writing down your team's symptoms (i.e., their problems), be careful to avoid generalities.
Statements such as "we need to work harder", or "we must shoot more" are too vague to be helpful, especially when talking to your players at half time. So be specific: perhaps players off the ball are not moving to support the ball carrier or players in good shooting positions are reluctant to "pull the trigger".

Which problem is the most serious?

The next stage in the process is to decide which problem needs addressing first. If your players made better use of the space on the pitch and supported each other more, would you have more or easier shooting opportunities?
Or is the reluctance to shoot so severe that they won't/can't shoot even if they get within two yards of the goal? If so, you may decide that this is the most worrying symptom.
But before a cure can be found, we need to find out what is causing the symptom that is worrying us so much. More analysis is required.
Who is responsible?
"Everyone" doesn't play for your team so they can't be responsible for the problems. You must name names. Are Lucy, Chloe and Alex not moving after they pass the ball? Is Hannah not shooting when she gets the chance?

Where does it happen?

Failure to shoot at goal usually happens in the final third (the third of the pitch nearest your opponent's goal) but not always. If it is in the final third, does the problem only happen on the one side of the pitch?
Poor support play can happen anywhere but it may be restricted to one part of the pitch. Do your players turn into statues only in the middle or defensive third?
Knowing where the problem occurs will help you when planning the corrective coaching session.

When does it happen?

Does the problem only happen in the first few minutes of the match? Or all the time?
OK, I've done the triage. I know what I've got to fix first. How do I find the cure?
The first place to look for cures is in footy4kids. There are hundreds of pages of tips and "how to" articles and you're sure to find something that will help you and your team.
But for a range of specialist coaching solutions, check out the great selection of products at my shop by clicking here.

And don't forget that you can send me your football coaching problems and I'll send you personalised advice. It's all part of the service!

When should I administer the cure?

Once you have identified the most critical problem afflicting your team, you will want to correct it as quickly as possible. But beware of trying to administer the cure during half time.
Young players should not be subjected to a lecture from you as soon as they walk off the pitch. They will probably be tired and possibly feeling stressed if things are not going too well. At this moment they need encouragement, not criticism, and they most certainly don't need to listen to a lecture.
So unless you can effect a cure by simply moving one or two players to different positions, save the corrections for the next coaching session.

What Does It TakeTo Make The Talented Player Pathway Work In The ACT Region?

Tonight’s program begins on a high note. The young ACT Football and Futsalroo, Tom Rogic has won a place in the prestigious Nike Football Academy in the UK. He was one only eight players, from a world wide baseline of 75,000 aspiring young football players, to win a scholarship to train at the Nike Academy. The process that saw him selected from many in Australia, then go to the UK to compete among a highly select group of finalists – is call “the Chance”

Well, it certainly is that for the young Tom Rogic – 18 years of age and looking at the world of football froma very lofty height.

The Nike Academy will provide an unrivalled opportunity for Rogic to make himself known to the prestigious football clubs in Europe. All things being equal, good timing and a good deal more hard work, Tom Rogic is on his way.
Tom Rogic picture and story made front page news for Football in the Canberra Times - now you don't see that every day of the week in ACT Football!

I do not know the detail of Rogic’s football story. I have seen him play a few games over recent years in both football and futsal. I wish he was playing for my club. In researching this story I have spoken to some who reckon they do know his story, but mostly I think they do not. One person who definitely does know is his immediate past PL Coach at ANU – John Mitchell.
So we begin tonight’s program with a short discussion with John Mitchell, Tom Rogic’s Pl Coach for the last two years. John brings us up to date with young Rogic’s success and makes the very important point, that Rogic’s success can be traced back to his football education from the age of 11 to 14 years, where he developed the good football habits pioneered here by Ron Smith.
Then we follow with a fascinating interview I did with John Mitchell about his work with ANU and the ANU Under 20 Elite program. The NPL has broadcast some part of this interview before, but given Rogic’s success, the finalisation of the Ron Smith Review and the very recent appointment of a new TD at Cf – this interview has a lot to recommend it. Mitchell’s ANU U20 Elite program was a bold initiative at the time, one that made other PL clubs stand up and take notice and change. Mitchell’s plan was to do something about what he refers to, in talented footballer development terms as a “tragic vacant space” for those of our ACT talented players between the ages of 17 to 20 years of age.
In so many ways, John Mitchell got it right and in doing so, provided Tom Rogic with exactly the football diet he needed to assist in his desire to break into professional football. The interview speaks for itself and merits careful consideration, particularly as we enter a period that fair bristles with the prospect and necessity for positive change concerning the development of all our young players. If we do what we have always done, we will get what we have always got.
We have a new TD about to take his post at CF and a comprehensive “football operational” style review by Ron Smith that points squarely in the direction of “are you serious”! Many in the Football community are waiting to see how it will all unfold in 2011.

As they say, we live in interesting football times. And Australia is in the semis of the Asian Cup.
The time for change couldn’t be better. The extravagantly talented young Rogic and energetic football ideas people like John Mitchell, show that we can change our player development environment here in the ACT for the better, for all our players. As they say, “Game On”!

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