This is a bit of an ironic moment, waiting for one blog, and then two come along in quick succession!
Last week I received my National Camp feedback. From the blog I wrote about the Camp, I hope you can see how much I took from the week. The time I spent reading my feedback brought back all the memories from the week, highs, lows and all! Just thought I would share some of the feedback which I got.
After going through my FFCamp blog, it's very understandable to see how my feedback fits in. "From looking through Sarah's reflective log it was evident that Sarah was keen to learn but at times trying to get Sarah not to reflect and actually enjoy the week before it passed her by." Reflecting is something which I do too often, learning how to control this will become a personal goal. Instead of writing trillions of notes, I should be switched on and enjoying what's happening. This doesn't mean, enjoy everything and take nothing. I need to find a balance of reflecting after events, and only during when it's necessary. "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Kierkegaard
It's quite fulfilling reading some one else's thoughts on the week, and nice to see what they have noticed. Something I had to learn was when to share ideas and when to hold back. It was difficult, but it was something which I understood and developed as the week went on. I think that this situation, so when I held back, was when I started to over-reflect within sessions. If I was talking or actively involved then I started to try and understand other people and their way of leading. Probably should have been listening to them fully, but when you sit back you get a better view of the bigger picture.
In terms of future development, I really enjoyed the futsal module at Camp, the way in which it can really aid young, old, elite, grassroots or anyone to develop skills and then transfer in football. I have already acted upon this by completing the beginners guide to Futsal course, which was insightful and opened up another world of opportunities to throw into my own coaching.
Something I was made aware of is how people learn and like to be coached. Obviously you can't adhere to everyone needs all of the time. But during camp I saw how and when to work with individuals and groups to get the best results. I'd like to think this is something I'm quite good at, recognising different learning style and understanding individuals. It's something which has been reinforced at camps and on courses, until you understand an individual, what every you are coaching will be irrelevant.
National Camp was top, top week. Feedback should be taken in the right way, reflecting is something which I do far to often, having it pointed out isn't bad thing, it just makes you aware that other people have noticed it. :)
Onto the second part of this blog.. In an earlier post I said that I have a voluntary role with ISFA (Independent Schools Football Association) as an event coordinator on the National U11s, 7 a-side tournament. I have now finished all of my regional heats, I've travelled to London twice, been down by Brighton, to Leeds, Bolton and Derbyshire. Now only the National finals await for me at St.George's Park at the end of April.
I've had great fun travelling around the country, seeing some of the sites.. The Olympic Park being a highlight. But looking back on the regional heats, they have come and gone very quickly, I can remember being nervous about the first heat in September and only last week was I getting up at 4.00am to go to Leeds. There have been so many highs and lows, having 3 of us setting up and running each heat has opened my eyes to what really goes on for a tournament to run. If a problem comes up you have to work as and present yourself as if nothing happened. There was an incident at Chigwell where a referee didn't turn up, we had to re-arrange ourselves and carry on like nothing had happened.
I've seen some amazing football being played, and quite possibly the longest penalty shoot out ever in the finals at Leeds. Had some really nice cookies in Derby, chicken in Chigwell and sandwiches at Charterhouse. I don't want to see a respect barrier for a while after having a half an hour wrestle with one, its a good job the sun was out otherwise that could have been a day ruined!
The beauty of my role is that most of my work is done before and after the event, so I get to see things all pull together as games are being played. Although I haven't done a lot in setting up the tournament, it's very fulfilling seeing kids enjoy themselves and playing good football.
It's been a dream scenario, spending full days in football, going home feeling like I've done a good job. Talks over dinner have all been 100% about football, and that is all I'm ever talking about! The downside now is that it is all nearly over. I've learnt a lot over the 6 regional heats, about myself, football development and how to manage tournaments. There have been times when there were only 2 of us running the event. I've been in difficult positions, running the score centre and trying to work out teams going through under pressure, train trouble trying to get around the country, weather being British. But if you can come out of it all with a smile on your face, knowing people have had a good time and gone home happy then you know a good job has been done. For the time being, thank you Sean Smith and Mark Dickson at ISFA for offering me the opportunity, roll on April and the national finals at St. George's Park!
This photo was taken in Bolton with the tournament in full flow!
22nd February
2013, Lancashire FA, The County Ground. Thinking i was on time I entered the
Sir Tom Finney Suite to 36+ young leaders all listening to the opening of the
Camp. A few familiar faces dotted around the room meant that I didn't feel to
embarrassed, whilst being waved over by my partner in crime for the day, Mike
Nadal (Girls & Disability FDO).
As with the
Shropshire county camp I had been asked to support the event and help where
possible. A weird feeling to be leading young leaders, as a young leader. the
day had been broken down into 3 sessions; coaching disabled footballers,
refereeing and skills coaching. For this to work the young leaders were also
split into 3 groups, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga. I was with team Malaga;
there was myself, Mike and Owen Coyle (Lancashire FA Apprentice) supporting the
group.
Iain Kay
(Education FDO) finished off the introductions and opened up the camp. Some key
messages; enjoy it and take everything away that you can. Young volunteers had
been nominated for the camp, so they had already shown signs of promise to
become more involved as a volunteer. You only get out what you put in, the more
you put into the camp, the more you will get out of it.
'If you stand
on the side now, you will always stand on the side.' Steve Daley.
Our first
session of the day, coaching disabled footballers, was delivered by Steve Daley,
the current England Partially sighted captain who has 117 caps to his name and
6 world cup/championship appearances. Clearly there was no better man to
deliver the module.
The
session's key topic was, 'Can you deliver sessions which allow everyone to join
in?' When putting sessions together it is easy to assume player's ability and
plan for the best. But what if this doesn't work? or you have a problem, such
as a player with a disability? As a coach you have to plan for the worst, be
able to have back up plans. Prepare for the worst, but expect the best.
Communication
is the key skill in any sport, but it's pivotal in disability sport.
Communication is the route to portraying messages. If you cant deliver your
message correctly then you will never get success. 90% of communication is
non-verbal. You need to maximise what you are saying verbally in the minimal
time. This doesn't mean only give out parts of your messages. Everyone learns
differently, know your players and how they learn best. Communicate efficiently
to get the best results.
Back to
the session topic, the group were taken outside for a to look at the inclusive
challenge in a practical view. Looking at making games inclusive. What
modifications can be made to allow everyone to
take part, to challenge the strugglers and strivers. Possibly using different
equipment, for example different sized balls. Throwing
them as well as kicking them, in the air and on the floor. A very insightful
session for the young leaders, showing what challenges they might have to face
in the future, and also how to deal with them.
Following
lunch was our second session, refereeing. An interactive seminar lead by Steve
Stuart and Eddie Wolstenholme. Starting off with an ice-breaker, very much like
blind date to get know on-another. So moving onto the session itself, a few
questions were asked of the young leaders, what are the do's and don'ts, highs
and lows of being a referee? What is it like to be a professional referee? A
question which brought out a number of answers, what is the general perception
of referees?
-Depends
on which team you support came out as an answer, as a referee you can only ever
please one team.
-Referees
apparently haven't played the game, according to newspapers, this meaning they
don't understand the game. This is probably more of an issue with the advantage
law, knowing when to play on or bring the play back.
-They
get a lot of bad press, when watching Match of the Day, you only really see
referees when they make a bad decision. They say the best referees are the ones
you don't notice, most of the time you don't notice them and they don't get the
credit they deserve for putting up with bad behaviour, or even when they have a
good game.
Is
this bad press unfair? A great example, would you scream at your striker if
they missed from 5 yards out? Probably not, so why do coaches go crazy when a
referee makes a mistake?
We then
moved onto a quiz, the Laws of Association Football, being honest I think me
and Mike should never attempt to referee again as we scored 3/10. Luckily most
of the young leaders did a lot better than us.Questions including, How many
people can participate in the restart method of a dropped ball? Team A are
about to take a corner when a defender from Team B punches an opponent, what do
you do? A player scores a goal without his boot on, do you give a goal? All of
the questions were teasing, and tested us all, showing that we don't really
know the laws of the game!
A second
quiz took place, looking at decision making and consistency. The young leaders
had to watch clips of match incidents and then decide if they would give a red
card, yellow card or something else. This time the dream team scored, 12/18!!
Some horrendous tackles were shown, after making our decisions the referee's
decisions were shown and then UEFA's decisions. Some very surprising results!
The
final quiz related to the disciplinary action and incidents of football with
Lancashire over the 2011/12 season. We had to guess the right answer... I got
5/5. Some very surprising stats, 18,277 discipline cases were dealt with. 2,256
red cards, 14,949 yellow cards and 24 players received over 10 cautions that
season. crazy stuff.
The
final session of the day, skills coaching, delivered by Chris Hurst.
Considering the wonderful Lancashire cold weather came out, the young leaders
did a great job of diving right into the session. To begin with Chris lead a
session, which started off very basic and then built up to include a football
and become relatively complex. This session was the 'Great Escape' drill which
is a part of the FA Youth Award Module 1. This game focuses on the basic
movements within football [ABC's] moving in different directions, using
different movements and finding innovative ways to get around the grid. Next
step, try to get out of the grid via the gates, still using these basic
movements, not just running out - cause that is well boring! The next step was
to bring in guards who would tag people as they tried to escape. The final part
was to introduce a ball, so everyone moving around the grid and then trying to
escape without being tug.
The
challenge for our young leaders was, using the same grid, develop your own
session. There were different themes for the groups to adhere to, passing,
individual development and game related. Those who had the challenge of
involving passing split the players into 2 team and asked them to pass the ball
around the grid. To begin with the 2 teams stayed in 1 half of the grid, they
were soon asked to mingle and move around. The progression was to pass the ball
and then leave the grid. Only after you have left and the re-entered can the
player touch the ball again.
The
second group has individual development, their game was based around the 'king
of the ring' concept. The adaptations were to have a safe zone on each side of
the grid, but you could only stay there for a limited time. Also, to stop
players from standing around on the outside of the grid if their ball had been
kicked out, they could come back into the game if they dribbled around a series
of cones which were a part of the outer grid.
The
third and final group were looking at a game related game. They re-arranged a
few of the cones to make goals, and set up a directional attacking drill.
Within the grid, 1v1s, 3v3s or even under loads/overloads were used. The
progressions were the change in players in each phase of the drill.
The
final part of the day, was a round up by Iain Kay. Introducing the Football
Futures Programme and Apprentice Programme which is run by the County FA.
A very
successful day on all accounts. I hope that the young leaders took all that
they could from the day, and carry it through into their clubs and for their
own personal development. 'There was no point in going and not remembering any
of it.' A great comment from a young leader following the day, fingers crossed
others went away feeling the same!
Thank
you Lancashire FA for inviting me to the event and allowing me to support and
be around some amazing young leaders. The future appears to be in good hands.
