National Young Coaches Academy, 2013 [part 2]

So continuing from Part 1, the session following lunch was around adaptability and compassion. The session started with an energiser where, in 3s, the coaches would act out a coach, performer and observer - the coaches were asked to coach a simple skill to the performer but with various changes - for example no verbal communication or no actions or gestures. This really stumped some of the coaches, but others were able to excel. I saw some great examples of coaches who really got into the activity and followed the key points for communication, especially eye contact and body language.

Onto the main of the session. Adaptability and compassion work closely together, we have to adapt to be compassionate. This all links into feedback, how can we give feedback and what are some of the top tips.

Starting questions, What is adaptability? What is compassion? How is adaptability and compassion used when coaching? To link back to organisation and the STEP process - how does adaptability fit in? As coaches we should be hoping for the best, but be ready for the worst. A huge learning curve of the weekend [relating to compassion] is knowing your performers, how they learn and how are they motivated. From this we, as coaches, can be compassionate when giving feedback and using a method to gain the maximum success. So taking a player to the side to help, praising, relating to them, knowing what annoys them. Not just knowing them but maybe their personal life to understand why things might go wrong or they performer may under perform? Relating back to earlier, we aren't just coaches, and we aren't just here to develop ability. Thinking back to the philosophy session and using adaptability and compassion the Young Coaches were asked, 1. How will you coach? [equality] 2. How will you ensure that everyone can understand instructions? 3. How will you be inclusive in your demonstrations?

When coaching we should remember that no matter what level our performers are currently at, there is always room to improve, challenge those who struggle and give them the opportunity to test themselves against better performers to see how big the gap is and then a route to improvement, As the recyling advert used to say 'The possibilities are endless!'

Moving onto feedback and questioning, performers have a mind of their own, their opinions are invaluable - without first hand feedback how can we create the next session? How do we know how activities feel if we aren't involved within them? We don't. As a coach we can't feel the game or activity - sure we're all filled with passion but we don't have a clue how our performers feel or what is best for them when competing. If your performer  wants to try something new, let them - let them feel freedom and take a chance which they feel will benefit. Some of the top tips for feedback and questioning were to be honest, be constructive, remember how we are communicating, throwing our arms around is feedback - but not what anyone wants to see.

On the opposite side, tips for questioning, ask open, closed and probing questions. Don't settle for yes and no answers because they won't help anybody. Choose the right words, and be prepared to further question answers which might come up. Questioning isn't just at the end of sessions, but to check for understanding and knowledge right the way through of sessions, challenging performers mentally as well as physically.

The final part of this session looked at the 3 stages of learning, the Mental Stage - beginning of learning where we learn something new, get it into our heads and start to practice. The Practice Stage - where you begin to focus on the quality of the skill and not just the initial learning. And part 3, The Automatic Stage - where the technique becomes more and more automatic, so you can perform a skill with little thinking time.
We used a simple thumb and finger exercise to show this, Amber explained a great analogy to express how these stages work, I've split it up into 5 stages..

1. Imagine walking though a field, you may be walking slowly, there is no current route out so you have got to force one. It may leave a small imprint in the grass, but unless it's revisited then the mark with disappear.

2.The more the route is used a muddy sort of path might appear, more tracks have been made, and skill is recognisable and easier to remember and follow - but it's not wide or safe enough to speed through.

3. A path is then created, with paving slabs, no you can run, cycle or still walk down the path. More opportunities are becoming available as you are progressing with learning the skill. The foundations have clearly been laid.

4. The path becomes a road, more force can be put into hitting the quality of the skill. The road is used a lot so the skill can be progressed and performed quickly, but still to the point where it must be thought about even though there is an increase in pace.

5. Finally, the road becomes a motor-way. It is used all of the time, and there isn't really much of a thought process other than when to get on and off. You can perform other tasks at the same time, the skill becomes automatic.

Onto the last generic session of the day, Honesty and Ethics. Probably one the most important sessions, exploring skills which can be difficult to perform. Everyone knows what honesty is, but it's hard to do. Is honesty really the best policy? Are there routes to feedback that are built on honesty but aren't so patronising and de-moralising? Yes, of course, constructive criticism is huge, giving negative feedback - but a route to improvement. One of the ideas to come up was giving out a burger, 2 positives sandwiching a negative. Lance Pepper, from Endicott [USA] made a valid point not to give a positive and then say 'but' before the negative. That one word can be a turn off straight away.

Also within the session we looked at ethics, team and personal. What is your team ethos, is this followed through by yourself and your performers? Similar to philosophy, what do you think is right? And how is this put into practice? How important are codes of conduct, team rules and what comes first?

The penultimate session for the day, the start of The Big Team Challenge! The challenge, come up with and perform a presentation of what you have learnt over during the academy, you don't have to perform everything and it should last for 10 minutes. Along with this there must be a code of conduct and a feedback sheet.

At this point we were now with the footballers, and during this my role was to ask questions and help where needed with any problems/the brainstorming of ideas. The 3 groups came up with ideas pretty quickly, but the delivery of the presentations had to wait until Sunday morning!

Last session of the day was 'An evening with...' The National Young Coaches Academy joined up with the National Talent Orientation Camp for the evening where 3 Olympians and 3 coaches were questioned. The athletes were, Richard Hounslow [Kayaking], Ashleigh Ball [Hockey] and Ben Pipes [Volleyball]. In terms of coaches we heard from, Paul Hall [Coach of gymnast Louis Smith], Olivia Murphy [England Netball U'21s coach] and Stuart McLaren [Head coach of Loughborough University's Men's side].
 
Each guest spoke of their experiences and how they have had to adapt and develop as a coach to get to where they are and to continuously develop their athletes. A lot of messages came out from the session surrounding how athletes prefer their coach to act, and how as coaches we should behave and look to communicate and be compassionate all of the time.

•  

Unbelievably we got a whole 20 minute ly in on Sunday! Mixed emotions hit at breakfast - the last day of camp had arrived. Straight down to the sports hall for 8.30am, the football crew had 30 minutes to put in the final pieces of their performances and have a last run through. The groups had 10 minutes each to perform their presentation and then 10 minutes for feedback. The feedback was delivered using 3 different methods, Q and A's, Using the COACHE acronym, ask the audiences to rank the components into what they felt were the shown most within the performance and a 1-5 ranking system, so questions were asked and the audience had to stand by the number which they felt answered the question best.

Each of the 3 presentations were different, we had a silent coaching session, The Jeremy Kyle Show and a presentation where each member gave their opinion. It was great to see what the coaches had learnt over the weekend and remembered to perform. A very fulfilling moment for myself to see that everything had pulled together despite early doubts. A key part of the final performance 'Coaching isn't about sport, or winning, it's about life.'

2 key questions were put to the groups, what are you trying to portray? What are your key messages?

Onto the National Governing Body sessions, the topic, Developing the coach-mentor relationship. Some good questions were asked to get the coaches thinking, why is it good to have a mentor? What qualities and skills should they have? What do you want from your mentor?

Myself and Amber shared a few experiences of our own from having mentors and fit them into the a diagram with shows 10 areas which are looked at when meeting your mentor and then starting to set up a rapport, goals and then looking to reach them. Everyone will experience different things, but this gave a sort of flavour of what might be in store.
 
The next step was putting together an action plan, setting 3 goals and some sort of route to getting there. Using the SMART acronym [Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistc, Time] these goals could be made to then be reached over a period of time.

The last activity of the day. Reflection. What have you learnt from the NYCA? What was your proudest moment? What has challenged you and taken you out of your comfort zone? Some big questions which were followed by huge answers which under-pinned the learning of the coaches and also us as mentors. A big thing from me is that just because 'Coaching' was in the title, doesn't mean that that is the only topic and learning point. So much was to be gained and it was pleasing to hear of experiences and challenges which the coaches have had and over-come.

The very final exercise, What is you dream? Where do you want to go? I drew mine with a little help, and have started to piece together a route there - using the mountain analogy, I have a base where I am now, and mountains to climb before I get to where I want to be. It will take time, but if I miss things out by running too quickly, I will be the one effected in the long run.
 
Onto the closing ceremony. We were spoken to by rugby players and now coaches ,Andy Farrell and Graham Roundtree. Both of them spoke of their experiences, and their passion for rugby to play and to coach. Leading the ceremony was Sue Campbell an inspiration to anyone who , following the awards ceremony, she left us with this task.. Close your eyes, remove any of those people who doubt you and have told you, you won't make it. Picture your goal/dream - you've made it there, fill up with the feeling.. Open your eyes. Honestly the feeling that I got hasn't gone away yet, Sue said all of our eyes were glaring full of excitement.. glaring with something to be told, we now have to go and write the story.

So an inspirational weekend at the NYCA, something which will live long in the memory. That's been a bit of a whistle stop tour of what went on, but I want to just put across my feelings and thoughts. This weekend I've really woken up to the journey which I am on, how far I have already come on and the strengths which I have. I need to stop worrying about my weaknesses and just run with them, they will only become strengths if I allow them to flourish. This weekend has been as much about the people around me as the task in hand. I think that Sunday was one of the best days of my life so far, just knowing that I am doing things right and I need to wake up and realise why I was chosen to be a YCM. I've now decided upon my dream, I've got to create a route to get there - at the minute it's just a grass field which I need to find a path through - is that to find one? Or create one?

So thank you to The FA and The Youth Sport Trust for granting me this opportunity to return to the academy. To John Heathcote and Stuart Brown for your support over the weekend. Nat Fitzgerald for handing over such responsibility and allowing us to shape the weekend. Lance Pepper for being a top friend and also for your input, I won't be using 'but' so often any more. Amber Wildgust for putting up with me, being a top co-mentor and opening my eyes to how far I have come. And all of the Young Coaches who have shaped the weekend, worked incredibly hard to develop as people as well as coaches.

'Life's a climb, but the view is great'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG2zyeVRcbs

National Young Coaches Academy, 2013 [Part 1]

From the 3rd-6th of January I was at Loughborough University for the National Young Coaches Academy. Hockey and athletics has been added to the list of sports, so more young coaches and new opinions on coaching. The academy is to help and support coaches to develop their 'how to', personal and 'what' coaching skills. Top level coaches and tutors were in place to challenge the young coaches and push them out of their comfort zones to improve and develop.

This year I was asked to return to the academy and represent The FA as one of their Young Coach Mentors, my partner in crime being Amber Wildgust. Our purpose was to support the young coaches to maximise the opportunity and to achieve their personal best; it sounded so simple but that was not to be.

So, Thursday 3rd January 2013, 10am, Loughborough Stadium held the last training day prior to the NYCA. 18 Young Coach Mentors (2 YCMs for each sport, no YCMs provided for hockey) arrived wondering what to expect, clearly it would be more than just wandering around helping to answer questions. Straight into work, we were split into a colour groups and introduced to our National Faculty member. Team Green was the place to be. Before going into the plans for the weekend we as YCMs were asked 3 questions.

1. From last years’ experience, what have you learnt about you?

2.What did you learn about coaching? [COACHE acronym]

3.What do you need to be ready for?

Huge amounts of paper were put in front of us with our NatFac [National Faculty] taking us through it. Showing us the exact plan for the weekend. It seemed crazy the amount of responsibility handed over to us as YCMs to help deliver and support huge parts of the weekend, genuinely, I didn't think we would be granted a chance to take charge of sessions and shape the weekend.

As YCMs we had to remember that as coaches we are developing personalities not just ability.. Personalities last a lifetime, ability only for a career. Coaches aren't just about whistles and clipboards, we are serving people, not the sport.

Final part of the training day, National Governing Body work. Finding out what was in store for the finals day of the academy. A lot to read through and remember for what was an unbelievable weekend.

•  

Friday morning soon came, time to set up the registration room, tables and kits and for our final briefing. Last minute doubts started creeping as the start of the academy was so close! However boring the checking in process was, it seemed to go quite quickly meaning the first session came around swiftly.

Session 1, An opening to the weekend, ideal coaches, hopes and fears and the main part of the session.. Coaching Philosophy.

Some of the key points from the opening of the session were, what did the young coaches want to get out of the academy? And what were their hopes and fears, some of the answers we got were; they were hoping to meet new people and share ideas between different sports. The main fear was not knowing anybody and not knowing what to expect.

Onto philosophy, what is it? What morals and beliefs do you have when coaching and maybe in life? Who we are is how we coach, but who are we? where are we going? Key words to come from the young coaches were respect, responsiblity and fun. Does this relate to what we want as a coach or how we coach? Our philosophies help when making decisions, do you stick to your morals? Or would you change them to fit around the situation? Already, very early into the camp, huge questions were asked of the coaches, getting them to think and look outside of their comfort zones to find answers.

The key process for developing our philosophy runs in a continuous wheel; You hold certain beliefs and principles, Events occur- an athlete shows disrespect, You respond based on your beliefs, Experience conquers your actions, You change or adjust to strengthen your beliefs. These 5 steps work in a continuous loop, so we were always adjusting to our athlete, situations and our surroundings.

As I've mentioned, coaching isn't just about ability and our performers, it's about coaches finding who they are and then helping athletes know who they are. This is huge, a coach can be either a positive or negative role model, not just a coach but a friend, mentor, motivator.

Last task in the session, mark yourselves on the 3 selves. The real self, the public self and the ideal self. A very simple task, but it looks at where are we now, how are we looked at and how should we look.

The final event of the opening day, was the opening ceremony, with 2 key speakers, John Steele the Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust and Bonita Norris, at the time she was the youngest person to climb Mount. Everest. The key questions and point were inspiring and questions that need to be answered honestly.

John asked, 'Do I understand what it takes to be the best coach?' and 'Am I honestly prepared to make those choices to follow that pathway?'

Bonita's key points were, 'It's not reaching the summit, it was the journey, the struggle that meant the most to me.' She had a moment of inspiration which hit her in the strangest of places, she had a lot of critics saying she couldn't climb Everest, but by setting realistic goals, step by step her dream could be reached. Her climb to reaching her goal was very much an individual mental battle, having confidence and self-belief was vital to her success.

The evening ended, literally on a high. Inspiration was filling the room, and it was an unforgettable talk which will live long in the memory to fill us when dreams seem to fade - but having that belief is the route to success. No-one else can reach your dreams for you, no-one else can believe in you from the 1st to the last minute. A last point for the night, Bonita said that the hardest work was put in when no-one was looking, the times when no-one would help, but she still believed and had confidence. Sure there were bad days when giving up sounded good, but giving up shouldn't be an option, anything is possible if you can win over yourself - after all you're your biggest critic.

 

•  

Day 2 of the Camp [Day 3 for the YCMs] started early, out of the hotel for 6.45am and into our first session for the day at 8.15am. A mini keynote session with Ian Wynne, a former sprint canoer and now coach. Based on organisation and communication Ian spoke about his experience and how he now works with other performers.

The big messages were about how to communicate with others, how people learn differently and that you need to understand how you are communicating and the messages you are portraying. Ian's example was with a visual learner - whilst driving in a speed boat nearby he was trying to tell a performer that his right arm was incorrectly positioned, but he was using his left arm to demonstrate. The performer couldn't understand the message as Ian was telling him to correct his right arm but showing them with his left. This also relates to knowing your performers.

Remember, you have 2 eyes and 2 ears but only 1 mouth, listen and observe twice as much as you speak. Listen whilst you are communicating.

Another situation Ian dealt with was a performer who felt nervous before a race. Instead of racing to an answer, Ian thought about his answer. Instead of throwing out confidence boosting lines, he turned the negative into a positive. He told his athlete that the nerves were the body's way of preparing for the race. Adrenalin was building creating the 'butterflies' but is preparation not nerves. This moment Ian took before giving any advice allowed him to collect his thoughts and give and constructive answers. The athlete went on to win the race.

'In order to fulfil your potential the single greatest asset is the development of your mind.' Ian Wynne.

Session 2 of the day, Communication and Organisation, how do we use it? and how can it be effective? There are a number of ways to communicate, but in terms of a conversation there are some key points; what you are saying is key - but it's not just what you say but how you say it. Eye contact, to be trusted and look like you want to be in the conversation keep eye contact and body language, you can give out messages without saying a word. One thing I've learnt is even when talking and giving eye contact, I still talk with my hands.

There are 3 different types of learners, visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. So when coaching we could look at communicating with each type of learner to get the point across. Maybe using whiteboards, marking out positions using bibs in a small space, demonstrate and show case someone performing correctly.

Communication is needed all of the time especially between coach and athlete. A bond must be built, a kind of honesty and trust. Talking about goals, performance, personal life, and anything which might affect the athlete. As a coach we should be looking at the messages which we are sending and receiving. Are our messages getting across how we intend, what are we receiving? Not always straight away in a verbal sense, maybe in a body language or even how the performer reacts physically.

In terms of organisation, there is a basic guide to follow when putting together a session and its adaptations. STEP, Space, Task, Equipment and People. So when putting together a session think about the space, size of your facility and size of your drill. The task, what do you want your performers to do and what are the aims. What equipment do you have? Can you make use of it? People, who will be in your session and what is their ability level? How do they learn? In terms of adapting sessions, can the space be made bigger or smaller? Have you got easier and harder progressions? Can use change the equipment, introduce and take away objects to aid the performers? and the people, what if you are low on numbers or even have more people than expected? Have you planned for it?

... continued in part 2.

Wrekin Panthers Barmy Army

I feel that I have missed out a huge part of my football history, from 2005-2010 I played for Wrekin Panthers Girls FC. These a huge 5 years if my life, and I couldn't have spent them with a better team. These 5 years have propelled me into staying within football as other agents of teaching.

I started playing football all of those years ago to get away from home and to get over my parents splitting up. I was a centre half who thought playing 'hoof it and run' with the strikers was a good stress reliever. Clearly our strikers thought otherwise.

I believe that these 5 years have built me as a person, and they made football my vehicle. A vehicle to moving on in life, a vehicle to making friends and  progressing as a football player. More importantly, football was a vehicle to making me who I am today. The term 'It's only a game' doesn't apply when you've been in the sport for so long and witnessed the affects it has. Without football I wouldn't have the social skills I have now.

Sport is all about respect and fair play, learning how to act and react when on and off the field, knowing the rights and wrongs  of the game, understanding your team mates, listening to your managers, looking to progress as a team not just an individual, cohesion of a team - supporting each other, learning how to win and lose. My 5 years of playing were a process of growing up and learning how to fit into the world, without these lessons I wouldn't be prepared for everyday life. Realistically this is what coaches should be looking to promote, not the 'winning is everything' concept - nobody learns from that.

I hope that you can see how my footballing lessons transfer directly into everyday life. Just because the sport is football, that doesn't mean that's all i'm learning about. Yes, I will admit, we were a successful team in terms of trophies and league titles.. but you don't win things  by accident. A lot of time is spent creating a team, looking to hit a mutual aim. Without effective teamwork, comunication and belief within each other, no team would be successful.

Looking at the COACH acronym: Commuication, Organisation, Adaptability, Compassion, Honesty, these are social skills for any work place not just for coaches. I was taught these growing up in fooball, not by sitting in a class room, but first hand. 
Communication, with my team mates, coaches, referee. Doing the talking with my feet, not my mouth.
Organisation, how is the team set up, where should I be in relation to the pitch, where should everyone else be.
Adaptability, no game is the same, I've not played centre half for 5 years, we've never always been winning games, as players you adapt to the game and those around you.
Compassion, caring about every team member, wanting to help those around you and recognising when and how to deal with situations and people.
Honesty, speaks for itself. You've got to be honest to progress. Not everyone wants to hear it straight up, but sometimes that is what's needed to get people going.

I've not played with amazing footballers, but amazing people, developed by phenominal people, not necessarily phenomincal coaches. A coach plays many roles; teacher, motivator, friend... I had 2 role models to look up to, and many team mates to look at for inspiration.

This sporting up-bringing has given me morals to stick by, beliefs to follow and a route to being who I am. Ultimately, the support of others has given me motivation and a reason to stay witin football. I could have given up at the end of my Wrekin career [when my knees gave up] but, why should I? When 5 years of learning has taught me to follow my dreams, believe in what your're doing and gamble, because the harder you try - there's more of a chance it will pay off.

Yes, this has dipped back into history and gone back further than my previous posts, but everything happens for a reason. My injury has given me an opportunity to put into practice what I've been taught and coach others to grow up as people, after all that's all we're doing.. developing people, not just players.

Thank you Paul Barnes, Mike Nadal and Wrekin Panthers 2005-2010.

WREKIN PANTHERS BARMY ARMY!

Summer of 2012

I have now gone through [briefly] my 2 years of college, more specifically how I got involved with volunteering in football. Since the FA Football Futures Camp in July numerous other event have occurred with have now shaped this season 2012/13 and my time at University. I am hoping that this blog can bring my voluntary events up to date.

I won 2 awards for my voluntary efforts last season, firstly I was selected as AFC Telford United Ladies' 'Unsung Hero' award. Secondly, I was awarded the FA McDonald's Community Award 'Young Volunteer of The Year' for Shropshire FA. 2 awards which I am very proud of, to be recognised for my efforts is an amazing feeling - however I don't volunteer my time to win awards and or be recognised. I look to develop players and people, and develop football in general.

As I mentioned in a previous post/blog, over the season 2011/12 I was a part of the FA Coach Scholarship Programme, for working hard and sticking to deadlines I a was 1 of 9 coaches to be offered a place on the Scholarship for a second season [2012/13]. Another great achievement, but I didn't work hard to be offered a place again. I worked hard because that it my philosophy. 'If you're not going to do something properly, then why do it at all?'

Being a part of the Scholarship for a second season has already shown benefits. The Youth Sport Trust, National Young Coaches Academy is coming around for it's second event. I have been asked to attend the event again, as a mentor for the FA. Until this event comes up I won't fully know the ins and outs of my role and what I will be doing. However, I am very much looking forwards to the event after my success there last season.

Over the summer, I completed the FA Youth Award Module 2. This was just as good as the Module 1, in my opinion they are the best awards which the FA run, mainly because I adhere to that method of coaching. On the last day of the course I set my 3 goals for the future

• To push myself into 'difficult sitautions' to then develop as a person.
• Complete my University degree.
• To have a more successful season in terms of coaching and volunteering compared to last season.

The final part of my summer, probably the most exciting part, I was successful in applying for a voluntary position working for the Independent Schools Football Association [ISFA]. As part of this role I get to travel around the country to set up football tournaments, these will be concluding at the newly opened St. George's Park in April. I hope to blog after each event which I attend. So for I have attended 3 events, at Chigwell, Cumnor House and Charterhouse. I have been working on The National Under 11s, 7-a-side Tournament.

Since moving to UCLan [University of Central Lancashire] I have linked up with Lancashire FA and I am now working with Penwortham Under 17s Girls and Springfields Under 7s. Yes this is very time consuming considering I am studying for a degree, but I am very much enjoying myself working with the teams.

I guess this now brings you all up to date with my past voluntary career, and where I am now.  I want to sign this blog off with a quote which has inspired me to reach my dreams and don't let anything get in the way.

"Do what you really want to do,
Don't let the words of others hold you back.
Take a step towards your dream.
As you move closer new opportunities will open up that you never imagined possible.
The journey will be full of struggle, but I learned that the greater the struggle; the greater the victory!
As you go for your dream, you will inspire others to live their own."

Rudy Ruettiger

Leader Life, Leader Legacy

The FA Football Futures Leadership Camp, 16-20^th July 2012

Leader Life, Leader Legacy.

Excitement built, nerves jangled and the level of anticipation rose, well for some people it did. On arrival at Hereford Blind College, Take that – Never Forget was blasting out of my car, bags were falling out of my hands and t-shirts were being piled on top. The friendly and familiar faces of Camp staff were greeted by 100 enthusiastic football leaders.

Following the distribution of room keys, ice-breakers and team activities began; blindfolded assault courses and bowling to kick off. A task where you really didn’t know where to put your hands!! Then came the entrance of Laurisa Robson and her sprinkler dance, who knew she would be such an influential character throughout the week?! Certainly not the 20 of us playing ‘Hi, I’m an egg.’

Mystery tours across the campus lead us to the main hall; a room filled with anticipation and senior team members who knew everything about you, even though there had been no previous meetings. The ceremony really drove home the key messages for the week; take everything you can, have fun and create a legacy of your own. Feeling inspired yet? Well this is where great futures will begin.

After lunch, or an hour long banter session if you were me, came our first workshop. Group 4 to the main hall for media. Personally I saw a few familiar faces, this creating a positive atmosphere for the session to follow.

Task:- create a 3 minute video, come up with your own idea, but 1 minute must be around the Mars Just Play Scheme. You have 1 hour to come up with an idea, sort out roles, plan, rehearse and then deliver.

So many great ideas came from the session, since when was there an age limit on Big Macs and Mars bars?! But on a serious note, there were many lessons to be learnt from the session. Like how much planning goes into such a small product. The initial idea can take so long to find, but without it you can’t move onto the next step.

I took a personal message away from this workshop, the media can translate so easily into the front line of football,

We as leaders are like the writers and directors of media, without us there isn’t guidance or someone to follow. We can only offer advice and start the ball, but other leaders, coaches and players must keep it rolling.

Reflection time turned out to be the most important part of my time at Camp. It was time to think and write my thoughts for the day, discuss opinions and what we want to get out of Camp. Common themes were to gain knowledge, ideas and to have fun. From this session I was able to create 3 goals for the week:

1.       To be inspired, so that I can then go and inspire.

2.       To grow as a person with knowledge and understanding.

3.       To have a clearer image of where to go next in terms of football and my pathway.

 

Evening activates were the talk of the day, Team Nigeria remarkably got a high score on the quiz...

This was soon to be an evening with Dermot Collins, the main messages I took from this session were,

‘How to do we make this person better? How do we make them perform better? And sometimes you have to go sideways before being able to take a step forwards. Don’t be afraid of this side-step, in the long run it will be for the better.

Back in the dorms, bonds turned into friendships, and late night thinking turned into personal reflection. Not forgetting the most epic 'hide and seek,' shame that the seeker didn't come looking for well over half an hour!

Ø   

So day 2 started off early, thanks to the loud and enthusiastic running club. Each morning I found myself to be one of the first at breakfast, which wasn’t a problem, it just allowed more reflection time and time to wake up. Let’s be honest I’m not a morning person!

The first session of the day, Futsal with Karl Lines, another familiar face, and an influential character to my football futures journey so far. This session was a bit like jumping in at the deep end, opening up a new sport, techniques and ideas. I think that everyone would agree, the session created ideas which would transfer into football and it also questioned how we coach. For most this was a learning curve, we should be thinking about what it best for our players, not what makes us look like a better coach.

But then are we coaching right? Is trapping the ball wrong? Or are we coaching the wrong technique? If we look at inclusivity, surely Futsal is the way forwards. The ball challenges all players, not just those technically gifted.

Onto sports development with Tina Reed. For me, a workshop which I have learnt the most from; I didn’t realise what football development officers do and how much they cover. Certain parts of the workshop were about areas within football which I’ve been part of, more so than what I thought it would be.

Task – produce and put forwards an idea to the Youth Council for the Legacy Fund.

A lot of similar ideas came from the task, similar but not the same. Most were surrounding football for all and equality. It was great to see that the Youth Council members were impressed by the ideas put forwards and the feedback given.

If you build a bridge, you’re not the only one who will walk over it... think of all those who will follow. Maybe not all at once, but they will come, look and then continue to follow in your footsteps.

Our final workshop for the day was coaching. The key messages to come from this were; don’t force something which isn’t necessary. Just because you have planned progressions doesn’t mean you have to use them. This would be a lot to do with knowing your players and recognising learning methods, progression speed and when they are ready to move on.

Within this session I took a bit of a step back during the task of planning a session. I felt that some people took control of the group, but wouldn’t loosen their grip to let others in. I think that some sessions have been really eye opening to how people develop and progress, being able to delegate is a huge part of working as a team. Sometimes workshops have hidden messages; the title isn’t always the topic.

Onto reflection time, my favourite part of Camp, without a doubt. Time with our Camp Councillor and enthusiast, Dawn Georgeson, to reflect upon the day’s events. This session was built up on 3 parts, a blindfolded assault course, team discussions and the post-it game (where you think of a word to describe who’s next to you, then they have to guess the word). All are very simple, but very effective. My 2 words for the day; inspiring and insightful.

Final part of the day, evening activity! Olympic theme, Task, create an Olympic sport using the devices given. After having time to think we came up with a tennis like game using peaked cones and a handball. Each group was very creative and able to come up with fresh ideas, which would definitely have intrigued Lord Coe.

 

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Another late night and early morning proved by the fact I put brown sugar on my corn flakes not white! Luckily this wasn’t a theme which carried on through the day.

Our first workshop of the day was equality, a session which no-one knew much about, but took a lot from. Equality isn’t just about racism; there are so many stereotypes and barriers which need to be broken down. The 3 key words which came from the session; equality, diversity and equal opportunities; equality is allowing people to have equal opportunities, not allowing diversity to get in the way.

Something else which came from the workshop, we don’t act differently around others. We adjust to the environment and situation and the needs of others. Being able to recognise when to adjust to the needs of others is a great skill to have. Laurisa Robson and Dawn Georgeson are 2 top examples, and they portray this skill immensely well.

Final message on equality: CRAS,

Consistent/ Content

Respect

Appropriate

Sensitive.

Moving onto refereeing, to start with we looked at the key skills of a referee or assistant. Key quality; tolerance, in most situations. To be a top referee you need to ignore those with an irrelevant opinion. You need to focus on the main roles of a referee, not imaginary ones. Being a referee has its ups and downs, just like anything else. If you can stick it out through the bad/tough times, then the highs are a lot more beneficial. All in all, making you a better person.

After lunch came our specialist training, mine was coaching, with Paul Bridson and Jack Walton. So firstly, what did we want from the sessions? What do we expect? Following this we created our own sessions and then looked at the practical aspect of coaching. Although a lot of notes were taken within this session, the hard work and analysis came in during Thursday’s sessions. The main thoughts going in Thursday, drills/sessions must be realistic and beneficial to the game. Food for thought going into day 4.

In we went for reflection, a team quiz. The theme was the Football Futures Camp and what had been learnt. Also it turned out to be Nelson Mandela’s 94^th birthday, not 96^th.

This lead on nicely into the evening activity, Football Future’s Got Talent. A clever theme to get everyone active. This brought out a different side to people. It was great to see how people dealt with the pressure and how creative people could be.

Next came a session lead by Matt Jones, who opened up the Mash Up initiative to us all and then showing us (practically) how it would work. Mash Up sessions are chances to coach, referee and play on a recreational level. 6 top tips:

Listening

Engage

Graft

Act

Create

Yourself

"You only enjoy it if you want to enjoy it. You only get out what you put in."

An hour of fruit fun followed in the dorms, who knew apples could make such good entertainment?!

 

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Getting straight into day 4 and the first specialist coaching session of the day. To begin with we analysed Wednesday’s session and it’s key messages,

ü  Practices need to be realistic of game related in order for them to be beneficial to the players.

ü  Always question and challenge players to get and keep them involved. This enables a learning process. Players thinking not just feeding off a plate.

ü  If there is no success, progressions were added to achieve success,

The more problems there are to solve, the higher the enjoyment level. Practice in context to the game, under load, don’t always overload.

Task – create a 15-20 minute session surrounding a theme, forward passing. In our group of 4 we created a session to then go and deliver.

Outside we were delivering our sessions and smashing windows. In my opinion a lot was to be gained from watching other coaches, new tips and ideas, but also it show-cased how different people coach and their opinions.

During these sessions I spoke to a number of people, asking for their views and opinions. This again opened up new opinions and things to look out for. Each session was different, not just the content but also the delivery. From these sessions you can already see that the future will be bright.

Onto reflection and evening activities. During reflection we covered the week and wrote a one liner to describe the week in our view. ‘Inspiration can be found in the places you least expect’ was pretty much mine. Next came the ‘Post-It’ game (round 2, describe someone with a word.) mine was considerate, and also inspiring.

To finish the day, DISCO TIME! The fancy dress code, LEGACY. Everyone had a Boomtastic time, described as ‘the best sober party ever.’ The final song of Take That – Never Forget summarised the week perfectly.

 

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Our final day of Camp started with a good old sing song at breakfast, with Cee Lo Green – Forget You, which really set the mood for the day.

The last activity was a festival put together by the football development group. Based around the Mars Just Play Scheme, so not just a straight forward tournament, an event built around having fun and different ways to be involved.

I spoke to a number of people surrounding Camp, asking for their opinions; the general consensus was that Camp 2012 was amazing and 100% the best one yet!

The closing ceremony was so inspiring. Ted Grizzel and Dan English’s speeches were amazing. I hope that everyone took something from it, and will re-use this inspiration within their community. Don’t be the one who says they want to do something, be the difference...go and do it.

Everyone will take something from Camp, inspiration, new drills, experience or just new gear! I’ve left Camp as a better person, with a fresh mindset and a number of targets to hit. Leaders are already making and leaving their legacy; mine won’t be a quick fix action, but a step process to when I’m needed.

‘Camp is like dropping a stone in to water and watching the ripples that follow.’ Matt Chester

Thank you to everyone involved, those who had the idea, made it happen and created an environment where so much learning and future building could take place.

Lead a life, lead a legacy.

Up 'til now #2

[September 2011] Leading straight off from the last post, my second year of college started with disappointment, I was still not playing football or any sport. However, I had a wonderful time at Oswestry Hosptial and with an MRI machine! I was the class ref for volleyball, that's as close as I got to play sport at college.

In terms of volunteering, the season started off really well. I had completed my football referee's course and passed. I felt more involved with AFC Telford United Ladies, and new events were thrown at me as soon as I arrived back at college. FFT meetings, Disability Courses, Team19 and news of a brand new 3rd generation facility being built.

Before any of this came the turning point of the season, in September, I was nominated for The FA Coach Scholarship Programme, I was successful and awarded a place on the programme. This involved a mentor, the opportunity to got to numerous events, and improve as a coach. It seemed all of the hard work and hours put in were worth while, and recognised. This opened up a new chapter in my voluntary life. I became a part of Wrekin Juniors Under 11 Girls FC, a team which I think I had a huge impact on, but they also impacted upon me. They enabled me to become a better coach and look at football in a different light. I wasn't just a coach, I was a friend, a teacher and a role model.

Soon after finding out about the Scholarship programme, Team19 was being launch at TCAT (Telford College of Arts and Technology) I was heavily involved with the launch. I gave a speech about how football had influenced me so far. I helped run the whole event and looked over the female side to the opening Team19 event.

In early February [2012] I saw another physio about my knees, this was very positive and I couldn't wait to implement the new exercises. On that same day I travelled to Loughborough Univeristy to be a part of the first ever Youth Sport Trust, National Young Coaches Academy. I was 1 of 20 coaches representing the FA, with 120 other young people representing other sports. The academy was a great success, an amazing learning environment was created so that a mass amount of learning could take place. I came away as 1 of 6 award winner, I gained the 'Organisation Award' for being a positive thinker and reflectr over the 3 day event.

I attended other CPD events over the course of the season, 1 in Swindon with the Scholarship Programme for 2 days. In service events run by Shropshire FA. And I completed the FA Youth Module 1 Award.

By this point the new 3rd Generation sports facility was ready to be opened. Another event which I was involved in, again delivering a speech, running the female event and then closing down the event.

In this part of the blog, I have only given you a few of the events and activities which I was involvd within. I also worked at the Shropshire Olympian Festival, The Shropshire School Games and I'd become a sports maker. This is around May of 2012, I left college with 3 Distinction* [D*D*D*] and an offer from the University of Central Lancashire. Events were already being lined up for the summer. My level 2 coaching course, The FA Football Futures Camp and preparationf for Septmber 2012 for my volunteering to continue in Preston.

Before I unveil my Football Futures Camp blog I want to show how football can give a good and bad side to confidence and improving me as a person. Following the first week of my Level 2, I asked to be taken off the course. This was a week that I really want to try and forget. A week of football which had a detromental affect on my confidence, and opinions of myself as a coach. Clearly I wasn't prepared to be shouted out for a week, to feel smaller than a paper clip. Although I've had many positives within football, it seems that the negatives have been pretty big.

Up 'Til Now #1

Let me take you back to September, 2010. I had just started college, Sports Studies BTEC National Extended Diploma. A new start, a new chance to experience a different level of football, or at least I thought.. 2 weeks in and football was over. Doctors told me to stop playing to reduce the pressure being applied to my knees. The pain was excruciating and clearly this was the best option, physio had already been advised. Please understand, I'm 6 foot tall, a problem was already on the cards.

Well this is where my story begins, I thought that I would be back playing after a short rest period, wrong, 1 month turned into 3, 3 months turned into the year, over 2 years on I'm still not playing.  

However, I didn't give up football like my knees gave up on me. I kept attending training sessions, matches, social events. Through the harshest of weathers, I was always on time, watching. I got more involved with football from watching and giving my opinions, looking to help indivuals. All these hours soon added up, before I knew it, 50-60 hours had been clocked into my brain, soon to be a Football Futures log book. All of these hours counted, and could result in rewards. At the time clocking hours wasn't important, I wanted to be on the pitch. But the longer time went on, the more I recognised how not playing would be a long term idea.

Within college, I soon became a member of the Football Focus Team (FFT), our aim was to increase opportunities for young people to have the chance to get involved within football. Everything seemed to roll into each other at the time, one opportunity lead to the next, my logged hours were increasing drastically every week. This passion and drive to see past my injury has ultimately led me to where I am now.

I continued to be a part of the college women's team and AFC Telford United Ladies as much as I could, looking for new ideas and routes into football. The 2010/11 season was over and I have clocked up just over 200 voluntary hour, a year and a half on I'm above and beyond 650 voluntary hours. The season 2010/11 I missed 1 training session all year, covering 2 teams, I stopped playing 1 week into October.

This season finished on a high, I was managing AFC Telford United Ladies in the Women's Summer League, clearly a mark of where I had progressed onto, an injured spectator, to a coach/manager. Little did I know how my voluntary career would propel over my second college year, and into the future.