Coaching For The Brave

I've seen a quote that says "The whole of the game is present in Rondos" I'm not sure about this but since discovering them I have come to see them as an important tool for youth development. However, when I talk to other coaches I sometimes get the idea that they are misunderstood.  Opinions tend to vary from " Ah, the secret weapon of Barcelona " to " Piggy in the middle? " I certainly found that lot's of coaches I know use what they call a Rondo as some kind of warm up before sessions or games start and my own 9 year olds saw it as just a bit of fun when I introduced them to it. The problem is, the Rondo is so much more and can be used in many different ways. After asking my players what they thought about Rondos I decided I needed to reintroduce them and highlight their effectiveness in a new way. Below is a description of how I did this in a recent session. We've probably all seen this set up and this 4v2 exercise is how...

If you've read previous posts, It would be easy to come to the conclusion that I disagree with coaching of any kind. This is simply not true. After all, I'm a football coach. I simply don't see learning as the only, or possibly even the main reason why kids get involved with football. But guess what, I do coach. I try to think about my sessions, my children and what could be needed at any point. I also ask them how they are feeling and whether they just want to play. It really is no big deal.  In this post, I'm going to discuss my interest in Rondo's, how I feel they can be unrealistic and how I've tried to morph some of them into Games.  To help with this I'll simply lay out a session that focuses on Transitions and walk you through how and why I designed the session as I did. Transitions.  Over the last 3 years my coaching has focused on the Principles of the Game and what this means for a Footballer. Most people know these Principles and I fin...

Over the years football has become more and more commercial. At its highest levels the game is now so professional and scientific it bears little resemblance to that played just a generation ago. This has brought great benefits for players, supporters and TV audiences around the world. A whole industry has erupted to support the game, spawning Directors of Football, Sports Psychologists, Performance Analysts and even Sleep Advisers. Clubs have poured millions into Elite Academies for those identified as having a chance of reaching the top and reaping the rewards. Young Starlets that graduate from these Centres of Excellence are paid thousands of pounds per week despite never having done anything of merit in the game. Coaches are trained and can't wait to get into the talent factories as a "first step on the rung" to a dream full time job with a club. Kids as young as nine and ten have a Golden ticket dangled in front of them and doting, eager parents hapi...

It's 10:30 on a Saturday morning and already your beloved angels are down 5:0. What is a coach to do?  Should referees and leagues have plans in place to save young children from large score lines or should the game be allowed to find its own winners and losers? I've seen some coaches advocate that the team that is currently winning should be asked/forced to play in ways that make the game "fairer" for the sake of the other players. You know the sort of thing, twenty passes before scoring, play with weaker foot etc. This seems like a noble attempt to spare some children's blushes but sometimes I wonder if all it actually does is coddle the ego of the watching parents. The nature of club and league football at really young ages seems to create the problem not over zealous coaches. Although I've seen that also.  One thing I'm sure about though is this issue is not about DEVELOPMENT. It gets mixed up with "well this is a grea...