So, I’ve got a friend that did Psychology at University. Whenever we’re in the pub or at a party and he meets new people, eventually it comes up in conversation, and as soon as it does people say things like ‘did it make you look at people differently?’ or ‘are you analyzing me now?!’. He is an analytical man, he takes situations and breaks them down, he gives decent advice, but is he that kind of guy because he studied psychology, or did he study psychology because he’s that kind of guy?
The thing with training in something or studying something is that whilst you can learn skills and techniques, as discussed in the ‘It’s not what you know’ blog, it will always come down to a question of attitude and approach. I did my coaching badges prior to it being a compulsory, or certainly highly recommended, element of working with children. I wanted to learn, I wanted to develop my coaching but I also wanted to test my own beliefs and approach against what was being taught and what was being sold as the ‘right way’ to coach.
People are different, some are open to new ideas, some believe that they know best and will resolutely hold onto that opinion even in the face of evidence or popular opinion. I’m quite stubborn, but luckily my personal beliefs, based upon a lot of experience and observation, marry quite closely with the general approach being taught within FA courses.
If what I had heard or what had been given within the coaching courses that I’ve attended had been conflicting with my own beliefs would I have simply stopped believing what I believe and accepted their word for it? Probably not. However, I was open to ideas and approaches and the courses that I have done, have challenged my thinking and I have changed as a coach as a result.
At this time, most clubs and leagues strongly suggest attendance on a Level 1 course if you are coaching youth football. Responses that I’ve heard from people attending range from the positive to ‘waste of time, I knew all of that already’. If you believed that children learn best by being competitive at the earliest possible point to build resilience and a winning mentality then would being made to go on a Level 1 change your mind? If you believed that children develop best within an environment where the emphasis is completely on fun and participation with no competition at all then would a Level 1 course alter your opinion? In both scenarios it might challenge that belief but if you do the right things in the course you’ll be fine to go back to your club and coach your group as you see fit without any oversight or challenge unless you overstep the mark so far that you reach a safeguarding concern.
A coaching badge or qualification proves that you went on the course, that you stayed until the end, and that you learnt enough techniques, drills and skills to pass the assessment phase. It does not, particularly in the earlier courses, mean that you subscribe to the FA’s ideas regarding how children develop, that you will use those techniques or approaches with your players or that you will coach in a certain way. You might be an amazing coach who took what they needed from the course and adapted it into your own fantastic sessions, or you might be a poor coach who copies the drills with absolute accuracy but brings an approach and an ethos that completely misses the point making them ineffective.
I know a coach, who has done courses and has badges, who has spent 20 minutes of an hour-long session doing corner routines with 7 year olds on more than one occasion. You may think that that is a perfectly sensible thing to do with a group that do play matches in which corners will occur; you might think that that a 7 year old should be spending time with the ball at their feet not standing in a penalty area waiting for another child to cross it. Personally, I very strongly believe in the latter or those two options. Did my coaching qualifications tell me that? Yes, but more importantly I already completely believed it to be the case.
It is not my job, nor the job of this or any other website to judge you as a coach, and writing a blog does not qualify me to say what is right or wrong, it just provides a platform to express an opinion. That opinion is that coaching is about identity and ethos, about knowing who you are and how you will approach your job developing young players. The FA have a clear, and considered belief on how to coach children to develop well rounded and capable adult players, and this is consistent through their courses and qualifications. If you are coaching and doing it in a way that is not in-line with that approach, whether you’ve done a badge or not, then nobody can stop you, provided that you don’t do anything too wrong, but is declaring yourself a qualified coach if you aren’t coaching with the ethos of the qualification really ok?
The thing with training in something or studying something is that whilst you can learn skills and techniques, as discussed in the ‘It’s not what you know’ blog, it will always come down to a question of attitude and approach. I did my coaching badges prior to it being a compulsory, or certainly highly recommended, element of working with children. I wanted to learn, I wanted to develop my coaching but I also wanted to test my own beliefs and approach against what was being taught and what was being sold as the ‘right way’ to coach.
People are different, some are open to new ideas, some believe that they know best and will resolutely hold onto that opinion even in the face of evidence or popular opinion. I’m quite stubborn, but luckily my personal beliefs, based upon a lot of experience and observation, marry quite closely with the general approach being taught within FA courses.
If what I had heard or what had been given within the coaching courses that I’ve attended had been conflicting with my own beliefs would I have simply stopped believing what I believe and accepted their word for it? Probably not. However, I was open to ideas and approaches and the courses that I have done, have challenged my thinking and I have changed as a coach as a result.
At this time, most clubs and leagues strongly suggest attendance on a Level 1 course if you are coaching youth football. Responses that I’ve heard from people attending range from the positive to ‘waste of time, I knew all of that already’. If you believed that children learn best by being competitive at the earliest possible point to build resilience and a winning mentality then would being made to go on a Level 1 change your mind? If you believed that children develop best within an environment where the emphasis is completely on fun and participation with no competition at all then would a Level 1 course alter your opinion? In both scenarios it might challenge that belief but if you do the right things in the course you’ll be fine to go back to your club and coach your group as you see fit without any oversight or challenge unless you overstep the mark so far that you reach a safeguarding concern.
A coaching badge or qualification proves that you went on the course, that you stayed until the end, and that you learnt enough techniques, drills and skills to pass the assessment phase. It does not, particularly in the earlier courses, mean that you subscribe to the FA’s ideas regarding how children develop, that you will use those techniques or approaches with your players or that you will coach in a certain way. You might be an amazing coach who took what they needed from the course and adapted it into your own fantastic sessions, or you might be a poor coach who copies the drills with absolute accuracy but brings an approach and an ethos that completely misses the point making them ineffective.
I know a coach, who has done courses and has badges, who has spent 20 minutes of an hour-long session doing corner routines with 7 year olds on more than one occasion. You may think that that is a perfectly sensible thing to do with a group that do play matches in which corners will occur; you might think that that a 7 year old should be spending time with the ball at their feet not standing in a penalty area waiting for another child to cross it. Personally, I very strongly believe in the latter or those two options. Did my coaching qualifications tell me that? Yes, but more importantly I already completely believed it to be the case.
It is not my job, nor the job of this or any other website to judge you as a coach, and writing a blog does not qualify me to say what is right or wrong, it just provides a platform to express an opinion. That opinion is that coaching is about identity and ethos, about knowing who you are and how you will approach your job developing young players. The FA have a clear, and considered belief on how to coach children to develop well rounded and capable adult players, and this is consistent through their courses and qualifications. If you are coaching and doing it in a way that is not in-line with that approach, whether you’ve done a badge or not, then nobody can stop you, provided that you don’t do anything too wrong, but is declaring yourself a qualified coach if you aren’t coaching with the ethos of the qualification really ok?
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