I was hoping for someone on here to suggest something different to teaching the sharp cut. How someone else has had success learning/teaching this technique.

I don't know whether it is my poor demonstration. It may not be as bad as I think, as there has been rapid development in players imparting other techniques using the same teaching process.

I don't know whether it is more difficult than I think.

When Jo Peters worked with the female NTC in Tasmania , the players picked it up pretty quickly. They may have been taught in
precursory sessions by then Tassie NTC coach, and now Melbourne Victory female coach, Vicky Linton.


There has been a suggestion I've been talking to myself. Others have requested updated posts about the football school. There were 20 plus more visits since when I last posted a few days ago.

Edited by Decentric: 15/5/2011 02:45:04 PM

An interesting dilemma is this.

I have two guys in junior team H, who want to clown around, whilst others diligently practise techniques, wanting to improve as players.

I split them up from working with each other. They sulked. Both enjoyed game reinforcement and SSGs much more, but seemed bored learning deception techniques and general technique acquisition that the rest of the team enjoy. They have both got powerful shots.

Do I give them a different programme? They could play one v one game SSGs in a small grid, whilst other players are learning body swerves, passing/ receiving exercises, etc.

Other players may want to do the same thing.

The two guys could feel labelled as worthless by not doing the same as others.

The two recalcitrants may enjoy sessions more. They may be typical Generation Y computer nerds who love Play Station etc, instead, and have been sent to do football by parents for child care purposes.

It may be prudent to label as them as future social players, who have no interest in developing themselves to be the best player they can be.

These are dilemmas which extend to general classroom teaching.

What age?

Logistics for Football For Everyone school are currently problematic.

At the moment we are only working with one team, H, based in the E region. This eventuated from a session I took for a TD for the E region to evaluate whether he was going to recommend FFE for his committee to adopt. We want to use their ground at E headquarters. It is a superb playing surface and central position.
The concept we have is for players from around the E region to attend the venue once per week who want some extra football with FFE.

TD, J, from region E, is very young. Committee meetings keep deferring our presentation to the commitee, focusing on administration of rosters etc. I can see the end of the season arriving before we know it.


We have Premier League club N. They seemed very keen.
N had a 50 year celebration of their club recently and have decided they can't start anything till mid June. We think their ground is ideally located in a central location to do similar things to the region E. They already have players committed to providing senior role models at FFE sessions.
Those familar with the Tassie football milieu know that if we have a wet winter, many grounds are often closed for training by councils. Late June/July/August is often restricted for training outside by inclement weather.

We have Premier League club T. They sounded very keen, but I have had to have been the pro-active partner in communication. Communication fades if I don' initiate. I feel like leaving the ball in their court.

The refugee player scenario is frustrating.

There is only one youth worker at the MIgrant Resource Centre. She seems to know the target refugees from Nepal and Burma, who love football. She always seems to have professional development or other commitments on Thursdays when we work at club H.
Nevertheless, she thinks the scheme is an excellent idea and terrific for assimilation. She cannot drive the bus on that day. Club H are very happy to have them join in too.
Football Federation Tasmania may have supplementary equipment for them if they participate in sessions.

This scenario has been continuing for weeks without the refugees participating. It has been recommended that we try Centrecare to assist in transportation. The Centrecare volunteer hasn't returned phone calls.
The Tassie FFA TD says this is what they confront all the time. When I used try and organise teaching excurions, I could always find a solution to issues like this. The teachers at their school want to help too, but they can't organise a bus from 3.15 to 5 pm when the junior club H practises.

I am annoyed with Premier League club, O, for humouring me for 5 months, that FFE was going to operate at that their home ground with their logistical support. I found out, inadvertently, that club O, had gone in a different direction this March.

I would have been very happy for them to have said an emphatic, "No," five months before when I originally approached them! I could have resolved many of these issues before the season commenced.

Edited by Decentric: 15/5/2011 02:28:21 PM

One thing which is working well is the support of the Tassie branch of FFA coaching department.

We will now sit down with the assistant TD and map out where we can step in to cover where they don't have the person power.

The state FFA TD sees us as able to operate on a partnership basis. We have many common goals.

This would never have happened in the past with previous Tassie FFA coaching regimes.

The local football media will run an article on FFE on the main Tasmanian football website/blog. They covered a FFE session I took last week. It has 1400 daily visitors.

The journo witnessed the kids trying to perform some awful sharp Cuts, the biggest and only failure of FFE so far.
Great! #-o

There may be an avalanche of requests for FFE to work with junior clubs after an interview and photos appear on the site.

I personally have been taken to task by a number of site participants who chide me for in depth tactical analysis of games, yet not coaching. Fair point. I am now rectifying it. Unfortunately, I will lose my anonymity on this website/blog.

11 and 12 year olds.

You aren't talking to yourself mate, it is proving to be a very interesting read!

Decentric,

The kids may or not be there because they want to be. Pehaps the parents send them off for free baby sitting purposes. What you need to do is ask the kids "Why are they there?" Do they want to be there?

As a parent I go a 50/50 rule. They must come the first 50% then i'll help with the other 50%.

Coaches that teach performance skills and training firstly don't waste time with kids that do not want to be there. It's a waste of the coaches time, and also interfere's with the other kids who do want to be there by distraction. Chances are if the two kids are mucking around then their mentality will be their undoing.

Good luck.

Also consider a few things.

Do the parents watch them train or just drop them off and dissappear?

In most cases if the parents watched them train the kids behave themselves.

Are the parents always on time to pick them up or do you wait around for them?

If your waiting around for the kids to be picked up then you are treated like a baby sitting service. Put a stop to this straight away.

It might seem a bit tough as your doing this out of the goodness of your heart but this benefits no-one and distracts you from your efforts.

More good questions and solutions offered by other posters here. Thanks.

I'll return to them when I can as I have a spare moment.

This project is taking us to areas, organisations and people I never thought it would.

It is also taking up a lot more time than I thought it would, but it is very exciting.

Decentric,

Something which may help is a good talk prior to commencement of giving the training.

Although the cost to players and clubs is free the knowledge and skills they are learning comes at a cost to you and clubs in the way of time, knowledge and equipement. The value of these things must be stressed.

All too often when something is free there sometimes comes a certain view its worth what they pay for it. Don't be shy to stress the hidden costs. This will add value and respect to what you are giving.

It is not my team. This is a temporary scenario working with under 12s from team H. Every session with them could be their last session that we visit the club.
As soon as we have a premier league club and/or junior regional association HQ, we will ask any players from this team to attend training sessions if they want to travel for extra football. ATM we are working with a club side H. Any day it could change.

I am very, very confident with kids. If it were my team, I would suggest to the recalcitrants not to come to training at all if they are not keen. I would say I don't want to waste my time if they are not interested, because there are plenty of their teammates who are. I think I've already suggested this to someone before in this team.

We will have the refugee layers from Nepal and Burma at the next session. I will pair up all the refugee players with an Aussie from this club, particularly the recalcitrants, when they work in pairs.

The coaches, E and J, have said the kids are much more confident on the ball in matches. He also said they starting to take opponents on on eon one more confidently using body swerves, and that they are loving playing with all the new techniques and improved general technique FFE is providing.

He also said they lost their last match 4-5. The coach, E, said they dominated possession, but their shooting was dreadful. Many goals were missed. For the next session we'll design a KNVB two stages of the four stage KNVB plan, with an onus on shooting.

Coach E asked if I could do defensive formational work with them. I said it was a possibility, but given their age, technique was paramount in the KNVB TIC system. They would probably find doing work at training to form a watertight defence, like what is set out in the KNVB thread, would be fairly boring for kids at this age. It is better when they are a little older.

They can win games by learning to attack more successfully with more clinical shooting. Instead we will focus on a session with plenty of shooting, using:

1. Technique (juggling, dribbling, passing, but with explicit shooting technique taught and reinforced).

1a. Performing these in game context.

2. 4v4 SSGs which reinforce shooting.

The club coaches are thrilled. All of the kids, apart from three, seem really keen. This is music to my ears. I have been asked to watch them play matches, but I have to be careful about being seen, from a FFE perspective, to have allegiance to any specific team or club.

There are a number of parents watching kids. I'm not sure who though, as I'm so busy running such an intensive session.

Unfortunately, as an experienced teacher some kids can do no wrong in their parents' eyes. It is always another kid's fault, the teacher's fault, the principal's fault, culminating in the police's fault.

Time goes on.

To those people I referred to an article about FFE in the media, there have been interesting developments.

Some country clubs have contacted us, saying they feel totally ignored by FFA. I've defended FFA local branch frequently, saying they have finite resources.

We will work with country club, W, in a few days, if I can recover from a back injury.

What has astonished me, is the negativity, self-interest and total cynicism of a few people in football, unfortunately in positions of power.

This negativism and cynicism seems to appear on every football website in the country. I view football coaching in terms of all coaches being on the same side. Some don't. Their entrenched reputations, and paid positions, seem to be much more important.

One of our highest level coaches, is very concerned that I have a KNVB certificate, not a licence. The difference is a formal test. The formal testing process is often subjectively evaluated, even with specific criteria. As a teacher, I usually do quite well in these.

Given the coach's scepticism and pedantry, I have offered to do a comprehensive KNVB analysis of his training ground practices on the web site, to demonstrate the validity of the course. He claims it will be an opinion, because I am not a KNVB accredited trainer!!!! I think he will avoid some objective appraisal of his training ground methodology as something to be avoided at all costs.

We see FFE as an adjunct to any other private football schools, FFA, clubs, schools, junior associations, etc. We also are willing to coach any player with a good attitude, regardless of ability.

We even have regional association presidents, with links to senior clubs, trying to prevent access. One regional president, of region E, is furious that one of his junior clubs, H, has invited us to coach their teams without his authorisation.

Club H have also provided excellent feedback, publicly in the football media to FFE's coaching sessions with their teams. Yet the president will never take the time to see what we do on the training ground.

He is even angrier that his TD approved, without the president's knowledge, then appraised FFE coaching one of their rep teams as a suitable programme for the region.
This same region , E, had a completely different committee a few years ago. The old committee would have had FFE working in the region months ago.

To me, this reminds me of old soccer, lots of Tony Labozzetta wannabes.

The FFA CEO of the Tassie branch says they can't support FFE, because of the FFA charter. He also believes they are providing the same service. I can see his point. We could suddenly become a private company, charging money.

The state TD of FFA has a different view, but respects the authority of the CEO. He wants to enter into a partnership with FFE, because of their finite resources. He attended FFE's last coaching session with club H - again to appraise what we do on the training ground.

When the state TD asked us to provide our ultimate aims, we were vague. We were stumped by the question. Simply wanting to spread football coaching expertise and to encourage kids to enjoy and play the game, incorporating migrants and providing senior role models for young players. Who can argue against that?

It seems a few cynical coaches/officials can!!!





Edited by Decentric: 25/5/2011 04:36:09 PM

It seems that your model, being mobile or not having a base and going to different clubs and academeies, is going to tread on toes no matter what you do Decentric.

I would also suggest you can't save the whole world (unfortunately).

Work with those that are supportive and go from there.

The weird thing is Arthur, whenever any team/coach has access to what Football For Everyone does on the training ground, they are keen to have us coach their teams too. It is the access to clubs/teams who really want the assistance, that is the problem. It is always stifled by stakeholders in the game with ego problems - and who clash with other football stakeholders with big egos.
They also have little trust in others and consider everybody's motives to be selfish - they either want to advance their own coaching career, or drag talented players elsewhere from a particular team/club.

Having said that, I watched a game played by team H. I looked at a few more things they need to improve for some future FFE sessions.

I watched two games. There were four teams/clubs involved in an under 12 competition.

The players all enjoyed playing football.

The coaches were all supportive of their players, encouraging them.

The parents all behaved impeccably.

The sad thing is after under 12s the players go to senior clubs. The senior clubs often want to pick the cream of these players and discard the rest.
This is the time players drop out, sometimes through not being able to find a club side. Senior clubs' culture discourages the altruistic parent coach without a solid background in football.

The FFE project has made me realise there are clubs screaming for assistance in terms of coaching - that FFA have not visited their clubs in years. Suburban coaches/clubs are sometimes over-committed, desperate for help. They are not able to field teams, because of a paucity of coaches. They have to send players away in the early teens. It makes me cross there are those who impede the process instead of playing a constructive role liaising.

I should add that when we eventually get onto the training ground with clubs/teams, things are going really well. Better than I could ever have hoped for.

:d

Edited by Decentric: 25/5/2011 04:11:13 PM

So one minute everything is rosy but the minute someone questions you they are wannabe's and little tony labbozetta's.

Seems to me you are getting nowhere in tasmania and heading for another failure blaming everyone else for it.

You seem to be getting a lot of people offside decentric and thats certainly the feedback i am getting from my contacts down there.

Dont be surprised if soon you are totally banned with your little enterprise from all FFT clubs.

More good news.

A major council is a possibility for provide a training ground for FFE. I'm angling for free usage in a very central location. It also has lights.

I'm also hoping they will provide equipment for FFE. This is in relation to the refugees. It is interesting that people who have no interest in football see the positives of football as a uniting force.

We have support/advice from a very senior political adviser and a few aldermen for the project. There is also support from state FFA coaching staff, politicians, council aldermen, religious organisations, welfare groups, schools, community groups, Tassie specific football media, the majority of club officials/coaches/players and many parents for the Football For Everyone project.

The only problems are:

4 senior club presidents.

Inertia from some club administrations.

Some organisations passing the buck for refugees.

2 regional association presidents.

An NTC coach (casting aspersions about my KNVB credentials).

Collusion amongst some of the above. Although most of the aforementioned clash with most of the other parties, apart from the refugee groups.

One Senior club official is perplexed about how his club discarded the project. He is a committee member and has heard very positive feedback about FFE. He considers some clandestine dealings have occurred within his club /elsewhere which have amazed him.


Not many issues given overwhelming support everywhere else.

Great feedback from teams/coaches we've coached.

After a surgical procedure for me soon, FFE should be meeting with a FFA state staff coach to work out where we can assist in areas where they suffer a person power shortage.

:d

Edited by Decentric: 27/5/2011 05:10:43 PM

My co-coach, C, in particular, and I will continue to call these stakeholders to account, in that we see them as problems in football.

All are driven by ego, distrust, selfishness and personal ambition, as opposed to trying to create a better overall football environment in Tasmania.

They are obstructions to us accessing coaches/players who would love some extra coaching in a non-competitive environment.
](*,)

That barrier will eventually be broken down or circumvented.



Edited by Decentric: 27/5/2011 05:05:31 PM

Sounds like you have your own lonton’s, they are only trying to justify their own positions.
You need to get involved with the skills acquisition program.

Lol

Ah decentric, even the local yokels can spot a two bit wannabe without breaking stride.

You didn't seriously believe you'd get away with it, did you?

:lol:

Blazers are always will to do anything to keep their jobs.:oops: :oops:

That, in essence, is a fair comment krones.

But yer know, you'd think that after a thousand or so knockbacks the penny might just start to drop.

You can fool some of the people some of the time.......etc.

Decentric
You need to get involved in the selection process.
The selectors decide what type of players the clubs and the coaches produce.
If you can select the players fairly and along your own philosophy then all the coaches will start to train the players to meet those criteria.
You need to be specific and rock steady with your requirements. The thing that is wrong is when selectors say they want one thing and then select another.

Look at the skills acquisition program.





Edited by krones3: 29/5/2011 03:45:03 PM

Thanks Krones.

The KNVB certificate I have is an interesting phenomenon.The state TD has been instructed to induce coaches to upskill all the time in FFA approved coaching courses. Yet he is realising that the KNVB certificate covered a lot more content than he originally thought.

Many coaches down here have done FFA Senior licences recently. Like in STFA Striker's Senior Licence course, many graduates don't know how to set out the 4-3-3. Many local premier league teams are still playing 4-4-2s with flat midfields, playing direct long ball football, even after graduating with FFA Senior licences.

The state FFA TD is becoming aware that I've learnt 4-3-3 in incremental and sequential stages during the KNVB course. What really surprised him was when I showed him the KNVB course content, with a supplementary letter from a FFA staff official, who he knows well.

I feels sorry for the state TD. He can't keep up observing all the malpractices from coaches who should be following FFA methodology. He is a bit of a lone figure in trying to induce coaches to change entrenched practices.


I think the Skills Acquisition Certificate is only open to coaches with a FFA B Licence. It costs a lot of time and money. At my age, I'm not sure how useful it would be, even though one benefits from completing any course. Even now coaching is taking a toll on my body with all the demonstrations of techniques. I'm trying to do as much coaching as possible before the body packs it in.

It would be prudent to train younger Skills Acquisition trainers than me. I'm 54 and pretty well retired from my profession. Even though I'm reasonably aerobically fit from gym work, weights and walking, I struggle with the anaerobic fitness needed for football too.

The NTC coach is following contemporary FFA methodology on the training ground. He just won't give his assent for me to apply KNVB analysis to his coaching practices on a big football site, after questioning the authenticity of the KNVB course.

There are some new state FFA coaches who are doing a good job and presenting progressive methodology. This is a really pleasing development. A change for the better. I'm becoming pretty friendly with the state FFA TD. We have a lot of common ground in football coaching practices and desired outcomes for football.:d

The problem football stakeholders and officials may be temporary. Thankfully there are other progressive ones too.

http://www.walterpless.com.au/2011/may/soccer-programme-for-kids-to-have-fun-and-improve-skills.html#comments

Now this has been elucidated on here, I thought I'd add the link after letting some know about it.


We are currently discussing FFE with senior clubs (low response as most have DOCs), junior clubs (difficult accessing many, and by doing so are breaking protocols), politicians, Football Federation Tasmania, media, councillors and welfare organisations.

It all takes time.

We are after a centrally located ground, where a number of migrants may be within cycling distance. This also takes the transportation impasse out of the equation. We hope the city council will let us use the ground free of charge. One alderman is presenting a case for equipment to be provided by the council for FFE. He claims they have spent $100 000 on AFL, so they should be able to fund us.

It is interesting because a number of people who have no interest in football know that many migrants are passionate about the sport. They also see it as being productive for assimilation.

It is weird how these things happen.

One junior president is pedantic about whether the state FFA CEO sanctions our football school. The CEO is reluctant. I can see his point. Nevertheless, he has a state FFA TD who can see synergy between what state FFA are doing and what we are trying to do.

The regional junior president wanted to sack his TD for authorising me to take a session with his rep team, so he could evaluate the benefits of FFE!!!! Talk about control freaks!!!
:shock:


Any doubters out there, remember FFE is a free football school. No income will be generated.

It looks like the football ground has been approved free of charge by a big council for Football For Everyone to operate.

It is in a very central location in Hobart too. The need for a bus to transport the refugees will be less of an issue.