FA Buggering up junior football
Discussion
dirty boy said:
Phil Dicky said:
My sticking point is the leagues or lack of them
I don't think there's a need to have leagues.We put enough pressure on our kids with school exams at young ages, something I don't agree with, as kids develop at such massively varying rates.
Phil Dicky said:
dirty boy said:
Phil Dicky said:
My sticking point is the leagues or lack of them
I don't think there's a need to have leagues.We put enough pressure on our kids with school exams at young ages, something I don't agree with, as kids develop at such massively varying rates.
Some adults can't cope with losing, but at least they have fully functional emotional mechanisms to put things in perspective.
Leagues aren't bad, but they don't help the less competitive kids who have the ability.
It's all about balancing youth football out, we'll see at the end of the day.
Not reporting results doesn't mean matches won't be competitive. It simply means that the pressure to win is lessened by not having a league table to look at every Sunday evening.
I do also believe that there needs to be more investment into Grassroots coaching. Coaching badges are expensive, the important ones (IMO) often get overlooked as the main tier of qualifications gets all of the glory. A Level 2, UEFA B etc is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard if you're coaching mini football, where as the Module's as some of the additional courses, such as Futsal and Leadership courses offer some great skills which can be passed on to 6, 7, 8, 9 year olds.
I do also believe that there needs to be more investment into Grassroots coaching. Coaching badges are expensive, the important ones (IMO) often get overlooked as the main tier of qualifications gets all of the glory. A Level 2, UEFA B etc is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard if you're coaching mini football, where as the Module's as some of the additional courses, such as Futsal and Leadership courses offer some great skills which can be passed on to 6, 7, 8, 9 year olds.
Yup a resurrection from a thread from the past but wondering has things improved in the last few years? My son is away to go competitive and they have been taught the roll out of goal & (many) short passes for the last 5 years and it seems to have worked up until now. Like a mini Barca team from time to time 
Funny though for being non competitive there is a lot of match reports with scorers named etc Semi competitive would be a better half way house when they have their 7 a side years.
Funny though for being non competitive there is a lot of match reports with scorers named etc Semi competitive would be a better half way house when they have their 7 a side years.I've done ten years in youth football now, taking my boys from under-5's training once a week to under-15's in September. The rule changes re competitive football didn't really affect our team as they missed them by a year or two; ours were playing 11-a-side on big pitches at under-11's.
Most of it is a good idea but there's too much farting around with the rules and regulations for my liking. Latest thing is that you have to get international clearance for overseas players from the age of 10.... it was bad enough when it was 12/13 but 10 is ridiculous. I'll be quite relieved when I pack it in to go to under-18's in two years time.
As for success, my team got relegated at under-11's as they were made up of poor players rather than not being able to cope with the step up to bigger pitches. We took a double relegation from Div 2 to Div 4, won the title the next season before finishing 3rd and then 2nd in Division 3 and gaining promotion again.
Most of it is a good idea but there's too much farting around with the rules and regulations for my liking. Latest thing is that you have to get international clearance for overseas players from the age of 10.... it was bad enough when it was 12/13 but 10 is ridiculous. I'll be quite relieved when I pack it in to go to under-18's in two years time.
As for success, my team got relegated at under-11's as they were made up of poor players rather than not being able to cope with the step up to bigger pitches. We took a double relegation from Div 2 to Div 4, won the title the next season before finishing 3rd and then 2nd in Division 3 and gaining promotion again.
My son is 6 and been training for a year now. He loves it, the coaching he gets is all about getting comfortable on the ball and based on the Dutch method (Coerver). He's come on miles this year with it and is so much more confident about his own abilities.
However, they're starting to play friendly matches as a team. They've not got a clue (yet) and the manager, who is one of the Dad's, hasn't got a clue either. I suspect he's not going to help the ones who might have the skill but not the match savvy aspects sorted. Personally, I'd be happier if they didn't play matches for another year and just trained and worked on their skills and confidence, playing small 3v3 matches although the boys do love playing in matches.
Interestingly, they played a team who, at u7, kicked everyone off the park. Their other teams do the same, so it has to be being taught. Can't believe teams are still doing that.
However, they're starting to play friendly matches as a team. They've not got a clue (yet) and the manager, who is one of the Dad's, hasn't got a clue either. I suspect he's not going to help the ones who might have the skill but not the match savvy aspects sorted. Personally, I'd be happier if they didn't play matches for another year and just trained and worked on their skills and confidence, playing small 3v3 matches although the boys do love playing in matches.
Interestingly, they played a team who, at u7, kicked everyone off the park. Their other teams do the same, so it has to be being taught. Can't believe teams are still doing that.
Interesting topic this, I coach U6's but have previously taken a team from U6's to Under 12's so I am going back to the start and trying not to make the same mistakes again
At a tournament last week, our team who will start playing matches in September at U7's level and have been training together for two years, cam up against a side who were basically just thugs.
Late tackles, tackles from behind - flying into shoulder charges - at U6's? On the third occacion I have to sub of a lad who had just been kicked up in the air, I asked the referee if he was going to do anything more to prevent an injury.
The oppo coach came flying off the touchline shouting "their just kids, timing a tackle is diffcult, what you complaining about"
So yes - it does still get coached sadly, or rather it doesn't get coached out. There are still coaches in junior football that get a semi on when one of their team leaves an opposition player in tears.
aberdeeneuan said:
<snip>s.
Interestingly, they played a team who, at u7, kicked everyone off the park. Their other teams do the same, so it has to be being taught. Can't believe teams are still doing that.
just shows how much 'route one' has fdamaged the english game ...many of the dads ( and therefore the coaches and managers of kids' football teams) of today were playing themselves in the 90s and milleniual period ...Interestingly, they played a team who, at u7, kicked everyone off the park. Their other teams do the same, so it has to be being taught. Can't believe teams are still doing that.
Coaching the right way and having the right philosophy in place does get noticed.
I took over as Secretary of my sons club two years ago, we had 7 teams at the time. We've had a complete overhaul of both the committee and the managers of the teams, essentially removing those who didn't agree with our new philosophy and we've worked very hard to get people in who do agree with it, but also approach football with an open mind rather than the 'it was good enough for me' attitude as mentioned above.
Next season we're looking at having 16 teams from U7's to U15's, we run ABC'S sessions for 3 to 6 year olds, weekly Futsal sessions and a weekly pick-up game for 14 to 17 year olds that want to play football without the pressure of leagues or being pegged to one position.
It was the best thing we ever did to all agree that we didn't want to win if it meant we weren't having fun.
I took over as Secretary of my sons club two years ago, we had 7 teams at the time. We've had a complete overhaul of both the committee and the managers of the teams, essentially removing those who didn't agree with our new philosophy and we've worked very hard to get people in who do agree with it, but also approach football with an open mind rather than the 'it was good enough for me' attitude as mentioned above.
Next season we're looking at having 16 teams from U7's to U15's, we run ABC'S sessions for 3 to 6 year olds, weekly Futsal sessions and a weekly pick-up game for 14 to 17 year olds that want to play football without the pressure of leagues or being pegged to one position.
It was the best thing we ever did to all agree that we didn't want to win if it meant we weren't having fun.
WildCards said:
Coaching the right way and having the right philosophy in place does get noticed.
I took over as Secretary of my sons club two years ago, we had 7 teams at the time. We've had a complete overhaul of both the committee and the managers of the teams, essentially removing those who didn't agree with our new philosophy and we've worked very hard to get people in who do agree with it, but also approach football with an open mind rather than the 'it was good enough for me' attitude as mentioned above.
Next season we're looking at having 16 teams from U7's to U15's, we run ABC'S sessions for 3 to 6 year olds, weekly Futsal sessions and a weekly pick-up game for 14 to 17 year olds that want to play football without the pressure of leagues or being pegged to one position.
It was the best thing we ever did to all agree that we didn't want to win if it meant we weren't having fun.
Where in East Mids are you? I have a 4 month old and we could be moving back to Nottingham in the next couple of years. I want my boy coached in the right way! I took over as Secretary of my sons club two years ago, we had 7 teams at the time. We've had a complete overhaul of both the committee and the managers of the teams, essentially removing those who didn't agree with our new philosophy and we've worked very hard to get people in who do agree with it, but also approach football with an open mind rather than the 'it was good enough for me' attitude as mentioned above.
Next season we're looking at having 16 teams from U7's to U15's, we run ABC'S sessions for 3 to 6 year olds, weekly Futsal sessions and a weekly pick-up game for 14 to 17 year olds that want to play football without the pressure of leagues or being pegged to one position.
It was the best thing we ever did to all agree that we didn't want to win if it meant we weren't having fun.
Leicester i'm afraid mate, so a bit far. That said, we're not the only ones doing this, there are clubs going through transitional periods all over the place so i'm sure with a bit of research you could find something similar, if not better a little closer to home, especially in 3/4 years time.
If you don't mind travelling though, we never turn any child away.
If you don't mind travelling though, we never turn any child away.
My lad has played alll season without A (u14s)win he scored once in a friendly and once in a game
A typical game starts with us doing ok for 15 mins a goal conceded
Then another then Three or four really stupid mistakes by the keeper, then they are demoralised
Start bickering heads go, and we end up with anything from a 12-0 to a19-0
The manager sons is in net and he's hopeless.
We've had excellent match winners come and go because of this
And the ones who stay and are half decent just can't be arsed
We scored 12 and let in 220 in 20 games
The gaffer to his credit likes everyone to have a fair amount of time
We have some chubby ones and a couple of whoppers absolute massive
My lad is a so so player not fast but good with the ball
I'm sick of tseeing good players get pulled for the sake of another kid who is hopeless when we are in with. Fighting chance he pulls a decent defender off for a kid who's rubbish.
My argument is a simple one. If we're keeping score the. We try and win
If it means my lad plays less against the league leaders and more against the bottom players I'm fine with it and so is my son. How can we get the manager to adopt a winning strategy ?
It's a great place to play footy with the best facilities of any ground we go to its a crying shame to see them so distressed
A typical game starts with us doing ok for 15 mins a goal conceded
Then another then Three or four really stupid mistakes by the keeper, then they are demoralised
Start bickering heads go, and we end up with anything from a 12-0 to a19-0
The manager sons is in net and he's hopeless.
We've had excellent match winners come and go because of this
And the ones who stay and are half decent just can't be arsed
We scored 12 and let in 220 in 20 games
The gaffer to his credit likes everyone to have a fair amount of time
We have some chubby ones and a couple of whoppers absolute massive
My lad is a so so player not fast but good with the ball
I'm sick of tseeing good players get pulled for the sake of another kid who is hopeless when we are in with. Fighting chance he pulls a decent defender off for a kid who's rubbish.
My argument is a simple one. If we're keeping score the. We try and win
If it means my lad plays less against the league leaders and more against the bottom players I'm fine with it and so is my son. How can we get the manager to adopt a winning strategy ?
It's a great place to play footy with the best facilities of any ground we go to its a crying shame to see them so distressed
j4ckos mate said:
My lad has played alll season without A (u14s)win he scored once in a friendly and once in a game
A typical game starts with us doing ok for 15 mins a goal conceded
Then another then Three or four really stupid mistakes by the keeper, then they are demoralised
Start bickering heads go, and we end up with anything from a 12-0 to a19-0
The manager sons is in net and he's hopeless.
We've had excellent match winners come and go because of this
And the ones who stay and are half decent just can't be arsed
We scored 12 and let in 220 in 20 games
The gaffer to his credit likes everyone to have a fair amount of time
We have some chubby ones and a couple of whoppers absolute massive
My lad is a so so player not fast but good with the ball
I'm sick of tseeing good players get pulled for the sake of another kid who is hopeless when we are in with. Fighting chance he pulls a decent defender off for a kid who's rubbish.
My argument is a simple one. If we're keeping score the. We try and win
If it means my lad plays less against the league leaders and more against the bottom players I'm fine with it and so is my son. How can we get the manager to adopt a winning strategy ?
It's a great place to play footy with the best facilities of any ground we go to its a crying shame to see them so distressed
Could you offer to coach a fitness session once a week for the team ? A typical game starts with us doing ok for 15 mins a goal conceded
Then another then Three or four really stupid mistakes by the keeper, then they are demoralised
Start bickering heads go, and we end up with anything from a 12-0 to a19-0
The manager sons is in net and he's hopeless.
We've had excellent match winners come and go because of this
And the ones who stay and are half decent just can't be arsed
We scored 12 and let in 220 in 20 games
The gaffer to his credit likes everyone to have a fair amount of time
We have some chubby ones and a couple of whoppers absolute massive
My lad is a so so player not fast but good with the ball
I'm sick of tseeing good players get pulled for the sake of another kid who is hopeless when we are in with. Fighting chance he pulls a decent defender off for a kid who's rubbish.
My argument is a simple one. If we're keeping score the. We try and win
If it means my lad plays less against the league leaders and more against the bottom players I'm fine with it and so is my son. How can we get the manager to adopt a winning strategy ?
It's a great place to play footy with the best facilities of any ground we go to its a crying shame to see them so distressed
Sounds like the keeper situation needs to be addressed, but that may be a tricky one if he is the managers son. But someone needs to give him the feedback.
No kids are "hopeless" - they just aren't focusing on the right things....
hi Gargamel
ive no experience. other than watching them, but you can clearly see that there is probably one portly lad on most teams we play and on ours we have at least 4 or 5,
in fairness that's parents fault not the team manager's
i have offered along with a few other parents at the end of last season,
maybe a couple of weeks of lads vs dads and then hammer them for the last month.
which we should have started at the beginning of the month.
i struggle to get to grips with sending his own lad out in net and watching him let 15 goals in over 70 minutes.
it saddens me, yet because they are all spread over 3 local schools they all seem to get on.
ive told him hes got to play the best 11 and give the keeper a rest.
particularly against the lower placed teams like us, with a bit of luck and the wind blowing in the right direction we may get the odd result.
thats all i want for them the odd result.
ive no experience. other than watching them, but you can clearly see that there is probably one portly lad on most teams we play and on ours we have at least 4 or 5,
in fairness that's parents fault not the team manager's
i have offered along with a few other parents at the end of last season,
maybe a couple of weeks of lads vs dads and then hammer them for the last month.
which we should have started at the beginning of the month.
i struggle to get to grips with sending his own lad out in net and watching him let 15 goals in over 70 minutes.
it saddens me, yet because they are all spread over 3 local schools they all seem to get on.
ive told him hes got to play the best 11 and give the keeper a rest.
particularly against the lower placed teams like us, with a bit of luck and the wind blowing in the right direction we may get the odd result.
thats all i want for them the odd result.
Well it does really, but we have the best facilities of any team weve played
3G two excellent pitches our own home ground clubhouse bar changing facilities
Infact a vanarama conference team use his pitch to train on.
So taking him away from all that and his mates is very hard to do
Plus as well if all his mates left it'll fold because there's not enough.
We need the manager to come round to our way of thinking.
Instead he plays kids play who only come when they aren't at the caravan as much
As kids who tske their bandages off and play with broken fingers
3G two excellent pitches our own home ground clubhouse bar changing facilities
Infact a vanarama conference team use his pitch to train on.
So taking him away from all that and his mates is very hard to do
Plus as well if all his mates left it'll fold because there's not enough.
We need the manager to come round to our way of thinking.
Instead he plays kids play who only come when they aren't at the caravan as much
As kids who tske their bandages off and play with broken fingers
Goalkeeper is a very specific position and it needs a specific coach. If the club doesn't have a goalkeeping coach, it should be looking to invest in one and hold separate training sessions on a regular basis. We do.
While on the subject of the GK position, it's a lonely place to be during a game. I always ask a dad, not necessarily the kids dad, to stand close enough to the goal each game and shower praise on the kid between the sticks for every good thing he/she does. Ignore any mistakes, just praise anything good. Confidence makes a kid a much better goalie than he would ordinarily be, from this his/her natural progression will be far greater.
Fitness training at U14's, while advantageous, is a difficult thing to ask of the players, they often don't want to do it and will only put in the bare minimum. Football fitness however can be gained by playing a multitude of games that the kids will enjoy and put 100% into. I've found playing Futsal once a week for an hour is a brilliant tool and it ticks many more boxes than just improving fitness.
While on the subject of the GK position, it's a lonely place to be during a game. I always ask a dad, not necessarily the kids dad, to stand close enough to the goal each game and shower praise on the kid between the sticks for every good thing he/she does. Ignore any mistakes, just praise anything good. Confidence makes a kid a much better goalie than he would ordinarily be, from this his/her natural progression will be far greater.
Fitness training at U14's, while advantageous, is a difficult thing to ask of the players, they often don't want to do it and will only put in the bare minimum. Football fitness however can be gained by playing a multitude of games that the kids will enjoy and put 100% into. I've found playing Futsal once a week for an hour is a brilliant tool and it ticks many more boxes than just improving fitness.
His dad, the manager was a goalkeeper so if he wanted to put a shift in hes in no better place,
its just a head wreck and instead of getting excited for them im worried.
he wont dive panics, gets chipped, and once they smell fear in him they capitalize on it,
our heads go down.
even really basic stuff like when we play on a small pitch (ours is full size)
it should be blindingly obvious its going to go over his head,
our heads go down his does and then they are broken
i dont want them to win the league not even bothered if my lad scores or plays the full game,
but i jsut want them to win a couple
i know the kids have to be praised win loose or draw and thats the way to do it,
but after the game i look at some of the parents and think were whey watching another game!
its just a head wreck and instead of getting excited for them im worried.
he wont dive panics, gets chipped, and once they smell fear in him they capitalize on it,
our heads go down.
even really basic stuff like when we play on a small pitch (ours is full size)
it should be blindingly obvious its going to go over his head,
our heads go down his does and then they are broken
i dont want them to win the league not even bothered if my lad scores or plays the full game,
but i jsut want them to win a couple
i know the kids have to be praised win loose or draw and thats the way to do it,
but after the game i look at some of the parents and think were whey watching another game!
j4ckos mate said:
His dad, the manager was a goalkeeper so if he wanted to put a shift in hes in no better place,
its just a head wreck and instead of getting excited for them im worried.
he wont dive panics, gets chipped, and once they smell fear in him they capitalize on it,
our heads go down.
even really basic stuff like when we play on a small pitch (ours is full size)
it should be blindingly obvious its going to go over his head,
our heads go down his does and then they are broken
i dont want them to win the league not even bothered if my lad scores or plays the full game,
but i jsut want them to win a couple
i know the kids have to be praised win loose or draw and thats the way to do it,
but after the game i look at some of the parents and think were whey watching another game!
Why don't you offer your services? its just a head wreck and instead of getting excited for them im worried.
he wont dive panics, gets chipped, and once they smell fear in him they capitalize on it,
our heads go down.
even really basic stuff like when we play on a small pitch (ours is full size)
it should be blindingly obvious its going to go over his head,
our heads go down his does and then they are broken
i dont want them to win the league not even bothered if my lad scores or plays the full game,
but i jsut want them to win a couple
i know the kids have to be praised win loose or draw and thats the way to do it,
but after the game i look at some of the parents and think were whey watching another game!
Go and do you your Level 1 outfield badge (pretty much can't fail) (5 days inc first aid and Child protection) and then go and do Level 1 GK badge. (3 days)
They can be done at weekends etc
The Level 1 GK badge is really technical and you get some great info - doesn't matter if your not a keeper. It's so much better than L1 outfield (more akin to L2)
Then you can take the keepers off and do some training sessions with them - The keeper will probably welcome some training time, I'm sure he doesn't enjoy shipping 15 goals a game!
If the club is charter standard (which it sounds as if it is) you can get on the courses for free (maybe). If not its about £150 for level 1 and £100 for the GK level 1.
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