Modern youth coach – are you?
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MANAGER, SENIOR TEAM COACH AND YOUTH COACH
There is a difference between a manager, a senior team coach and a youth coach. The manager takes all the lime light, but we all know that he deals with the final product depending on his stuff and coaches in the youth development process. Youth coach’s job is a great challenge and it is an achievement to produce a quality player for your manager. The proudest coaches on earth are the ones who can boast to be involved in helping a youngster who is on the threshold of the senior first team. Our focus here will be on the youth coach.
Coach’s position is very important as he is a role model to the children. He should be dedicated to the development of all those children. We cannot say with certainty that a player is not talented and doesn’t have a future. We all know many examples that prove that. A coach should recognize the player’s potential and encourage their desire to learn and improve. Find the talent in every player and find out their level of commitment, the willingness to improve, and guide them in that direction.
YOUTH COACH IS POSITIVE AND DETERMINED
Maintain the quality throughout sessions and emphasize development and fun. Keep away from creating a pressure on account of winning a match. It is important to develop a good touch and technique, good sportsmanship and a good atmosphere using knowledge, purpose, expertise, time and imagination to make training sessions interesting. Choose ways that fit his personality and environment. Players are tough because practice is tough and not the coach.
SELL THE VISION, MAKE PLAYER THE FOCAL POINT
Characteristics of coaching are, mainly, giving challenges appropriate to age and level of players, balancing the recovery and work rate, when preparing training program taking care of variety of training sessions keeping it interesting. Focus and control when you teach new skills. Training must be enjoyable and in a fun atmosphere.
Remember that emphasizing has to be continuously improved. Coach must provide clear instructions, but not forced. Motivate players, encouraging high level of performance. Make each player a part of the journey to success, helping each player set personal goals. Find each player’s sense of self-worth and help him achieve it. Sell the vision, make the player the focal point.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IS VITAL
Communication is a skill of every coach. With our comments we make players respond. Coach should not blame, but remark, giving honest feedback on performance. Do not restrict players in their response, teach them emotional intelligence. If they have problem, they should define it and try to resolve it. Communication should go in two ways:
- Allow players to experiment, tolerate mistakes as part of process.
- Let player take responsibility, get him out of comfort zone, let him become decision maker.
With improved relationship between the player and the coach, the coach has more time to observe the action with better emotional control. Change approach from ‘me’ to ‘we’. The time of coaches that are known as ‘’Do what I say’’ is now long gone.
Hope you will find some of these characteristics in yourself. There are no two coaches that are the same, but all good coaches have the same vision.
Sofiene Khedher
Absolute first class advice (well done Marko) ,my observations of the level of coaching in Malta missing and lacking the phsycological part of the coaching methods which is very important in our modern soccer days , it is not just a job , it is a responsability towards these kids, they look up to their coaches, it is not just soccer, it is a life development package to a Kid physically, mentaly and socialy , that is the modern thinking approach for a coach to cement in him self.
One paragraph sums it up :
With improved relationship between the player and the coach, the coach has more time to observe the action with better emotional control. Change approach from ‘me’ to ‘we’. The time of coaches that are known as ‘’Do what I say’’ is now long gone.