Reader,
I’ve been reflecting lately on the constant rush that seems to plague both players and coaches in youth development. It seems more common than ever in our fast-paced, status-driven culture for parents and players to want to make the next team, the next step, the next trial quicker than before – sometimes without the work. Similarly, coaches I meet are often in a rush to move straight to senior football after only a couple of years of experience.
Ambition is a great attribute, but we also need to ensure that players receive the appropriate challenge points at each stage of their development.
So, where is the balance between stretching and supporting players to maximise their potential?
Three Things to Consider
1 – Team vs individual.
A key factor in finding the appropriate balance is understanding the needs of the team and those of the individual. Being part of a successful team could enhance a player’s development, and winning games is part of development, but for me, understanding what the individual needs to get better is as (if not more) important.
If you have a player of potential, providing them a hybrid experience of playing up an age group and getting success in their own age group may be a good recipe to progress them. The same can be said for girls with potential playing or training with boys’ teams as part of a mixed experience.
Similarly, there may be times in the year when, from a team perspective, you can roll out your strongest group to test their cohesion and whether they can find ways to get a strong team performance and results.
2 – Work together.
When moving players between teams, it makes more sense to do this collaboratively. Whether this is a range of input from coaching staff, or just as importantly, clear communication and planning with the player (and their parents), working together to get aligned on the plan for the player is essential. Ensure that feedback and honesty are part of this process.
3 – Think of challenge points as traffic lights.
I remember spending time with Mick Beale during my time in England, where he shared the traffic light analogy.
He referred to his time at Liverpool’s academy, where the games programme was designed around a principle of red, amber, and green games. A red game would be seen as one that the team wouldn’t be expected to win, but would provide a high challenge point and great learning. Amber meant a game that would be competitive, and green might be a game we’re expected to win, so we might use that opportunity to challenge players to really dominate, and also hope they get some success.
If you can create this in your fixtures schedule, or within your club environment through internal games or duels in training, it can provide the players great variety in their experience, which can help them long-term.
One thing to try this week
Consider the individuals in your team. What are their strengths, and how can you challenge those strengths?
Ultimately, we need to take a view as coaches that we want players to get better at what they’re best at in order to encourage their outstanding attributes.
Of course, we need to support them across all areas of their game, but if you have a top 1v1 player, don’t disarm them by focusing on passing because that’s an area they need to develop. Put them in positions where they have to find solutions using their attributes and work on the rest around that strength.
One Critical Resource on the Topic
Check out this PDP guide on developing individuals within a team context and how you can support players with their own goals based on their best attributes.
