The challenges of becoming a professional footballer are hard to overstate. The levels of dedication that young players must maintain, for the merest chance of ‘making it’, are huge — and sometimes the expectations of players and parents do not align with the reality. But, as coaches, we have a responsibility to educate them around the difficulty of this journey. Below, A-League winner Stefan Mauk provides some assistance, as he discusses the demands of the professional game, and the obstacles he overcame to get there….
behaviour
PDP Co-Founder Dave Wright & Positive Psychology expert Lara Mossman discussing how to control emotions in sports. We can’t expect youth soccer players to show great emotional control all of the time. It’s sometimes easy to forget, but they’re not mini-adults — they don’t have the same capacity to control their emotions as we do, and we shouldn’t expect them to. But that doesn’t mean we can’t help. We can still teach our young players how to understand and manage their emotions. And this education…
The question this week comes from John: “I have a couple of players who are particularly challenging to deal with in my U12 group and demonstrate poor behaviour regularly. How do I manage this to help them, and the other players in the group?” Your Turn: Ask PDP Anything Do you have a coaching question that we might be able to help with? We would love to hear from you! Here’s what you can do: 1. Tweet your questions to us @playerdp, or contact us on our Facebook…
Are there secret ingredients to effective coaching? John O’Sullivan, Founder of Changing the Game Project discusses some of the key elements that can make you a great coach. “I just can’t figure it out,” an exasperated coach said to me recently. “One day we are flying around the field, and the next it looks like we’ve never played together before. Why does this happen?” “Do you think your players lost all their skill?” I asked? “Do you think they forgot how to play?” “Of course not,”…