Football Club
Are we coaching football out of our kids?
17th September 2010
Are we coaching football out of our kids, turning them into clones of the each other and stifling their creativity on the ball?
For years the baby boom generation had complete freedom to play football on the streets or in the local parks, with completely unhindered games of football without the shouting and bawling by adults telling them to run here and pass the ball there. Now children are lined up and instructed to control and pass the ball immediately. The fun that was once normal for the ‘jumpers for goalposts’ players seems to have gone out of our game, with children no longer able to express themselves, being ordered to do things in a structured way.
Back in the 70’s when football was in its golden era, children would watch their heroes playing in the 1st Division then run out to the street or park and try to emulate what they had seen on Match of the Day. Today that magic seems to have gone out of our game, with the mantra “Win at all costs” being taken literally by all. In those days every child would be playing regardless of their age or ability, if you wanted to play you could, the more the merrier. Some games would get to 20–a-side or more, and the only way to get a touch of the ball was to fight for it. Every child could be striker or a defender and there was no adult trying to pigeon hole players into positions. Scoring a goal was a triumph and there was no offside rule to stop the celebrations. The other children were in awe of the, often older player, who had the skill to dribble around the opposition, and they all wanted him on their team, despite being unlikely to receive the ball from him. It was real fun, with all players picked and none being excluded, despite their apparent lack of ability, even if you were the last pick you were still in the game and as likely to score as anyone else.
Certainly the
world appeared to be a safer place back then with fewer cars on the
road and less headline news stories about people praying on our
children, but is this really the case? Yes there are more vehicles
on the road than there was 30 years ago, though we still have open
spaces which children can use, and are our streets less safe today
than they were then, or is it just media hype scaring us to lock our
kids up?
Today’s football coaches are guilty of taking that fun out of the game and cloning our players.
The football coach in the 21st century must have a duty to allow the players to express themselves and have fun, and not to drill the creativity out of our children. We do need a system, and the young footballers need a basic understanding of how to control a football, but they also require some time and space to express themselves, to try, fail and try again until they have perfected their skill. We must not treat our young players as junior professionals who are being readied to play at Wembley, but we should see them as developing individuals who have to be given a free reign to do what comes naturally.
The introduction of mini-soccer by the FA has brought more children into football and provided a more structured approach to youth football. This has introduced a much more competitive element into junior football and turned what has been a fun sport into a must win game, where you are either a winner or loser. Now the result matters. The pace at which structured football has accelerated has been remarkable, but at the same time the training of local coaches has not, with coaching badges only being seriously considered by those clubs working towards charter standard. The FA must use this new drive to get people into football by making Level 1 coaching compulsory and not only teaching the coaches drills, but also ensuring they provide football for all, while encouraging the coaches to allow the players to express themselves.
Our children must be allowed to learn by their mistakes, and it’s up to the football coach to let them express themselves and allow them to get it right and wrong, and above all make football fun.
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