I have always made every effort to discourage parents from coaching their own children in an “Elite” competition regardless of their accreditation.
I have all too often witnessed the effect of pressure upon a parent coach and indeed a huge pressure on a player whose parent is the team coach.
Experienced coaches should be assigned to coach younger age group players. As the saying goes “You cannot build a great building on a weak foundation” In many cases the failure of non-experienced coaches to detect incorrect technique results in the continual and eventually habitual application of certain actions. It is during the period of 9-13 age groups that players can form bad technical habits and only experienced coaches are best equipped to correct technique.
Football at an elite level must be thoroughly planned through annual training programs and in line with a club’s playing style which should reflect the approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment.
Every training session must have a purpose and must align with the club’s annual training program. Only then will any inconsistencies in the delivery of coaching standards be detected.
Team coaches must be permitted to express themselves and nurture individual players’ abilities when forming a team.
Certainly, teams should reflect their coaches’ personalities, but always within a club philosophy framework. Football coaches are no different to school teachers in that they follow a curriculum. There is much strategic planning that goes into preparing an elite football program. There are no immediate success stories because teams may be at a different phase in their program.
Club Committees; Sponsors; Parents; Volunteers; Coaches and Players must work together by fulfilling the responsibilities of their roles. Ultimately clubs should measure their success by the number of junior players that come through their club system and represent their club at senior level.
That said why not their State and even their Country.
“Better coaches-better players.”
