‘Introduction to Coaching Football’ – My experience
January 2022 was the month of exams. I had two and a half weeks of mock exams in preparation for my final IB examinations in May, for which I spent many hours in my bedroom revising, revising, and revising some more. Somehow, alongside these exams, I managed to complete my FA ‘Introduction to coaching football’ qualification, which is the equivalent to an FA Level 1 coaching award.
I have been coaching football for a good few months now. I have coached young boys and girls between the ages of four and twelve years old, and it has been an incredible experience. Whilst it is always tough after a long week of school to motivate myself to wake up at 6:40am on a Saturday, travel to the pitch and put out a load of cones, hurdles and goals, it is always worth it. As soon as the children begin to arrive, I am in my element. If you are animated on the sidelines, get involved in the drills, and you get to know the kids that you are training, they will react positively. There is no better feeling for me than when the kids are all running around with huge grins on their faces. They love it, the parents love it, and I love it too.
To start with, I began volunteering to help other coaches set up and run a few sessions. It was simply a case of being there to help out if there were too many children for one coach to handle on their own, making sure no children got hurt, packing away the equipment post-session. As an ice-breaker into the world of coaching, it worked a treat. Working in the summer heat was extremely enjoyable.
Once I knew I wanted to pursue this coaching thing a bit further, I worked through my FA Playmaker award. This meant that I earned the basic knowledge that is required for a football coach to be able to run a session. I learnt basic first aid, safety regulations, how to create a comfortable environment for the children, for the parents, and for myself. With this completed, I was now, officially, a professional football coach.
Since October 2021, I have been coaching Saturday sessions with children between the ages of four and seven. I began as little more than an extra pair of hands for the other coaches, but slowly gained in confidence as the weeks passed by. I learnt that you had to be extraordinarily animated when coaching young children, which took me a little time. Eventually, the fear of looking like a fool passed, and I was able to step out of my comfort zone and be super loud and excitable. If I acted like a teenager, the kids wouldn’t have as much fun! Now, being over-the-top is second nature to me. As soon as the children come running over to us coaches, we all become showmen for an hour!
I worked my way up, until I was able to run sessions alone on a regular basis. I was put in charge of the Speed, Agility and Quickness (SAQ) training, which takes place for the first ten to fifteen minutes of each session. My fellow coaches also felt confident allowing me to run sessions with each age group, and I became comfortable with working with large groups of children whilst being the only adult. After a few months, I was told that I could take the FA ‘Introduction to coaching football’ course.
The course costs £160, which was paid for by the club connected to the coaching group I work with. It covers all the bases of knowledge that you need as a coach of any age group, from pre-school to adults. The course lasted four weeks in total, which spanned the month of January 2022 for me. The course consists of a number of informative modules as well as interactive webinars with other coaches. I learnt how to have confidence in my abilities, basic first-aid necessities, as well as how to create a fun environment for the players.
Since completing the course, I have gone on to become one of the staple members of the coaching staff at my academy, and work alongside a local football club to provide sessions for the youth team. I continue to work with my Saturday group, but have also lead up to twenty players during multiple holiday football camps. The course gave me the confidence to create session plans alone, and provided me with the skills necessary to coach a group on my own. Becoming a football coach has been one of the best decisions of my life, and I cannot wait to progress my coaching abilities as I continue along this journey.
Written by Jed Vine
