5th November 2024 – Number 2
By Andy Leckie
Have you ever copied Pep’s philosophy? Have you ever knee slided in What do you have in your locker? What can you whip out of your kit bag and deliver?
Do your players know the rules of Rondo? Are you fluent in this non-speaking global language: by gathering in a circle, dropping to one knee without instruction, they follow suit, and the last player to drop a knee to the ground goes in the middle? If you know, you know.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the profound, admirable, classic phrase we all of course adhere to: ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’. So, imagine week in, week out rocking up to the training ground and delivering an hour and a half session to 40 young players, with all the gear and no idea. Just wing it.
You fool! You wouldn’t last 5 minutes!
You’d probably pull into the car park, do a uey, and not be seen for dust. (Lobbing the tactics board out the window as you wheelspin your Fiesta out of there!)
Forgive me, I must confess…
I did exactly that this week.
(I studied Drama so I’m allowed to ham it up!) However, when I pulled into the car park, I was ready to face the music. I trusted what I had in my locker. I admit it’s contradicting to my previous article regarding the work ethic that we expect from our young players, “come correct.” Be prepared, have a plan etc. But, my friend, give me a break.
But I’m not alone in this Gotham City (aka Sunday league), seeking justice against criminal performances on the pitch. If the coach doesn’t happen to be one of the players parents (often the case), or they’re not the local school PE teacher doing extra-curricular work, then perhaps that person you see squatting in the dugout, desperately pumping up the footballs, is there because they have other aspirations. It’s their passion, they have a love for the game, and relish the challenge that coaching young people brings into their life.
The truth about coaching at your local grassroots sporting environment is that you probably don’t even have a dugout, let alone a bag of fully pumped footballs that the kit man has dragged out your boot for you like Santa’s little helper.
As for your coaching crew, you may have a Batman to your Robin. If you’re lucky you might have your Clough to your Taylor, your Ferguson to your McClaren, or your Ancelotti to your Zidane, or even your Eddie Howe to your Jason Tindall (yes watch this space, I am including this pair on par with the legends). But I always have the highest respect for coaches I meet on a cold, wet and windy December Sunday morning who don’t have their Robin.
In my case, I am very fortunate to be sharing my coaching journey with like-minded people. In particular, with the age group I am coaching, I have my partner in crime, so sometimes when we rock up for our training sessions, I have all the gear, and they have the idea. We share our superpowers. (Although, in my crew admittedly I’m probably more Robin than Batman!)
At my South London club, we have a style of playing. We have principles and an identity both in the way we play and who we are. Of course, we win trophies, but our focus is on player development. We must remember it’s their game, their goals. We are a club of progression. We know to trust the process, and we must learn to trust ourselves, know our capabilities. Thus, as coaches we know how and what needs to be achieved throughout the season, so we deliver. The beauty of working through the youth set up is knowing what works and what doesn’t, such as revisiting patterns of play, testing our instruction, gaining more gear and packing our locker full of ideas.
