Putting things into perspective

It was a funny old week last week and one I wouldn't want to repeat in a hurry!  My 6 year old daughter was admitted to Sheffield Children's Hospital on Wednesday with bronchiolitis and it turned out to be a 5 night stay.  With my wife staying in with her, I had the job of arranging for my other 2 boys to be looked after during the day while I was at the hospital and being there for them at night.  I definitely got the better end of the deal though with being able to sleep in my own bed!

As it became apparent we would still be in over the weekend, my thoughts turned briefly to how i would manage to get to our match on Sunday.  Thankfully, the arrangements had already been made with the opposition and a referee had been sorted thanks to the older son of one of our parents.

The game passed and we lost 5-1 to a team we had beat on the last game of last season to win the league.  The result didn't matter, as it never has done.  It's always about the enjoyment for the boys.  But it was the first time in 3 years of coaching that I have thought "I don't really want to be here".

After the game, I took my two sons to the hospital to see their sister and mum for the first time in a few days.  I've also known that family come first, but these last few days have put everything into perspective.

Would I have packed it all in this week?  With the way things have gone, probably.  Will I in the future?  Very doubtful.

Review of 9v9

6 games into our 1st season playing 9v9, I thought now would be a good time to review the format.  It's certainly been a learning curve for both players and coaches.  Some of the questions that have gone through my mind are

• What formation shall we play?
• What players will play where?
• How will we adapt to an extra 20 mins playing time?
• How will we handle the bigger pitches?

All things to consider but not necessarily having a great baring on the way we play.  

Players

It took the players a game to adapt to 9v9.  First game started well and we were 3-0 up by half time.  2nd half saw the opposition pull it back to 3-3.  I believe the reasons were they had become tired by charging round a bigger pitch thinking it was still the SSG pitches.  This and they had the extra 20mins.  I think after the game, they realised they can't do it and would have to think about positioning, holding and making the ball do the work.

Coaches

Getting the right formation for my players was the biggest thing.  We have tried a number of formations with varying success.  Holding midfielders, attacking midfielders, wing backs, etc.  In the end we have settled for a simple 3-3-2, a formation the players could visualise and understand.  This is not to say trying other formations is out of the question.  As the players, and coaches, become more experienced then changes can be introduced.  Maybe using tactic boards and setting the players out in training will help.

Players over the last couple of seasons had found their positions at 6v6 and 7v7.  This season, as subs have been made, I've asked players to play in different positions.  It's opened my eyes to how players adapt and I believe they have a lot more understanding of the game from playing various positions.

The Pitch

The pitches we have played on have varied.  Ours started as a small 11-a-side pitch played to the 6 yard box.  Markers were used to mark between the edge of the 6 yard box to the touchline.  We have since changed this and have dotted-lines where we had markers.

Other pitches have been similar with one being marked in red within a rugby pitch.  A couple of players forgot early on and proceeded to run the ball out but they quickly adapted.

Summary

So, what do we make of 9v9?  Personally, I think it is a huge step forward and great for player development.  The transition from 7v7 to 11-a-side has been made a lot easier by its introduction.  From what I've heard from parents, they agree and can see the benefits.  The extra space allows kids to put a foot on the ball and think before being closed down by 2 or 3 opposition players.  Overall, it's definitely the way forward!

Balancing family and football

I've finally got round to writing another post!  It seems ages ago and since my last post, the following has happened:

• Season started
• Ecclesall Rangers U11s have played 5, won 2 drawn 1 and lost 1 
• Oh, I nearly forgot....my wife gave birth to our 3rd child!

The latter has taken over life and certainly put everything else on a back burner.  Martha Ava was born on Friday 13th September (our 2nd child to be born on Friday 13th!) which meant missing the game on Sunday (Only my 2nd game in 3 seasons I might add!).  As one parent pointed out, my No2 coach has a 100% win record when I'm not there!

I had all my plans in place before the big day to pass on all football responsibilities and everything seemed to run fairly smoothly for the game I missed.  Everyone involved with the club have been great.  Flowers and card from the parents, presents from parents and club chairman and secretary were all unexpected but a lovely touch.  The football community is like one big family and one I am proud to be involved with!

Martha with flowers and card from ERFC U11s parents - thank you

Now comes the difficult part of trying to fit everything in.  All football admin tasks have taken a back seat and have generally been done at the last minute!  Thankfully the league, Sheffield & District Junior Sunday League, have made things so much easier by making everything online.

So what does Martha think to football?  Well, on Sunday after an hour of getting everything ready to get out of the house (everything takes 4 times as long these days!), my wife and I finally managed to get Martha out to her 1st game.  To be honest, I'm not sure she took it all in!

Preparing for match day

With the 1st match of the new season only 3 days away, and my wife expecting our 3^rd child on the same day, I have had to be more prepared than I have ever been.  Match day equipment has been passed on and email drafted in preparation for me not being there for our 1^st match.  It then hit me how much is actually involved!

• Collect registration cards from club chairman
• Arrange collection of goals
• Arrange for new kit to be collected
• Prepare match sheet
• Organise referee
• Organise time of kick off
• Contact opposition with details
• Email all parents with details
• Arrange for goals to be stored somewhere
• Work out substitutions so all get equal playing time

That’s just the pre-match list!  Then there’s the match day list

• Organise kids
• Choose captain
• Exchange match sheets with opposition
• Do substitutions
• Pay referee
• Enjoy the match!

This is all in addition to the pre-season preparation.  Who’d be a volunteer grassroots coach?!?  Me, I wouldn’t swap it for the world! 

Friendlies and kids school holidays

Friendlies are a great way to prepare for the season.  You can take so much from them, especially when the format of the game changes.  The problems arise when the school holidays are just before the start of the new season!  Our 1st and only friendly so far was back in July, just before the kids broke up.  Then the school holidays hit and I lost half of the team.  Don't see this as me complaining because I was also one of those that took a break for a couple of weeks.  I just don't know how other teams manage it.

Over the last few weeks, I received numerous texts, phone calls and emails asking for friendlies but I've had to turn them down.  We have only been managing 6-7 at training to getting at least 9 together for a match on a Sunday is definitely a no-no.  Do these other teams have considerably larger squads than us?  Surely not as we are only allowed a certain number of players in the squad.  Do other kids not go on holiday?  Maybe, or they don't all go at the same time.

We have 14 players, of which 3 or 4 have been unavailable all summer.  That leaves us with 10-11.  Factor in others going away and we are struggling to get a team for the whole summer holidays.

What I do know is come September, I will have a squad of players eager to play.  It may take us a couple of games to get going but they'll learn quickly.

Excitement of Fixture Release Day

The day the new seasons fixtures are released have always been exciting.  Who is our first game against?  Who are we playing over the Christmas period?  Are we at home or away for the final day?  This season is no different for me, other than it's not Sheffield United's fixtures I'm looking at, it's Ecclesall Rangers U11s.

Up until the last Friday, I hadn't realised the Championship, League 1 and League 2 seasons were starting on the Saturday!  Since starting coaching, my interest in the professional game has dwindled.  Not completely, but enough to not worry about it during the close season.  My focus has totally changed to the part of the game I really enjoy.

Today, the fixtures for the SDJSL were released and I did the same as always, first game, Christmas period and last game.  Then after that it was "Are we playing during school holidays?".  Professional clubs don't have to go through this!  It's always a struggle to get a team together at these times.  Many of my team go and visit family or take holidays leaving us with the bear bones.  So these will be the dates I'll be trying to rearrange.

It may be sad, but I still get the buzz of excitement on the day the fixtures are released.  Next week we get to go through it again when we find out our cup opponents!

Finding a Sponsor

Finding a sponsor for a football team is always hard, especially in the current financial climate.  Thankfully, we were lucky enough to have a parent sponsor our 1st season at U8s.  3 years on and 1 kit handed from the age group above, this year we really needed to start looking for a new kit sponsor.

There are many websites with advise on how to go about finding a sponsor, local businesses, asking parents, etc.  Thankfully, this year Twitter came to the rescue!  It's not often you get a business asking to sponsor a grassroots team but we were lucky to find just that.  Milestone CDM Ltd posted to our league to see if there was any teams interested in the S11 area of Sheffield.  This was back in March and after a busy end to the season and a post-season break, things have started moving.

I met Michael in June and his enthusiasm for putting something back into the local community is commendable.

So the new kit has been ordered with Euro Soccer Company and will hopefully be with us for the start the season.

Mock up of kit

A big thanks to Michael and the guys at Milestone CDM Ltd for their support.

Football boots

Without wanting to sound old, I have to say "They're not like they used to be!"  I was from a generation where the majority of boots were black.  Now, you're lucky to find a black pair.  In fact, it's easier to get every other colour but black!

An extremely small selection!

As we approach the start of the season, my son has started looking for new boots.  His choice of boots for the last 3 years have pretty much been made on colour and design.  Thankfully, not much thought has gone into which brands his friends are wearing.  This year, I'm guessing we'll start to see a shift as he gets older and more aware.

So how is he going to choose his boots from the vast array of choices?

What colour and make?

Does he need more than one pair for different types of ground, Soft-ground (SG), Hard ground (HG) or Firm Ground (FG)?

If he goes for Adidas, does he need Speed, Energy, Control or Heritage boots?

Or what about Nike's range?  Speed, Attack, Control, Touch or Accuracy?

Shall we pay more to have his initials on them?

What do all these boots do?  As the tutor on my coaching course said, "They're not going to make you play any better".  At 17/18 I wore red boots.  Why, because I wanted to stand out from the crowd.  And being the only one in the team not wearing black boots, I certainly did to the opposition!  In fact, you could say I became a target.  Now, you wouldn't stand out from the others unless you wore these

So the conclusion I have come to is that my son needs a pair of boots that fit well, are comfortable and are going to last until his feet grow.....again!  All I have to do now is to make him think the same!

Transition to 9v9

This season sees us make the transition to one 9v9 match from two 7v7 matches.  With only 2 coaches, creating 2 teams was never an option, so a decision was made to reduce the squad size from 17 to 14.  This has been hanging over our heads for the latter end of the season but parents were spoken to and the squad for the season chosen.

Mini-soccer has been a great introduction to football for the children without the complication of offside, indirect freekicks and huge nets.  It encourages freedom and creativity, or at least it should do if the coaches and parents let them play!  As a team, we have always encouraged children to express themselves and not to worry about making mistakes.  After 3 years of playing the ball out from the back, I would say they are now all comfortable on the ball in pressured situations.  This can only stand them in good stead for the future.

So how will they cope with 9v9?  An extra 20 mins per match compared to last season should be interesting, and so will the larger pitch.  Those players that covered every blade of grass in mini-soccer will have to be more disciplined to ensure they don't burn themselves out.  I spoke to a coach from another team and he spoke of having 2 training sessions a week, 1 for ball skills and another for fitness.  Personally, I don't think it's necessary.  If they're not fit at 10/11 year old, they never will be!

The pitch will be played penalty area to penalty area.  Touchline's and penalty areas will more than likely be marked out with markers or alternative coloured lines.  At our last managers meeting, it was suggested we have a dedicated 9v9 pitch, marked out correctly with permanent goalposts.  Obviously, this would be great but wouldn't be the end if it didn't happen.  If not, I'll be seeing which parents can cone out a straight touchline (should be fun for those who've been out the night before!).

Seeing the gulf between England's current U21's and other countries, things needed to change.  The FA are moving in the right direction and it will only take time.  But the Youth Development Review will make things better and hopefully the gap smaller.  It's going to take time and coaches need to be fully behind the changes and make them happen effectively.

Presentation nights complete!

Our last training session was back at the end of April, and after a long and eventful season, I thought it was best that we had a 2 month break before we start pre-season training.  5 weeks in, it now seems like a very hasty decision!  I don't know about the kids, but I'm itching to get back coaching and preparing for next season.

So what has been happening post-season?

League Presentation

2 weeks ago we attended the league presentation evening after winning Division D.  I'd heard nightmare stories of it being a long winded affair (for the adults anyway!), sitting through monotonous presentation after presentation.  So after pre-warning all our parents, I was pleasantly surprised by the evening.  To say it was well organised would be an understatement!  Certainly a credit to all at SDJSFL and the amount of time and effort they must have put in!  The venue, Barnsley Metrodome, was excellent and Uriah Rennie handed out the trophies (general response from kids to parents was "who's he?").

Fin holding Div D Winners trophy

Club Presentation

Our second presentation night was held on Sat 8th June 2013.  I know a lot of clubs share their presentation nights with other age groups, but each team within our club arrange their own.  It has to be said, I have very little to do with the organisation.  It's all done by one of the parents so all i have to do is turn up, eat from the bbq and drink from the bar....oh, and there is the small matter of the presentation and speech!  One thing I hate, it having to stand up in front of people and talk.  It's just not me.  The previous 2 seasons, I've not prepared and just bumbled my way through.  This year, I thought I'd better change that!  So 3 days before I started making bullet points about the season and all the players.  I never thought I'd get to 3 pages!

3 page speech!

How did the night go?  Well, it started with one of the lads falling out of a tree and ending in A&E.  Not your usual presentation night!  Other than that, the speech went down well, the food was good and the drinks kept flowing.  What more could you want?

Trophy

The presentation nights ended of a fantastic season, one which had a lot more high points than low.  With the squad already selected for next season, planning can now start before we start training again at the beginning of July.

Presentation nights are upon us

It's fast approaching that time of the season when, as a manager/coach, I have to think of those end of season awards.  There is much discussion around whether they are valuable or needed, but seeing the look on the face of the kids when they are received is priceless!  As a club, it's down to the manager/coach to decide what awards they are to give out

• Managers Player
• Coaches Player
• Players Player
• Supporters Player
• etc.

We opt for 3 of the above plus Most Improved Player , leaving out the Players Player.  At a young age, and from my own experiences, this ends up going to the one with the biggest circle of friends within the team.  I know it did for the team I played for!  I was surprised to find out from my son that he sees the most important being Most Improved Player.  I presumed it would be the Managers or Coaches Player, obviously not!

So how are the awards chosen?  It would be easy to pick out the child with the most ability, they usually get the most votes in the Supporters Player anyway.  For me, when choosing the Managers Player, I look for other qualities, commitment, manners, enthusiasm and not moaning about playing in an unfamiliar position!  Most Improved Player is always a tricky one.  Throughout the season, you can see every player improving.  I always try and look at how they played in the first few weeks of the season compared to the final few weeks.  Again, their conduct could also be viewed.

In addition to our own presentation evening, as league winners we have also been invited to the league presentation evening at Barnsley Metrodome.

League Presentation tickets

It will be a late night for our u10s on a school night but I'm sure something they will all enjoy.  What a way to end the season!

Last thing, good luck to Millhouses Juniors and Norton Lees Juniors who are playing in the SDJSFL U10s Trophy final on the 18th May.  These are 2 teams from our league who play in the right spirit and were a pleasure to play against.

End of season, start of new

Our season ended a couple of weeks ago with us needing a win to be promoted as champions.  I don't know who was more nervous, the kids, parents or coaches!  I know it's not all about winning but it would be nice to go out on a high.

1-0 down in the 1st half of match 1, we looked nervous.  At half-time, I asked the boys what they needed to do. Some excellent replies around keeping the ball and playing how we usually play.  The 2nd half was much better and at the end of the 1st match it was still 1-0.

2nd game we battled to a 1-0 lead in the 1st half (1-1 overall).  You could see the confidence and very little was said at half-time, "just keep doing what your doing".  A couple of goals sealed it in the 2nd half, 3-1 overall.  A great result played in great spirit by both teams.

It was great to receive emails and texts from other teams in our league proving that grassroots football is definitely a community and one to be proud of.

League Presentation Evening invitation

All we have now for this season is the league presentation and team presentation evenings to look forward to.

So now we start preparing for next season.  How do we get from 17 boys down to 14 for the forthcoming U11s 9v9 season?  How do we do it without upsetting someone?  Simple answer....you can't!  Many discussions have been had between myself and our other coach, and we pretty much agreed on our squad.  I knew it was going to be difficult telling the parents of those we were to lose but I didn't realise how difficult and I wasn't prepared for their reaction.  Only thing I can do is help them try to find other clubs.  I'm losing 3 boys who have given their all for the team and they've been a pleasure to coach.

Although next season doesn't start until September, it will be upon us before we know it!  We have no training for the next 2 months but I'm sure I'll be kept busy with tournaments and friendlies to arrange, presentation nights and managers meetings to attend, and of course enjoying some football free weekends with the family!

3 seasons later....

I have just finished my 3rd season coaching football.  Wow, I never thought for one minute that I would do it or love it so much!  Having never worked with children, other than my own, it was certainly different!

So what's been my football philosophy?  I wanted a group of players that were comfortable on the ball, who played out from the back and most importantly....enjoyed themselves!

So the season finished last week, and this week I start preparing for next season.  First decision is probably the worst, who do we take forward and who do we cut from the squad?  What an awful thing to have to do to 9 and 10 year olds!  But with a current squad of 17 (for 2 x 7v7 matches), we need to get down to a max of 14 (for 9v9).  I'll let you know how I get on :(

Getting into coaching

Like many boys, football was my life for years.  I went to coaching schemes and started playing competitively at u10s for a local team.  Over the years, I played for a number of teams until injury (and getting married/having kids) cut my competitive playing days short.  In my head, I could have made it!  Realistically, I didn't have a chance but that never stopped me dreaming!

In 2009/10, I took my son to a Saturday morning coaching session on the local school field.  Being the first there over a few weeks, I got talking to the coach and helped out with keeping the kids in order.  As the summer approached, all the parents (mainly dads!) were approached at the end of a session to see who would "help out" for the following season.  I have emphasised the "help out" as this was the important thing for me.  "I don't mind helping", I said.  So that was me thrown into it for my 1st season!

2 weeks later, I chose the 16 boys that would make up the squad, was given a set of balls, bibs and cones and sent on my way!  In at the deep end!

The rest is history.