The Coaching Mag - Issue Five

The Coaching Mag

Issue Five February 2016

Exclusive Inter view Charlie Austin • • • • •

Academies - A Fresh Look Introducing INSIDE FOOTBALL A closer look - Charlie Austin Football School Twitter - What parents want for their children from a football session Plus Much More….

ISSUE FIVE FEBRUARY 2016 • 3.Academies - A Fresh Look

This month we look at new ideas and ways that the academy system could work better for children, players, clubs and the game as a whole.

• EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW -CHARLIE AUSTIN We talk to the sort after striker following his move back to the Premier League with Southampton and find out about his experiences as a youngster and what he thinks should be the focus and motivation for children playing the game.

• A Closer Look - Charlie

Austin Football School We talk to the people involved in making the brand new Charlie Austin Football School happen and what it takes to run and deliver such a venture.

• Introducing - INSIDE FOOTBALL

We take a trip to the revolutionary facility INSIDE FOOTBALL in Gloucestershire and ask is this the future for child friendly football in the UK.

• Twitter - What parents tell us they want for their child in a football session • FREE - Coaching plans for teenage community sessions

ACADEMIESA fresh look So this month i feel that we should look at new ideas of how the academy system, in an ideal world could work better. How it can be utilised to improve grass roots football not just in standard but in terms of environment and how we could potentially create more top quality players with the experience and psychological capacity to compete at the very top level of the game and represent their country in a positive way.

Lets start with looking at the system as it is now. Academies can currently sign players from Under 9 age that live within 60 mins of their primary site. To be clear we are not talking about development centres, we are talking about professional academies run by the club and playing within the games programme created by the Premier League, Football league and FA in sync with the Elite Player Performance Programme (EPPP).

Once a player is signed to the Academy they will receive training 2-3 times a week lasting 2 hours and play games of 4 20 min quarters 3 out of every 4 weekends. Players then receive a review every 12 weeks in the Foundation Phase (U9-11) and every 6 weeks in the Youth Development Phase (U12-16). Once a player is registered to a professional academy they can no longer play within the grass roots game. All coaches at pro academies are minimum Level 3/UEFA B Qualified and hold the FA Youth Award.

From my first hand experience some of the coaching that takes place in academies up and down the country is by far the best around and most child friendly and child orientated, especially within the Foundation Phase age groups. Sessions with Team, Unit and Individual challenges, backed up

by sound technical and tactical knowledge to help the children understand the game through question and answer, trial and error, guided discovery and peer to peer learning taking place. Ownership and accountability for learning and sessions being given to players to help develop these cognitive decision making skills so vital in the modern game after all its the ability to make the correct decisions at the right times that separates the best from the rest.

So with all of this good work going on is there something letting the whole thing down? Is there enough quality out within the community to boost numbers of players having a shot at becoming a professional one day or is the gap bet ween grass roots and academies growing by the day? And we don't just mean in terms of players but also coaching.

Whilst travelling to and from many Academies over the last 4 years i find myself thinking is there a better way to do this? I personally have been a great advocate of the hours of contact time children get within Academies and with 6 hours of training from UEFA qualified coaches and 80 min matches players will improve as a natural consequence of the environment.

Grass roots players that receive 90 mins a week training from Level 1/2 coaches and 40 min matches really, over the course of a season, have no chance of developing to the same level.

So here is the radical idea that sprung to mind.

WHAT IF ACADEMIES HAD A TEAM OF FOUNDATION PAHSE COACHES BUT NO ACTUAL TEAMS? WHAT IF THESE COACHES WERE UTILISED OVER 12 WEEK BLOCKS TO COACH GRASS ROOTS TEAMS AT THE ACADEMY FACILITY? WHAT IF EACH ACADEMY WAS ALLOCATED 9 LOCAL CLUBS PER SEASON TO WORK WITH DURING THE FOUNDATION AGES? WHAT IF THE ACADEMY DIDN’T REGISTER PLAYERS UNTIL U13 AGE? So currently professional academies have teams of signed players from the age of U9 with most also running under 7 and 8 teams to try and capture the imagination and loyalty of players prior to this age. Again, as previously stated, this coaching, on the whole is superior to grass roots coaches due to the qualifications needed and rigorous recruitment process coaches have to go through for the opportunity to work in the

environment. The idea here is for the club to retain all of these coaches Under 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and them work with a cluster of clubs within their catchment area.

With 2 coaches for each age group this brings us 12 UEFA qualified coaches of which 4 could work in one club with the ages stated, another 4 could work in another club and so on. This would be done in 12 week blocks and means the club could spend a good amount of time with 9 clubs in the area every season. With it taking 6 seasons for a player to go from U7 to U12 this would mean that children starting at U7 in the scheme would get 72 weeks of coaching from the academy coaches and develop a great deal whilst also still being able to play grass roots football and have a well rounded experience of the game.

I hear you ask, “how would the 9 clubs be selected� and the answer is that there could be a criteria around equal playing time, position rotation and processes that the clubs wanting to be involved in the scheme would have to adhere to. If there was 20 clubs all wanting the ser vice, then it would be down to the scouts to go and assess the talent within the clubs based on a strict criteria of what the club is looking for and their philosophy.

During the 12 weeks, all of the club training would take place at the academy facility in the academy environment, again developing that all round experience of the game, playing from muddy local pitches to pristine academy pitches and 3g surfaces.

In terms of a games programme the teams being worked with during the 12 weeks would play development fixtures against the teams other academies are working with based on category grading. As an example if Bristol City are working with AFC Burnham and Cardiff are working with AFC Whitchurch then the academy takes all of the age groups mentioned

to play in games, one home, one away during the 12 weeks, each week they play a different academy.

Now think of the impact this would have on grass roots football…..

• The coaches would learn and could be invited in to assist the academy coaches along with a CPD event during the 12 weeks.

• This would in turn improve those clubs that struggle to maintain standards and continuity within their club.

• The children would all be getting access to academy standard and style coaching from some of the highest qualified and experienced coaches within their area.

• The standard of player would improve across the sport and the gap bet ween grass roots and academy would get closer with the ups killing of coaches, volunteers and players at the bottom end of the game.

• Pitches would have less games on them during the season so would be in a better state.

SO WHAT HAPPENS FOLLOWING UNDER 12’s AND WHY TAKE IT PAST THE END OF ‘FOUNDATION PHASE’?

Following U12’s the clubs would then offer contracts to the children they had ‘ear marked’ through the years that they had been working with those clubs. This would mean that clubs could only sign players within their catchment area of 60mins from the primary location (as per EPPP rules).

The reason for pushing on and not registering players until U13 is to allow the children to enjoy an easier transition into the academy, at the end of U11, the children are moving from primary to secondary school, which is a huge transition. By leaving it until end of U12 it allows them to settle.

So the key messages from this are: • Academy coaches working in the community.

• Improved standard of grass roots clubs as they try to reach required standard for the programme.

• Improved coaches in the community through exposure to academy mentors and professional CPD events.

• Improved players at all levels of the game with a more rounded experience.

• Improved opportunity, not only for players to achieve success within the game, but also for clubs to keep options open when it comes to signing players at young ages.

• Players have a better ability to deal with set backs if and when they are either released or do not get invited into the program, due to their age.

• Better pitches due to a better split of games across pitches.

Feel free to comment and share this article through your social media and get the conversation going…

Until next time….

CHARLIE AUSTIN FOOTBALL SCHOOL We take a look at what it takes to run a football school and what makes Charlie Austin Football School so successful.

Sitting in his car following another successful Summer of Soccer Schools, Inclusion Coaching Head Coach Steve Hooper’s thoughts instantly turn to the new school year and planning begins in earnest for what looked like being another steady year for Inclusion making marginal gains in each school and looking at the possibility of adding another, taking the total to 10 sessions per week.

Week three of Summer Soccer School saw Swindon Town ace Yaser Kasim come across from training with the squad to meet the kids and we all stood in awe as the 40 local children got to meet a current real professional player.

A week passed and things were really beginning to hot up ahead of the new school year. Who would have thoughts borrowing a bag of balls and a phone call to one school located in the small market town of Devizes would lead to a professional being at Soccer School and a thriving small local business. Sat in his home office counting through flyers, doing social media posts and dealing with a few emails, a message pops up on Facebook from Matt Galbraith. Now Matt had done some work for Inclusion possibly as long as three years previous at a football camp in Devizes, Matt holds a L2 in football and also coaches Rugby and Cricket so knows his stuff.

The message reads “morning mate, long time, how have you been? I am just messaging as i have a friend who is looking to start a football school and was wondering if you would mind me recommending you to him”. Obviously with Inclusion going so well the response was “ok, but I'm kind of busy with Inclusion, feel free to pass my details on though and i will talk to him and see if there is anyway i can help”.

Within 2 minutes the phone rings and Steve answers, hoping that the call wont take long and he can get back to counting his flyers.

A voice on the end of the phone says “Hi, this is Charlie Austin, is this Steve? Matt passed your details on, I am just calling regarding my new Football School” Following a conversation that must have lasted at least half an hour around youth football, values and beliefs and some other logistical stuff, the decision was made the Inclusion Coaching would be the exclusive delivery partner of Charlie Austin Football School, provide all the coaches, delivering all the session, using their unique player centred approach and that was that.

What was even more pleasing for Steve was that he had been chosen based on the values and beliefs discussed during the phone call and all the talk about the children and the football, rather than how much money could be made. The thought has and will always be that if you are good at what you do and deliver the best most appropriate coaching and football environment around, then the money is a consequence, not the other way around.

From the minute the deal was agreed things really ramped up. For the first time ever, schools are making contact and not the other way around. Within a week there is 12 schools on board, assembly are taking place to promote new sessions, plans for a second Half Term Football School in Hungerford are in full flow and everything is growing. CV’s for coaching positions coming in from as far a field as Brazil, Greece and Paris. Within a month 50 children have attended the half term at Hungerford and over 60 had attended in Calne, we had 10 sessions agreed to start the next term in Berkshire and plans were being put in place for 3 half term courses in February.

It seems that following 5 years of hard work and development of ‘the inclusion way’ was finally paying off and the vision Steve had all that time ago was finally coming to fruition.

So how do you grow and expand and recruit whilst trying to keep the same quality that the small close knit team has in Wiltshire? Put simply, you recruit based on how you want the sessions to be run and what you want the kids to get out of it. You

choose coaches based on their strengths, if we wanted the best freestylers you would recruit coaches that were good at free styling.

What we look for is to help develop young people with life skills that are able to deal with failure, that are humble, that look at things with an open mind to trying and perfecting what they possibly cant do at the start and can also learn and improve their football skills. If thats what we want to produce then thats what we need to look for in our coaches. PERSONALITY is what we recruit based on. if you find people that just talk about the player and not the person then that is a pretty good indicator that this particular coach may be more suited to one of the hundreds of ‘Development Centres’ out there that are there with the sole purpose of getting players into the academy system. They may be a good coach, with all their badges etc, but are they displaying the traits we want to develop in our players?

Once recruitment is nearing completion we then had to start looking for new sessions and schools to work with in other areas, Berkshire being our primary concern. With Charlie coming from Hungerford in West Berkshire and representing Kintbury, Hungerford and the district teams earlier in his career it seemed only right that we start there. Following a few phone calls, meetings and having Charlie attend a few assemblies we had agreed to start delivering at 8 schools in West Berkshire.

The hard work starts now though and keeping how sessions delivered across the board look and feel is of paramount importance. When your child enters a Charlie Austin Football School session, they need to know they are going to be challenged individually to suit their ability and help them improve. Its not about the whole group as such but more about how we can effect every child attending in a positive way, not just in the technical and physical sides of the game but also the psychological and social sides. Lots of problem solving, dealing with success and failure and being allowed the time to experiment and find ways that work for them.

Who knows what the future holds for Charlie Austin Football School and Inclusion but we are sure……….the only way is up.

#MyWembley

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW -

CHARLIE AUSTIN So following his January transfer window move to Southampton we sat down with Charlie Austin to talk about everything from his most influential youth coaches to his favourite and most meaningful goals.

As a little introduction we thought we would do a little research to arm you all with some stats around Charlie’s goal scoring exploits, what we found , once seen in black and white is staggering. So Charlie started at Kintbury Rangers following being released for being too small by a professional Academy….ooops….where in the Hellenic League Division One he grabbed himself 20 goals in 27 appearances, this incredible form saw him make the move to Hellenic Premier Division with Hungerford Town.

Then came the move to Poole Town where Austin again grabbed a more than impressive 48 goals in 42 games! This alerted some professional clubs to his goal scoring prowess and following a few trials at different clubs, Austin was given a chance to impress at Swindon Town. When he made the moved his Non-League goal scoring record stood at 73 goals in 99 games.

31 goals in 54 games for League One Swindon Town saw a move to the Championship with Burnley which lead to a further 41 goals in 82 appearances across 2 full seasons. Another move to promotion contenders QPR saw Austin hit 17 goals in a season that ended with play-off success with Austin scoring the winning goal in the semi-finals in a 3-2 win over Barnsley. 18 goals the following season in the Premier League lead to an England call up last Summer and saw him only beaten in the goal scoring charts by Diego Costa, Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane. A further 10 goals in the first half of this season for QPR and then a goal on his debut at Old Trafford for Southampton leaves his professional goal tally at 118 goals in 219 games.

Now lets catch our breath and get his take on all of that and much more‌.

TCM: Charlie, welcome to the coaching mag and thank you for taking the time to be with us.

CA: No problem at all.

TCM: So when you read those stats how does it make you feel?

CA: I am just proud to keep playing and hopefully keep scoring.

TCM: Ok, so we are going to jump straight in, who was your most influential coach growing up and why?

CA: My uncle, Darren Angel, he was my manager at Kintbury Rangers from when i was 15 and i have a lot to thank him for, the way he introduced me to the mens game helped me a lot.

TCM: OK, so as a player now what is your favourite type of training session?

CA: For me as a striker i love the finishing sessions. There is lots of different finishing, 6 yard finishes, long range finishes, 1v1’s but my favourite usually like a function or phase of play that ends in finishing from crosses. I have worked very hard on my one touch finishing and heading because that helped me a lot throughout my career so far.

TCM: So maybe ask the players what they feel that they need from time to time and allow them to work on that and build confidence.

CA: Yeah, confidence and belief is massive as a striker.

TCM: OK, is there any tips you would give coaches at all levels of the game when dealing with a star striker or a star player then?

CA: Make sure that you set players targets and individual challenges as you want them to get as much out of your session as possible.

Make sure the player is enjoying themselves and isn't isolated from the group. Try to make sure that they player understands that not all will be at the same level and give them some social challenges to help others reach their maximum.

TCM: Moving away from the topic slightly but onto something that i know you are very keen to talk about. The new football school….What is this big vision?

CA: The big vision really is to be the leader in the area not only for participation numbers but also for quality of what is on offer. We want to make sure that the coaching is one of, if not the best around. We want the children to learn skills and develop as players and young people regardless of their ‘a bility’. For the older age groups we are starting a Nation Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science through Trinity School in Newbury and will be running 10 weekly hours of training as part of the course and the students will play in a county league and cup competition.

TCM: So slightly different to the younger year groups, we assume their will be trials for the programme and footballing ability will be assessed?

CA: Yes, thats it. Hopefully what we will see in the longer term is that the children that stick with the programme though the younger ages, will become the players in the older ages. We actually have a trial this month at Trinity School on Wednesday Feb 17th with a 10am start, players interested should email our head coach on steve@charlieaustinfootballschool.co.uk

CHARLIE AUSTIN FOOTBALL SCHOOL FULL TIME 2 YEAR NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE

OPEN TO ALL - TRIALS

Delivered by:

WEDNESDAY 17TH FEBRUARY & WEDNESDAY 30TH MARCH The Trinity School, Newbury: 10.00 - 12.00 To register for the trial contact steve@charlieaustinfootballschool.co.uk or call 01628 826927

TCM: That sounds awesome and like a real pathway is being created that is a potential alternative to the academies. So what was the inspiration behind the football school?

CA: It’s just something i always wanted to do. When i was younger i went to the football schools and met lots of new people, learned lots of new skills and just had a great time, if we can recreate that for todays youth then why not? It also gets me in a position to tell the kids about my experiences in the game at all levels which i hope will inspire them in some way.

TCM: OK, so why were Inclusion Coaching the chosen delivery partner?

CA: I heard a lot of good things about them from people i trust in the football world so it was important that we got them on board and really helped us get everything off the ground. The coaches are excellent with the children and are very knowledgable guys that are able to work with all ages effectively.

Favourite manager so far?

TCM: So back to you quickly and some quick fire questions?

CA: Eddie Howe TCM: Most meaningful goal?

CA: Play-off semi-final second leg for QPR in extra time, Bobby (Zamora) crossed it in and i was quicker to react than the centre half and i stabbed the ball in past former England keeper Scott Carson.

TCM: Favourite goal?

CA: Southampton away for QPR last season. It was all instinct, some strikers have that, just one touch to control and turn with the right and then a volley with the left.

TCM: Favourite strike partner?

CA: Bobby Zamora TCM: Best half time team talk?

CA: Clint Hill’s during half time of the Play-Off Final against Derby for QPR. TCM: Brilliant, so thats it really, thanks once again for coming in and talking to us, its been an absolute pleasure.

For more on Charlie Austin Football School visit www.charlieaustinfootballschool.co.uk where full details of all of their half term courses, after school classes and county centres are available.

INTRODUCING..

In a series of special articles we take a look at some of the best undiscovered facilities around. This time we took a visit to INSIDE football in Stroud to see just how good some of these facilities are.

First impressions are good with a good sized car park and lots going on in the area including a huge indoor skate park on the same industrial estate. In our eyes this shows potential for a booming business in youth football in the area. There are kids in the area looking for things to do so this seems to be the perfect place for an indoor football arena.

Once inside the door the view is breathtaking, 3 good sized 3G surface pitches, a cafe, a small fitness suite, a conference room and good sized changing rooms for both male and female participants.

Three 3G pitches measuring 27mx20m with nets that open out to make a good sized area for coaching sessions and fun football activities that seem to be maintained to a high standard. As we are looking around the facility, some children come in for what we imagine is a birthday party and are playing 5v5 in one of the 3 pitches and seem to be having a great time.

The facility also runs Tiny Tots sessions for children aged 2-4, Walking Football for ages 50+, half term camps and a development centre for local professional side Swindon Town FC. In regards to adult football there is weekly leagues delivered through leisure leagues and stroud5aside.com In conclusion we think the future is bright for INSIDE football and that people in the local Stroud area should really go and check out all that is on offer from the facility.

The guys hope to see you all soon and look out for announcements from them over the next few months on www.insidefootball.net

To contact the facility for more information or to book pitches you should contact them on 01453 885343 (Please leave a message if unanswered & we will return your call asap) or email info@insidefootball.net

THIS ISSUES FAVOURITE IMAGES AND QUOTES!

THIS issues SOCIAL POLLs: We asked: WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT, FROM A PARENTS POINT OF VIEW, FOR A CHILD TO TAKE FROM A FOOTBALL SESSION? RESULTS 1,076 votes LIFE SKILLS: 48% TECHNICAL FOOTBALL SCHOOL: 52% @waynebarrigan: A combination of both. Like all aspects of life, its about balance. @ChopperE1998: Learning the basics right and seeing it built on consistently. @r wd4585: Winning @smithalex121: Just voted ‘life skills’. but, from a parents point of view, prob tech skills.

We asked: FROM A PARENTS VIEW, HOW SHOULD TECH FOOTY SKILLS BE COACHED? RESULTS 451 votes OBS & FEEDBACK: 21% TRIAL & ERROR: 28% ISOLATED PRACTICE: 14% MATCHES: 37%

We asked: DOES THE RETREAT RULE SQUASH CREATIVITY AND OPTIONS WHEN PLAYING OUT FROM THE BACK? RESULTS 54 votes YES: 48% NO: 52% @coachingboard: I think the coach is the biggest factor in creating the environment. @Parz25: dealing with a team that presses high early could be interesting to watch against a team that uses a retreat line. @1stevemaker: not at all. Teams don't have to wait for the opposition to retreat before playing. Gives options.

THIS issues FREE COACHING SESSIONS: Taken from the FA Mash Up programme, these sessions really do engage a teenage audience.

THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE COACHING MAG WILL BE DELIVERED MAY 2016!!