Tag: Mark O’sullivan

Categories
Irish Grassroots Football

3 Stage Model For Young Athletes

@jeancote46 the Canadian Sports scientist has devised three-stage model for young athletes:

  1. Sample as many sports as possible until early adolescence;

2. Focus on a few main sports in their early and mid-teens;

3. Specialise in their mid-to late-teens. “We philosophically believe early specialisation narrows long-term potential”. Rugby NZ

More on Jean Cote in this brilliant article from Mark Osullivan https://footblogball.wordpress.com/tag/jean-cote/

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We always like to hear your opinions and views. If you feel you have something to say or content to share, please comment below or email me coach@thecoachdiary.com 

If, you don’t have anything to add then please forward this on to a friend. As always, thanks for reading. I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary and @LetTheKidPlay

Categories
Coaching Clinics Irish Grassroots Football

Coach Education with Mark O’Sullivan

I’m delighted to announce that I will be holding an event in Dublin 15 on Monday 02 March 8pm with Uefa A Coach Mark O’Sullivan @markstkhlm AIK: Player+coach dev+mentor. District Coach Educator. Coach Ed consult. PhD research.

This is a complimentary event (VENUE: St Mochtas Parish Centre next door to Castleknock Celtic FC), I only ask you to offer a gratuity (Optional). If you are interested in attending or sponsoring please email Antonio at coach@thecoachdiary.com

Mark O Sullivan is a UEFA A licensed coach, coach educator and PhD researcher based in Stockholm Sweden where he works with AIK youth football. While football is his main sport, he has also consulted on coaching and coach education in Basketball, Floorball, Golf, Ice Hockey, ice-skating and Tennis.

Mark is also part of the sports research team at Sheffield Hallam University through which he has published various research papers.

Mark works at Swedish premier league club AIK Solna as head of development for 8-12 yrs. He actively coaches, educates coaches and parents and carries out his research work in to designing learning environments in child-youth football. As part of his research together with some colleagues he has set up Scandanavia’s first Research and Development department that is embedded in a football club. Through this department Mark and his colleagues are applying a constraint’s led approach encouraging the design of practice around the principles of nonlinear pedagogy. The first part of a collaboration between AIK Research and Development Department and FC Barcelona’s Methodology Department entitled Ecological Theories, Nonlinear practice and Creative Collaboration at AIK Football Club was presented at the Camp Nou in 2017 and published in the Frontiers of Psychology Journal.

Mark has consulted for the Canadian Soccer Association on coach education helping build their new evidence-based Children’s license (launched 2019) and also for the British Columbia Soccer Association on disabled football.

Mark’s  blog “Footblogball” is his learning space where he tries to bridge the practice-theory gap writing on pedagogy, training design and the complexity of youth development in sport https://footblogball.wordpress.com 

Mark O’Sullivan

Recent Presentations

  • Ontario Soccer Summit. A Constraints Led Approach to youth football- Theoretical presentation and practical session (Toronto Canada). 2- 4 March 2018.
  • Nova Scotia Soccer Association. A Constraints Led Approach to youth football- Theoretical presentation and practical session (Halifax Canada). 6 -7th March 2018.
  • Movement and Skill Acquisition Conference Cork Institute of Technology. Presentation on CLA and Nonlinear Pedagogy in practice (Cork, Ireland). 6-7th April 2018.
  • Theory & Practice: Implementing principles of nonlinear pedagogy in youth football (SaltLake City, USA) 18-21st July 2018.
  • Skill Acquisition Symposium – How contemporary Skill Acquisition research can enhance innovative practice. Rotherham New York Stadium.  (Rotherham UK). 10-11th October 2018.
  • Värmlandsidrotten Sports Symposium – Contemporary Skill Acquisition research in Child.
  • Youth Sport (Sunne, Sweden). 20th October 2018.
  • Stockholm Sports University (GIH). A constraints Led Approach in Football. 14th November 2018.
  • Örebro Sports Symposium Örebro Sweden (Örebro Sweden). Presentation on AIK Form of Life. 8th December 2018.
  • SPARC Symposium Skill Acquisition and Talent Development in Sport (Sheffield UK). Presentation on AIK Form of Life. 12th December 2018.
  • PGA Workshop Skill Acquisition and Talent Development in Sport (Sheffield UK). Presentation on AIK Form of Life. 13th December 2018.
  • Swedish Sports Federation National Conference – An Ecological Approach to Learning and Development March 15th 2019
  • Swedish Tennis Federation National Conference -An Ecological Approach to Learning and Development – April 5th 2019
  • Undergraduates Sport and Physical Activity Research Day, Sheffield Hallam University UK – An Ecological Approach to Learning and Development –May 7th 2019
  • BK Skjold Copenhagen, Denmark – Theory and Practice: An Ecological Approach to Learning and Development –June 30th – July 5th 2019
  • North Toronto Soccer Club, Toronto, Canada – An Ecological Approach to Learning and Development –July 17th 2019
  • World Ice Hockey Seminar, Toronto, Canada – An Ecological Approach to Learning and Development July 19th 2019
  • Canada Soccer Association Children’s license – Theory and Practice– Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada 2019- July 22-25th
  • Club 30 Salt Lake City, Utah, USA– Applying theory in practice (Practical workshop for 132 coaches) -July 29th
  • Wasatch Soccer Club Salt Lake City, Utah, USA  – Coach and player education – An Ecological Approach to Learning and Development (presentation for 220 parents and coaches)- July 30Th
  • MetaSports Soccer Club Salt Lake City, Utah, USA – Coach and player education – An Ecological Approach to Learning and Development (theory and practice)- July 31st– Aug 4th  

Upcoming events:

  1. Sheffield Hallam University – Transforming Lives Through Skill Acquisition – Sept 11th
  2. Gothenborg Sweden – AIK: An ecological Approach to player development – Dunnross Stiftelse AGM  Nov 18th
  3. Villnius Lithuania – Modern trends in Youth Football – An Ecological Approach to player development – NOV 20TH
  4. Skövde Sweden – Swedish football conference – An Ecological Approach to player development –11th February
  5. Copenhagen Denmark – Copenhagen Football Association – An Ecological Approach to player development –11th February
  6. Swedish Sports University, Stockholm (GIH) – Sports degree course guest speaker: Implementing a Constraints led Approach in youth football  – 29th March

FOR MORE ON THE DUBLIN EVENT EMAIL OR CONTACT ANTONIO 0872183837

DATE: MONDAY 02ND 2020

VENUE: St Mochtas Parish Centre next door to Castleknock Celtic FC)

TIME: 20.05PM

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I always like to hear your opinions and views. If you feel you have something to say, please comment below or email me coach@thecoachdiary.com If, you don’t have anything to add then please forward this on to a friend. As always, thanks for reading.

I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary and @LetTheKidPlay

Categories
Irish Grassroots Football

Physical Literacy

It seems obvious to me but today children don’t play like they did in previous generations.

The development of fundamental movement skills and fundamental sports skills that permit a child to move confidently and with control in a wide range of physical activity – The Canadian Sport Centre(Higgs, Balyi, Way, Cardinal. Norris and Bluechardt 2008)

In October 2013 I had an interesting conversation while working with with RCD Espanyol academy coach Enrique Mattheo. He had recently noticed that their youngest academy groups needed more coordination and balance training compared to when he began at the academy. His explanation was simple. Due to technology, environmental and safety restrictions children are no longer out doing what children used to do ie free play, climbing trees. Before, children would start at the academy already possessing a certain amount of physical literacy. This is not the case anymore.

Movement is a fundamental part to being human. It is essential for good health. Ability to move was at one time a daily part of any child’s life. A child with good physical literacy will have the competence and ability to use a variety of fundamental movement skills and confidence to apply these skills in different situations. In modern society it seems that this is unlikely to occur naturally. There was time when most children progressed into adult life with sufficient levels of physical literacy. Freeplay and self organised learning environments such as street football took care of this. Organised sport seems to be the only time we can guarantee our children the chance to learn, practice and develop their movement skills. Seemingly this is proving to not be enough.

The ability to carry out fundamental movement skills has many benefits. The obvious one is physical, such as fitness and motorskills. Cognitive skills in the area of understanding and problem solving along with social, emotional and motivational development also benefit. If children begin playing football with the ability to execute fundamental movement skills, it will be easier for the coach to contextualise these skills and help the child apply them to the sport. This in turn will give the child confidence to be creative when applying a skill. By being creative we mean that the child will invent new solutions to problems, thus working with the physical (motorskills) and the cognitive (decision making) all within a social context.

‘A child with good physical literacy will have the competence and ability to use a variety of fundamental movement skills and confidence to apply these skills in different situations.’

Who is responsible for developing physical literacy?

We are social learners, we learn from what our environment offers us. Many think that learning happens only in adult constructed environments (school, organised sport) and what is worse, our children are starting to believe it. Physical education and organised sport play a vital part in the process but they should not be seen as the only opportunities to learn and practice. Parents and adults should encourage a more spontaneous attitude to sport and free play.

Can it be argued that we are overprotecting our children?

Many a sporting childhood is driven by adult supervision with adult competition rules. This can mean that the only time a child plays a sport is when it is organised. One solution to this problem and to encourage development of fundamental movement skills is that children should be encouraged to engage in a variety of sports. Many parents feel more secure with early specialisation but why place the burden of athletic development on one sport at such a young age? Taking in to account the problems Enrique experiences at the RCD Espanyol academy, can we say that this is becoming a standard situation that we all must deal with? Therefore in anticipation of future problems perhaps a fitting and relevant model for today’s children could be “Early exposure with delayed specialisation”. Early selection of talent runs the risk of making the player pool smaller. What if we delay high volumes of training at an early age and encourage a more spontaneous attitude to sport, indeed a variety of sports and delay specialisation. Could it be that the longer you delay your selection of talent the more efficient your system?

Two Studies

A study at Essex University led by child fitness expert Dr Gavin Sandercock was very revealing. A study group of 215 10 year olds in 2008 were compares with 309 children of the same age in 1998. It was found that in the 2008 group

  1. Arm strength fell by 26%
  2. Number of sit ups performed fell by 27.1%
  3. One in 10 children could not hold their weight when hanging from bars compared to one in 20 in 1998.

What was interesting with this study is that both test groups had the same body mass index (BMI). So giving their declining strength, the 2008 group were likely to have more fat and less muscle than the 1998 group.

A study from GIH Stockholm found that the average 16 year old had lost 10% of the Vo2 Max compared with 10 years ago which indicates lack of movement and sport participation.

Post by Swedish Educated UEFA A Coach & Sports Director at EspanyolFootball.com Mark O’Sullivan. You can follow Mark @markstkhlm

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I always like to hear your opinions. Please comment below or email me info@thecoachdiary.com. If, you don’t have anything to add then please forward this on to a friend. Thanks for reading. I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary

Categories
Irish Grassroots Football Psychology

EXPERT TALK: Footblogball with Michel Bruyninckx

Footblogball has continued he’s series of excellent interviews with brain centered learning coaches. I’m delighted to be able to post this on the TCD blog for you.

Footblogball: You have recently been working at AC Milan . Can you give us a brief insight as to what you were doing there and how responsive did you find the players and coaching staff to your methods ?

Michel: We have been working on cognitive readiness, perception and multi tasking. The players’ interaction and communication had to be improved. After 3 days the coaches already saw some changes. Both the coaches and players were reacting in a very enthusiastic way on the new drills. We have been invited back to show more of our concept.

Footblogball: Seeing as genetically influenced doesn’t mean genetically determined we can say that talent is not prepackaged at birth , but takes time to develop .One of the most important discoveries in recent years is that the environment triggers gene expression. Talent develops through the interaction of genes and the environment . How does your method help create the right environment for player development?

Michel: The environment delivers a mental and a physical framework. We work on the organization of both. Regarding the mental part we try to exclude stereotyping and too much competition between the players based on the differences regarding physical maturity. Also the fact we try to match learning in a better way with brain functioning has got an enormous influence on the learning processes.

Footblogball: Our brains grey matter that has been growing through our childhood shrinks dramatically in our teen years while at the same time white matter . made up of axon fiber connections between brain cells increases. This white colour comes from myelin something that you have referred to in previous interviews and is a key factor in regulating the speed in neural circuits so that they combine at the right time. As football is a flexible circuit activity where the player must understand and solve many problems and apply the right skill to these challenges , what advice would you give to a coach who wants to use a more brain centered approach to his coaching of young teenagers who have already been coached in a more traditional way?

Michel: The grow of myelin is based on repetition with variations (a combination of linear and non linear dynamics) but embedded in a structured and very visible football environment. A specific space mapping is indispensable to set up a logical line players will use to build up their knowledge – principle of retrieval structures. For the organization of each drill it is very important to combine the technical performance with the influence of time and space.

Footblogball: If 6-12 years is referred to as the “golden age for player development then could we not describe , with all that is happening in the brain , the teenage years as the – “Golden Age of Brain Development “?

Michel: First of all the “golden age for player development” must focus more on multi sports. A too early specializing is not good for the postural development of a player. So it depends on at what age a player starts to practice ball mastery and game development may not be understood as “competition” – the French federation decided to organize no more competition before the age of 14. Mastering a game means that players can go to more “decision making” themselves. You can’t expect them to do this in adequate way if they don’t have a well designed referential learning framework and through the fact their prefrontal cortex is not full grown they need the help of a coach.

 

Footblogball: We hear a lot about agility and speed in the modern game but for me and especially at youth level , perception and decision making should be trained at the same time otherwise there is a risk that there will be a break down in the connection between how the young player experiences training and the real game. Perception can improve a players agility while the ability to perceive and react quicker ( make a decision ) can help the speed in which an athlete can move in a new direction.

Can you discuss this statement?

Michel: I agree with your statement: we train too much “single focus”. If we train or coach our players continuously within our physical potential (more based on reacting than acting), we shall never match with the future game. A faster understanding of the brain when an action is developing will speed up decision making. Speed is no longer a pure physical matter but more and more a neuronal issue.

Footblogball:  Research suggests that young players only retain 18% of concepts that are learned passively but 68% of that which is learned actively , thus implying the need for a more player centered training rather than coach centered . Can suggest how by using your methods this can be achieved ?

Michel: Once they have the learning framework, we can ask them to train and coach themselves. We regularly make use of double tasking. Here the players take the lead using mathematical tasks and different languages. Concentration level needs to be high as Xavi Hernandez says: “Think, think, think etc….. “

Footblogball: When you work with a club at grassroots level the question of talent Identification always comes up. For me it is more a question of talent observation.

What environment does the club /coach create for the player ? Is it a winning first culture ? something that I associate with talent identification ( based on physical qualities, identify the best player now to win , short term. ) possibly creating extrinsic motivation. Where perhaps a “development culture “ OBSERVES talent and offers a safe , challenging and exciting environment and encourages intrinsic motivation therefore enjoyment and a more long term approach where the player takes more responsibility for his own develop

Michel: Player development is about learning NOT performing. It is a continuous follow up of the development of mental, physical, technical, cognitive and tactical skills.

All over the world most of the time early matured children are selected to be part of the highest competition and to prove they can WIN. I worked with many young players that have been sent away because they could not show immediately how to perform and win. Many of them are today pro players and at the highest level in Europe. There is no uniform learning model or perfect technique to teach a player how he or she has to do it. He has to learn to explore his or her own potential by his or her unique body and brain organization.

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I hope you liked this interview, I certainly did and thanks to FOOTBLOGBALL for allowing me to share this interview with you.

Follow Mark on Twitter @markstkhlm and Michel on Facebook Cogi Training

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Worth a read, see also Belgian Blueprint and Download Belgic Vision document Belgium Vision

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I always like to hear your opinions. Please comment below or email me info@thecoachdiary.com If, you don’t have anything to add then please forward this on to a friend. Thanks for reading.

I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary

Categories
Coaching

Grassroots Team Building – By Footblogball

NOT ALL CHILDREN WILL BECOME ELITE ATHLETES BUT ONE THING IS CERTAIN , ALL CHILDREN WILL BECOME ADULTS AND HEREIN LIES OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE AND RESPONSIBILITY.

“ Youth Sport Coaching is a complex and multidimensional where the coach can be expected to assume many different roles. Instructor , teacher , trainer , motivator , disciplinarian , substitute parent , social worker , friend , scientist , student , manager , administrator and publicity fundraiser.” ( Gummerson 1992 , Smoll and Smith 1996 )

Most coaches become involved because their Children take up the sport , they have very limited formal training and their reference points are often how they were coached when they were younger or through watching other coaches from a distance . Therefore the average coach is active for 5 years or less. We can conclude that many youth may lack the eseential knowledge to enhance the Youth Sport experience and make it FUN for participants.

Click on the link to read more Footblogball

Categories
Coach Talk

Interview with Sergi Angulo Lerin FM Sport Etudes Marseille By Mark O’Sullivan

I met Sergi Angulo Lerin at the Espanyol Academy in October 2012. We spent a lot of time discussing football and coaching methods over a series of  lunches and of course Barcelona / Espanyol academy games. Sergi is hired by  the prestigious FN Sport Etudes French Academy as coordinator and coach of the football section in Sainte Tulle (Marseille). This academy has 5 schools in France, one in England and one in USA. Sergi  monitors players in the south of Fance for Barcelona and RCD Esoanyol and has been involved with the International Division of the In-School Youth Football  club , a program that brings the advanced concepts of Spanish football  around the world.

Before Christmas I managed to catch up with Sergi for a quick Q and A. The Interview is printed in both English and Spanish.

A big  thank you  to Sergi for taking the time to answer my questions

What is FM? 

SERGI : FM Sport Études is a training school for football players from all over the world. In all our education centers players study, live and train every day to improve not only their  football skills, but also their general education and values of life.
We have five schools in France (our head office is located in Paris), one in England and one in the United States.

The players who study in our schools also take part in competitions with their own teams on weekends; it is important not to forget that competition is crucial for their evolution. Besides football, at our schools there are students who train in other sports such as Tennis, Basketball, Golf or horse riding.

¿Qué es el FM?

1- FM Sport études, es una escuela de formación de jugadores, donde tenemos jugadores de todo el mundo internados en nuestros centros. Ahí los jugadores estudian, comen y entrenan cada día, para perfeccionar su nivel futbolístico, sin olvidar los estudios y los valores fundamentales de la vida.

Tenemos 5 escuelas en todo Francia, 1 en Inglaterra y 1 en Estados unidos, donde la central es la que se encuentra en Paris. Estos jugadores los fines de semana juegan con sus equipos correspondientes para no olvidar la competición que es fundamental.

A parte de futbol en la escuela hay alumnos que realizan los mismo contenidos con diferentes deportes; Tenis, Básquet, Equitación y Golf

Can you describe your work at FM?

SERGI: In FM Sport Études I am responsible for the school football in Marseille. At the same time I also coach football players who are resident there. That is to say, every day I train them for three hours, I have to organize friendly matches, I have to implement a unique methodology for all players and coordinate with their  clubs, etc.

¿Puede describir su trabajo en FM?

2- En FM Sport études, yo soy el responsable del fútbol en la escuela de Marseille. A la vez también soy el entrenador de los jugadores residentes aquí. Es decir, cada día realizamos 3 horas de entrenamiento con los jugadores, se deben encontrar partidos amistosos, realizar una metodología para el centro, coordinar con los clubs en los que juegan, etc.

Is there a difference in coaching philosophy between Spain and France?

SERGI: I think there are a lot of differences between the French and the Spanish coaches.The philosophy of the game is totally different between the two countries. In Spain, game philosophy is based in a collective concept, playing with two touches max., build the attack through the best pass, thinking about making the best decisions for the group, beginning the attack from the back, etc.. On the other side, French philosophy is based in an individual game, where much of the game is the dribble. It is a much more direct game. They often do not build the attack from the back, they rely on the wingers to dribble past their opponent and cross the ball into  to the penalty area. Hence, the training of a French or Spanish coach is totally different. The French coach concentrates  more on physical strength, speed, skill and dribbling, while the Spanish coach works harder on  the pass control, real-game situations, decision-making exercises, and so on. That’s why there’s a big difference between Spanish and French players: the French are all skill and speed, whereas the Spanish are good at teamwork and very good  at “reading” the game.

¿Hay alguna diferencia en la filosofía como entrenador entre España y Francia?

3- Si creo que hay muchas diferencias entre el entrenador Francés y el entrenador Español.

La filosofía de juego es totalmente diferente entre ambos países.

Es el futbol español, la filosofía es de un juego colectivo, jugar a dos contactos de balón, de progresar mediante el pase, de pensar en tomar la mejor decisión para el colectivo, salir con el balón controlado desde atrás, etc.

En cambio la filosofía francesas, es más un juego individual, donde la gran parte de juego es el dribling, es un juego mucho más directo, no suelen salir con el balón controlado desde atrás y donde basan todo su potencial en los extremos y su habilidad para regatear-se al defensor y centrar.

De ahí que el entrenamiento de un entrenador francés o un español es totalmente diferente, el francés trabaja mucho el físico, la velocidad, la habilidad y el dribling, mientras que el entrenador español trabaja mucho más el pase control, situaciones de juego real, ejercicios donde se deban tomar decisiones, etc.

Es por eso que hay una gran diferencia entre los jugadores españoles y franceses, los franceses son todo habilidad, desequilibrio y velocidad, en cuanto a los españoles, son más de leer el juego, de jugar con los compañeros.

You are a scout in the south of France for a team in Barcelona. What type of player are you looking for?

SERGI: Obviously, first of all we want to check out as many players as we can from all over the world , so  we can have a wide range of options. We look in France for players who are skilled enough to play in Spain. That is to say, we would never recommend a good fullback who is not skilled enough to play the ball and dominate the short pass, if these characteristics are what our team needs… As said before, the main skills of most of the French players are their speed, their physical strength and their ability to unbalance an opponent. This type of player may not be found in Spain or be better than those of Spain.

Usted es un ojeador en el sur de Francia para un equipo de Barcelona. ¿Qué tipo de jugador estás buscando?

4- Primeramente y como es lógico queremos tener controlados todos el máximo de jugadores que hay en el mundo, para en el momento de realizar un fichaje tener un amplio abanico de opciones.

En Francia se buscan jugadores validos para jugar en España, es decir, no recomendaremos un central que defensivamente es muy bueno pero después no es capaz de sacarte el balón desde atrás, si tu equipo necesita eso…

Mayoritariamente y como he dicho anteriormente sus mejores características son el desequilibrio, la velocidad, el físico, etc. En consecuencia puede hacer falta un jugador así en el equipo y que en España no este, o sean mejores aquí….de ahí que como mayor número de jugadores tengas controlados, después más opciones tienes para elegir.

What is your opinion on isolated technique training? Do you think that technique training must be more like the game so that it also develops player intelligence?

SERGI : Obviously I am in favor of making all exercises holistically. That is to say, to train all skills in the same exercise, but of course, always focusing on that skill which you really want to improve. If you want to improve everything at once you may end not improving anything. But in my opinion, all exercises should serve to train all football skills. However, in the game there is no analytical technique situation because there are factors such as emotional, psychological, tactical, opponents, etc. The player has to get used to all these factors, otherwise, despite his good skills and technique, he does not know how to read the game and choose the best option, it is useless. So my advice is to train always taking into account all situations of a real game, but focusing on the goal of what to improve . I think the analytical exercises can be accommodated at an early age of the player, to have a good technique gesture and gain confidence.

¿Cuál es su opinión sobre el entrenamiento analítico? ¿Cree que la mejora de la técnica debe ser entrenada mejor como una situación de juego donde también desarrolla la inteligencia jugador?

Obviamente soy partidario de realizar todos los ejercicio de forma holística, es decir, entrenar todos los aspectos en un mismo ejercicio, eso sí, siempre poniendo el acento en uno, que es el que realmente quieres mejorar. Si quieres mejorarlo todo a la vez acabas por no mejorar nada, pero si es cierto, que los ejercicios deben tener todos los factores del futbol.

Después en el partido no hay ninguna situación técnica analítica, ya que hay factores socios afectivos, psicológicos, tácticos, rivales etc. Y el jugador debe estar acostumbrado a todos estos aspectos, sino, por muy buena técnica que tenga, si después no sabe interpretar el juego y no escoger la mejor opción…no sirve para nada.

Así que mi consejo es realizar siempre ejercicios donde intervengan todos los factores reales de un partido, pero centrarse en un objetivo a mejorar e incidir sobre él.

Creo que los ejercicios analíticos pueden tener cabida en edades tempranas del jugador, para tener una buena técnica gestual y coger confianza.

Content by Mark O’Sullivan, UEFA B (In training for A) Qualified coach in Sweden and founder of footblogball

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You can follow Mark on twitter @markstkhlm

I always like to hear your opinions. Please comment below or drop me an email at info@thecoachdiary.com. If, you don’t have anything to add then please forward this on to a friend, a fellow coach.  Thanks for reading, as always.

Please follow me on twitter @Coachdiary

Categories
Irish Grassroots Football

Dion Fanning: Ireland’s lost generations

In the days following Ireland’s exit from the European Championships, Pádraig Nicholson got used to being asked where it all went wrong.

Plenty of people knew Nicholson. They might have been aware of him from his years with Athlone Town but many more knew of his years as a regional development officer, as a coach and as a coach of coaches in Irish football. People took their rage to him. Nicholson knew something too. He knew that soon the anger would dissipate and the public would move on to something else.

‘we need change’

Nicholson didn’t mind the comments, in fact he thought they could be helpful. If any good was to come from Ireland’s dismal European Championship performance then it would have to be a determination to change everything about the schooling of Irish footballers. There were valid distractions — Giovanni Trapattoni‘s refusal to change; John Delaney‘s populist approach — but something more radical was needed and the European Championships should have been the starting point for self-examination. Irish football, it will surprise nobody, doesn’t do radical.

On Friday week, Ireland play Germany, a country that embarked on a massive overhaul of their system at the turn of the century following a quarter-final exit to Croatia in the World Cup finals. In 2000, Germany finished bottom of their European Championship group but already they were planning to change.

Across the country, 121 national centres were built for players from 10 to 17. Clubs in the Bundesliga would have to build youth academies.

The golden generation

Other countries were doing something similar. Nicholson spent a lot of time in Belgium 10 years ago and he noticed a change. They were asking more of their young players as they simultaneously asked more of themselves. The necessity for practice was repeated to young players. Today they have one of the most exciting squads in Europe with Eden Hazard, Axel Widsel, Marouane Fellaini and Vincent Kompany among their players.

In the academy at Standard Liege, the director Michel Bruyninckx uses “brain-centred” learning to coach his young players. Bruyninckx explained his philosophy of conscious learning in an interview with The Blizzard.

“We always thought that sporting activities were mechanical activities, but we know that there are interventions from the brain,” he said, before describing himself as an outsider in the football world and comparing himself to Darwin who was also considered “crazy”.

Irish football needn’t worry about being considered crazy. Trapattoni announced last week that the coaches of Europe were still talking about the Irish supporters at their conference in Warsaw, but anything Ireland did on the field can’t have detained them long.

Last week, Trapattoni named his squad for the games against Germany and the FaroeIslands. Robbie Brady is on stand-by and James McClean will probably start on the bench.

Brady was a player at St Kevin’s, a schoolboy club that has invested in an academy. “They are an oasis in the desert,” Nicholson says.

If Ireland can’t compete with Germany, Ireland could always have ambitions to match Belgium, yet things stay the same.

“We’ve fallen a generation behind the rest of Europe,” Nicholson says, “there needs to be a radical reassessment. The people who are concerned should come together and find a way to stop us falling further behind. Right now, if a young player comes through, it’s despite the system.”

Like many, he suggests that the schoolboy clubs have too much power, which makes it hard to implement a vision on player development.

Emerging Talent not enough

The FAI will point to their Emerging Talent Programme but that is barely enough. The idea is good but the focus is too narrow.

Instead of players attending from the ages of nine or 10, as happened in Germany, they begin when they are 14 or 15, far too late to make an impact on their technique. “The golden years for a footballer are between nine and 12,” Nicholson says, “after that it can be too late.”

Irish players fall further behind. Nicholson talks about going to the Kennedy Cup this year and during the week of matches not seeing one player who could “dribble with the ball, who could shimmy and beat a man”.

UEFA B in Ireland

Mark O’Sullivan still remembers the planes flying overhead that felt so close he thought he could reach one with one of the footballs.

O’Sullivan is from Cork but emigrated to Sweden in 1994. He was always passionate about football and last year decided that he would take his UEFA ‘B’ coaching course in Ireland. “Even though I speak Swedish, I was more comfortable doing it in English.”

So O’Sullivan returned to Ireland, booked a hotel and paid €1,000 to do the course at the AUL. At the end, all he felt was disillusionment.

“I guess when you’re trying to run drills and you’re using a 50-year-old cab driver who is also taking the course as a full-back, then you can get frustrated. He wasn’t great on the overlap.”

O’Sullivan never completed the course — losing his patience when they were asked to get from Dublin in Friday evening rush-hour to a game in Wexford that night.

Instead he returned to Sweden, getting his ‘B’ licence there, an experience he describes as completely different to all he had endured in his homeland.

O’Sullivan now works as an academy coach at a club in Sweden and coaches another, Nacka FF, in the Swedish second division.

He had noted other differences with Sweden. This year, the Swedish FA asked their coaches to tell the FA where they felt they had made mistakes. They demanded to be criticised. It is not a model that seems likely to be adopted by the FAI.

Nicholson was one of the coaches on that course which had frustrated O’Sullivan. He says the FAI were struggling as they tried to introduce a new coaching model based around match analysis as UEFA wished.

Things have changed since then but if the coaches have become more familiar with the courses, other things have altered too.

Wim Koevermans,

the former FAI high performance director, was central to the introduction of those courses. In June, Koevermans left the association to become manager of India. The FAI are cutting costs. Last week, they advertised for Koevermans successor. No time-frame has been given on when the job will be filled.

In a recession, and with their debt mountain, the FAI will always be stretched, which is why they might have done more to keep Damien O’Brien interested.

Damien O’Brien

O’Brien has fallen out with the FAI, frustrated this year by their refusal to sanction a four-team tournament in Limerick (he eventually got Manchester City to play at Thomond Park) and, more importantly, the mismanagement, as he sees it, of the Emerging Talent Programme which he sponsored.

“The FAI will say anything to get your money,” he says, “but it won’t go where it’s supposed to go.”

O’Brien says he was prepared to contribute €100,000 a year to the programme but became frustrated.

“As long as the FAI is in its current state, there’s no way I’m helping out.”

Yet he also sees a greater cultural problem. Irish people are interested in the big events.

“The public,” he claims, “are more interested in slapping Delaney’s back and having a pint with him.”

O’Sullivan agrees that there is a cultural problem which draws Irish people towards the big event without being too interested in anything that might be needed to create them in the first place. There is also the drinking culture which results in the loss of many players.

O’Sullivan points to other cultural advantages which he feels could be used in football.

“The mentality of the GAA, that sense of community, creates a great unity in Irish footballers. Swedish players are disciplined, they will do everything you ask of them, but Irish players have this unique gift,” he says.

More about development

He would like to see coaching young players in Ireland become more about development and less about winning matches. “They will all become adults, they won’t all become footballers. The result is not winning, it’s development as people as well as players.”

Too much is lost, he says, by doing things as they’ve always been done. Irish football needs to find ways of being smarter than the rest, not just limping along, trying to keep up.

There were two other notable landmarks last week. It was the fourth anniversary of the death of Noel O’Reilly, Brian Kerr‘s long-time assistant but also a visionary in terms of youth development. O’Reilly has been desperately missed in Irish football.

“He was the best coach I ever worked with,” Nicholson says. O’Reilly’s personality mattered as much as his ability when it came to exciting coaches and players. “Noel was a huge, huge loss,” Nicholson says.

FAI to spend 1million on Abbotstown

Last week, the FAI also announced they have received a $500,000 grant from FIFA which will be matched by €500,000 from the Government to go towards the development of the National Campus in Abbotstown. Underage national sides will train there and, eventually, maybe the senior team as well.

More importantly, in time, the intention is that a centre of excellence could be developed. In time, young players, maybe even as young as nine or 10, might be coached and educated there and Ireland could feel they had embarked on radical change. In the meantime, while the young players wait, Ireland will just fall further behind.

TCD

I think you could go deeper into the root of the problem. The Leagues controlling the game in this country, who’s only concern is registration fees. Most don’t give a  SHITE about development, some are starting to see the light and welcoming change. The combined age of the SFAI is over 1700 years, what would they know about the needs of a 7 or 8 year old. As for the FAI, well their main focus is bumps on seats and over the coming months that is going to be a huge challenge for Delaney and co.

On a positive note the FAI have teamed with The Welsh Football Trust who runs extensive programmes to help develop football at a grassroots level. These include mini football and football for different groups, including different ages, genders, disability groups and ethnic minorities. Having an affiliation with these guys is a step towards change, let’s hope they mirror what the Welsh are doing and start to focus at the root of football in Ireland. The Irish Football Trust would be a huge benefit for grassroots development in Ireland, I just hope the people who run kids football in Ireland can open their minds to change.