ECB Coaches Association links Coaching Insight 2019 | Page 49

It’s all in the DNA
as often as possible at youth level
– which fits perfectly with where
children are at in their development.
They want to play. They want to hit
and bowl the ball.
“That’s where understanding what
game formats are best for children
comes into this. Futsal is that game
format for us. Cricket is still exploring
what that needs to be for them. The
new junior format recommendations
are an exciting move forwards.”
If futsal is a tool to bring out those
skills in children, what about the
attitude of football coaches? How
The FA works to ensure its coaches
and programmes fulfil the needs
of children?
“We all see children as a pool of
potential. So if potential is the
only thing we see, and whatever
programme we put in place for them
is based around releasing as much
of that potential as possible, then
the child can find their own level in
whatever activity or sport they go
on to do. That should be our aim as
children’s sports coaches.
“If we instead fail to give equal
opportunity to children because we’re
deselecting them from programmes
before they’ve had a full chance, that
potential can end up never being
released. In football, we see lots of
our programmes as exclusion rather
than inclusion programmes, where we
are trying to work out which children
to deselect, based on an arbitrary
moment in time.
“They might just be in a part of their
development that has seen them slow
down, and you remove them before
they get a chance to speed up, catch
up and potentially exceed those that
are given the full programme length.
“We are gaining a lot more knowledge
about this though, which means we
need to apply it to our development
programmes now.”
It’s here where Pete’s more theoretical
plans boil down to a beautifully simple
and universal truth.
“It’s not rocket science. If you give more
children more opportunities, you’ve got
a better chance of seeing who rises to
the top.”
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