ian Cathro
Ian Cathro was appointed head of Dundee United’s
youth academy at just 22 years old. Since then, he
has enjoyed a spell with the SFA as a coach of Dundee’s
regional performance school and now finds himself
involved in the top flight of Portugese football at Rio Ave.
He gives readers some top advice about youth coaching
in the modern game.
WHEN PLANNING A TRAINING
SESSION, WHAT ARE YOUR
GOLDEN RULES?
For me, when planning a training
session, the coach must ask himself,
‘what is the point?’ There must be a
really strong answer to this question,
whereby a clear objective and end
goal are outlined. It is then the job of
the coach to build the path to achieve
this goal and allow the kids to follow.
FOR A COACH LOOKING TO
IMPLEMENT A LONGER TERM
TRAINING PROGRAMME, WHAT
ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE?
I think it all depends on what
circumstance that coach is in with
regards to the age of the players,
what starting quality the kids are at
and also what environment the coach
is working in. For example, if he/she
is working at a community level then
there are certain requirements that
go along with that and it’s important
for the coach to stick to these targets.
It’s all about being able to understand
your situation and build objectives
accordingly.
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO
OFFER INDIVIDUAL ONE TO
ONE COACHING TO PLAYERS?
AND FOR THOSE WHO FIND
IT CHALLENGING TO DEVOTE
TIME TO IT, WHAT WOULD BE
38 | YFS Magazine | Issue #1
YOUR ADVICE?
One to one coaching can be a really
important thing when working with
young kids. Looking back to when I
worked at youth level, at a certain
age I always found the time to mentor
kids on any part of their game that
was fragile. An example of this is
targeting the young player’s weaker
foot. While it can be difficult to
make substantial progress on this, if
progress can be made in the form of
the player feeling more confident in
using and training their weaker side
then for me that is a very valuable
thing. Sometimes this can be difficult
for grassroots coaches to achieve as a
lot of them are working voluntarily. If
the time is there though, then one on
one sessions or chats with players can
make a huge difference. A big part of
coaching is the ability to understand
the mentality of each player.
WHAT ARE COMMON
MISTAKES MADE BY
GRASSROOTS COACHES IN
THE TRAINING AND MATCH-DAY
ENVIRONMENT?
It’s hard for me to say because I’ve
mostly surrounded myself with the
ins and outs of professional clubs so in
that sense I haven’t spent a great deal
of time in a solid grassroots situation.
Perhaps the most important thing
for grassroots coaches, or any coach
for that matter, is to understand
the level that you are working at.
Be comfortable at that level and
understand the job you need to
do. Naturally, everyone wants to
become the best coach in the world
but success will only come if you
are able to deal with your current
situation accordingly. Grassroots
coaches are just as valuable as elite
coaches; the job is different but of
equal merit and it’s important that all
coaches working with young players
understand that.
TECHNIQUE IS A FOCAL
POINT FOR MOST COACHING
RIGHT NOW. HOW WOULD
YOU BALANCE TIME SPENT
WITH OTHER ASPECTS SUCH
AS FITNESS, TACTICS AND
TRAINING GAMES?
For a young coach or a new coach
looking to try and build a training
program, the natural thing to do is to
break down each aspect of the game.
So when looking at technique, this
can be broken down to look at things
like passing and dribbling. By isolating
these skills, they become easier to
both train and assess. The challenge
really is to get to the stage where you
can create a training situation that
incorporates all of these things, while
at the same time, making sense to the
game. By isolating things too much,
the player can struggle when they
have to recreate the skill in a game
situation. For example when a player
is dribbling, they are very rarely doing
just that. It is most likely that they will
be either looking for a pass or looking
to avoid a tackle so it’s important to
find a balance.
FOR SOMEBODY COACHING
AT A GRASSROOTS CLUB THAT
IS INTERESTED IN MAKING
COACHING THEIR CAREER,
WHERE SHOULD THEY START?
In Scotland, I’d encourage people to
get involved with the SFA coaching
courses because it’s a very valuable
process but aside from that, it’s