With the relaunch of many FA courses over the last few years the Level 2 has been redesigned as the UEFA C course. As the FA now launches a number of these courses there is going to be a huge backlog of coaches who are trying to get on the course and will be securing their places soon.
This short blog will provide some hints and tips for coaches who are looking to move onto the course, these tips are form my own personal experiences of delivering the course and working with coaches on the course.
BE OPEN MINDED
Going on courses is a great place to learn and you should try and learn from everyone on the course – the candidates, and the tutors. Every candidate will have their strengths and you should observe the positive things they do and then try to add these behaviours or actions to your own personal toolbox. It may only be something small, but always have your eyes and ears open to see what people do. I still remember when I was B licence coach and I was watching a coach who was a Level 1 volunteer, he had a bag of balls and asked each child their name as they took a ball so he could start memorising them rather than tipping all the balls out. This was something that I started to use in my future sessions when I didn’t know any of the players.
You can obviously learn a huge amount from your tutors as well, but everything you learn try to think about how you can apply it to your own context.
Another important thing to consider is that you may start to question your own actions and behaviours, this is fine and by being open minded you can learn how to improve yourself as a coach.
LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR PLAYERS
You may think you know your players well, but start to analyse them in more depth as well as get to know them even better.
It is vital that you understand why your players play football, it’s something most coaches have never asked their players, often when they do, they are surprised by the answers.
Then you need to look at your players in terms of the 4-corner model, both in and out of possession, as well as in transition. Think about their strengths and areas of development in each corner, once you do this both in and out of possession you will have a lot better understanding of your players. Then when you are on course you will be better prepared to challenge yourselves by designing sessions that meet your player’s needs.
PRINCIPLES OF PLAY
A topic that always comes up on courses is the transition between formats, 5 a side to 7, 9, 11 etc. My belief is that if you get the principles of play right then it doesn’t matter what format you are playing, teach the principles of play rather than tactics, especially with younger players.
I would suggest that all coaches brush up on their knowledge of the principles of play and what this looks like in action. For more information on the principles of play I found this handy link showing a short presentation: https://toneus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/FA_Level_3_UEFA_B_in_Coaching_Football-_Principles_of_Play_without_video-1.pdf
I would recommend that rather than working a lot on formations and tactics, go really in depth about these principles of play as all sessions will include them and the success of your tactics is being able to do these well.
As an example, when I work with players on being compact, I ask a player to be 10 yards from the player next to them when we don’t have the ball. If you are playing 5v5 this may be your midfield pair being 10 yards apart. Once you go to 7 a side this may just become a midfield 3, but still the same principle that they are all 10 yards apart from the player next to them, if you do this in general you will have compactness.
As a reminder the principles of play are:
IN POSSESSION
- Penetration
- Creating Space
- Movement
- Support
- Creativity
OUT OF POSSESSION
- Pressing
- Delay
- Cover and Balance
- Compactness
- Control and Restraint
STRENGTHS AND AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT
Before you go on the course, have a think about your own strengths and areas for development. The course will give yourself the opportunity to challenge yourself and try to work on the areas for development in a constructive environment.
If you are brave enough, ask others around you what they think your strengths and areas for development are.
Going back to the first part about being open minded, it is important to be prepared that on course, something you may believe is your strength, could be challenged by other coaches and tutors when they observe your behaviours. It is important to always take this advice on board if it comes.
NETWORK
One of the most important things to do on course is network with everyone, this includes all the coaches and tutors, especially if you aspire to work full time in the game. It is likely that some people on the course will go on to coach full time or at a good level, if you have these same aspirations you can create your own coaching network that can help everyone progress.
Even if you don’t want to progress to a full-time coaching career, having a network of coaches around you for support that know what you are going through week in and week out can provide a much-needed support network. As well as this you can work with other coaches to compare session plans as well as give each other help and advice on your sessions.
One thing about networking is thinking about how you put yourself across on course, if you are open minded, take part in discussions, are open to suggestions about your sessions and give constructive comments to other coaches, you are more to create a positive impression with your peers.
I am running a free webinar to go through these tips and tricks in more detail on Tuesday 25th October and you can sign up for it below.
