Grassroots / Youth Football Improvements - Any Ideas ?

[Bestsinceslicebread]

I was thinking, yip me, I know,  'right no one start'.

 

After the carry on with San Marino v Scotland game and all the outcry with people moaning there should be change in Scottish Football all the way down to grassroots football but I haven't really seen that much ever happen to improve grassroots in the past 20 years or so.

 

As a coach for many years, I've seen some great things due to youth development and seen some really bad things. So I was thinking of things that can make it better for youths of getting them more involved, even to get more youths involved in football or stop kids from leaving football.  Too many youths on their PlayStation, Xboxes and when older, 17s, 19s 21s, there's drink, girls, work etc... that can all be part of their lives making football secondary.

I will say, these points, questions etc.. that I have added here are from my own viewpoint and hopefully understood the way I intended but I understand everyone's interpretation might be different but hope not which saves time lolol

 

1..   Do you think that at youth football if there are youth teams who play on a Saturday and a different team who play on a Sunday, should youth be allowed to register and play for the two teams as the teams don't conflict each other thus the lads can get more game time and experience?  Obviously, if a youth played for an U16s Saturday team and a U16s Sunday team then he could only play for one team in the Scottish Cup and the regional, he could not play for both. The effect, of course, could be if the boy is banned for a couple of games this could affect him playing for the Sunday team.

 

2.   Quite similar to 1 but what about a youth being allowed to play for a U17s boys team on a Saturday and playing for a Sunday amateur team,  Again learning and experiencing two different types of football. Obviously choosing the right kinda amateur team and coaching can be hard but to be honest it can be the same for choosing the right youth team that have the right coaches who are more focused on development than winning.

 

3.   This is a hard one and no its not pertaining to anyone but in all my years coaching and watching other youths teams I've not seen the development of a youth with his father as a coach helping the child develop the way he should.  The problem is that most teams go through, well not a problem but sometimes it ends up that way. A youth team is started by a volunteer who starts the team because he wants his son playing then going through the years, some youth well reach their level of standard but the father is still pushing the child, even dropping a better player to let his son play.  To be honest this is really one of the hardest as if the father didn't start the team to have his son involved in football then the team might not have been started thus lots of other youths missing out.  I will say however this is one factor I cannot see any way to sort. The only thing I can think of is asking any father who is a coach and has his son in a team if you asked him, "your son can go to another team with a higher standard of coaching, would that coach/father continue coaching and or let his son leave".  I will say I've experienced some good with father - son coaching etc.. where that father has only played his son if his son merited being played

 

4.   In regards to coaching, I was coach at a U16 team who play on a Saturday and I went to the SYFA and asked if I'm able to also coach with a U19s team who play on a Sunday and train on  different days and they said unequivocally  NO, the only reason they gave was that if I was banned from coaching for the youth team then it would affect the other team and some coaches may not take responsibility for this. i.e not telling the other team he is banned.  For me personally I coach as my whole goal is to give lads a chance and be developed to a high standard and get the chance to go to a higher level with good advice etc..  This now meant I can only coach one team thus, not just me but for many more devoted coaches the SYFA are depriving youths being developed by an experienced coach. Another negative on youth football.

 

5.   Your views on youths at 16 or older playing for an amateur team. me personally I feel a lot of these youths are talked into older friends and joining in with older pals and not experiencing youth football and making it harder to be developed in a way to get to a higher level, not saying it doesn't happen but feels there's more chance at youth level at the RIGHT team.  This is one of the reasons why I would love a youth to be able to play for a Saturday amateur team and a Sunday youth team or visa versa.

 

6.    Does my head in, Coaches who are that more interested in their team winning than their development of their players as a team or especially individually. Seen youth teams eventually fold and my take that the coaches cannot handle their team not winning as much as they did when their team was younger and eventually pack it in or teams getting older, keeping the same players who served them well but those players not able to perform at the older age, thus coach not realizing till too late that new players should have been brought in earlier.
My view is I will always freshen the team up especially if better players make themselves known, it keeps your own players on their toes and makes them, hopefully, 'UP their game'. However, if youths are being replaced they should always be helped in finding other teams.

 

7.   I don't like the current U21 set up of playing on a Saturday, meaning only 'one' league in the west though so it's not their fault that's what they choose over the last 30 odd years of operating, sure it's that long.  I want to see U21 teams playing on a Sunday or a Friday as teams that are connected to a junior team officially or unofficially cannot be visited by first-team management, officials and or fans thus getting them exposure.  I always believe and been proven, successfully, that U19s on a Sunday league is best,   I want the current u21s league to stay but would love to see another start and games either on a Friday or Sunday would be awesome.

 

8.   How many coaches who started coaching as a father and remained coaching after their son moved on.  What can be done to keep these coaches being involved in coaching after their son has left youth set up etc...  It's not a bad thing if a coach stops after his or her son/daughter leaves youth football, each coach male and female have done fantastic to be part of a youth team.

 

9.   One of the things that I have found relative consistent is that a coach who starts a team for the first time and takes the youth team through the years is also learning, meaning if an U14s team are at a certain level and then they will be moving up to U15s not only will the youth be learning at that level but also the coach will be.  I've seen many teams who think they are doing well, coach interpretation as well and then they reach the next year and the youth level as players and as a team just ain't up to scratch.  So with this in mind do coaches bring teams up through the years ever look for extra help from more experienced coaches or just learn as they go along, good and bad, thus the development of the youths depend on how well the same coach is at

 

 

I have always been interested in the standard of youth football even when I was playing junior football, I was coaching at youth level.   These are some points, questions, viewpoints of grassroots football that should be addressed or looked into. Not saying these problems are constant with all teams but a fair few. Also, nothing to say my solutions would work might even make the standard worse,  I don't know.

 

This post is not been directed to anyone in my experience, just a general viewpoint and hope its seen as such so we can all look for ideas on improvements at grassroots football.

Edited September 17, 2019 by Bestsinceslicebread
more detailed information

[the jambo-rocker]

I'll have a little crack at this. Although I'm a complete dilettante looking at this from the outside in. 

 

1..   Do you think that at youth football if there are youth teams who play on a Saturday and a different team who play on a Sunday, should youth be allowed to register and play for the two teams as the teams don't conflict each other thus the lads can get more game time and experience?  Obviously, if a youth played for an U16s Saturday team and a U16s Sunday team then he could only play for one team in the Scottish Cup and the regional, he could not play for both. The effect, of course, could be if the boy is banned for a couple of games this could affect him playing for the Sunday team.

 

2.   Quite similar to 1 but what about a youth being allowed to play for a U17s boys team on a Saturday and playing for a Sunday amateur team,  Again learning and experiencing two different types of football. Obviously choosing the right kinda amateur team and coaching can be hard but to be honest it can be the same for choosing the right youth team.

 

 

4.   In regards to coaching, I was coach at a U16 team who play on a Saturday and I went to the SYFA and asked if I'm able to also coach with a U19s team who play on a Sunday and train on  different days and they said unequivocally  NO, the only reason they gave was that if I was banned from coaching for the youth team then it would affect the other team and some coaches may not take responsibility for this. i.e not telling the other team he is banned.  For me personally I coach as my whole goal is to give lads a chance and be developed to a high standard and get the chance to go to a higher level with good advice etc..  This now meant I can only coach one team thus, not just me but for many more devoted coaches the SYFA are depriving youths being developed by an experienced coach. Another negative on youth football.

 

I'll address all of these points together, because it sounds to me like you're saying that every level of football as become completely categorised with no flexibility between the levels .

 

So if I've got it right you're saying, you need to go through the whole registering process at whatever the main level said player is playing at, and then if he/she were to ask to play for another team playing at a different time/level, even for a game or two, it wouldn't be possible as it would contradict their current registration, never mind should they leave their current side, they'd have to get some traceability documents to level it and join another? 

 

Quite frankly, the more game time you get, the better IMO. It sounds like this process could, and probably should be far more streamlined. This comes across as too many levels of bureaucracy here when it sounds like the kids just want to play, but are put off with the multiple registering obstacles and potential fines that could occur.

 

3.   This is a hard one and no its not pertaining to anyone but in all my years coaching and watching other youths teams I've not seen the development of a youth with his father as a coach helping the child develop the way he should.  The problem is that most teams go through, well not a problem but sometimes it ends up that way. A youth team is started by a volunteer who starts the team because he wants his son playing then going through the years, some youth well reach their level of standard but the father is still pushing the child, even dropping a better player to let his son play.  To be honest this is really one of the hardest as if the father didn't start the team to have his son involved in football then the team might not have been started thus lots of other youths missing out.  I will say however this is one factor I cannot see any way to sort. The only thing I can think of is asking any father who is a coach and has his son in a team if you asked him, your son can go to another team with a higher standard of coaching, would that coach/father continue coaching and or let his son leave.  I will say I've experienced some good with father son coaching etc.. where that father has only played his son if his son merited being played.

 

 

8.   How many coaches who started coaching as a father and remained coaching after their son moved on.  What can be done to keep these coaches being involved in coaching after their son has left youth set up etc...

 

It's a bit of a subjective one. I don't really know personally how bad this situation is. I'd wager if you were to ask a lot of coaches in this position they'd probably say at heart, they might be bias towards their child, but they try to be as fair as possible.

 

Your latter point comes down to self-motivation at the end of the day.

 

 

5.   Your views on youths at 16 or older playing for an amateur team. me personally I feel a lot of these youths are talked into older friends and joining in with older pals and not experiencing youth football and making it harder to be developed in a way to get to a higher level, not saying it doesn't happen but feels there's more chance at youth level at the RIGHT team.  This is one of the reasons why I would love a youth to be able to play for a Saturday amateur team and a Sunday youth team or visa versa.

 

I joined an amateur side just before I turned 17, and although it was a bit of a step up I enjoyed it. When I stepped into a side that pretty much came from up from u21 level, I found it quite noticeable the difference in how much more I shouted, and talking instructions at my new teammates. 

 

6.    Does my head in, Coaches who are that more interested in their team winning than their development of their players as a team or especially individually. Seen youth teams eventually fold and my take that the coaches cannot handle their team not winning as much as they did when their team was younger and eventually pack it in or teams getting older, keeping the same players who served them well but those players not able to perform at the older age, thus coach not realizing till too late that new players should have been brought in earlier.
My view is I will always freshen the team up especially if better players make themselves known, it keeps your own players on their toes and makes them, hopefully, 'UP their game'. However, if youths are being replaced they should always be helped in finding other teams.

 

Belgium leagues don't have tables up to the u14 level. They also play games in quarters with no allowances for substitutions unless injured. Meaning everyone gets a fair whack. You could do worse than incorporate these things.

 

7.   I don't like the current U21 set up of playing on a Saturday, meaning only 'one' league in the west though so it's not their fault that's what they choose over the last 30 odd years of operating, sure it's that long.  I want to see U21 teams playing on a Sunday or a Friday as teams that are connected to a junior team officially or unofficially cannot be visited by first-team management, officials and or fans thus getting them exposure.  I always believe and been proven, successfully, that U19s on a Sunday league is best,   I want the current u21s league to stay but would love to see another start and games either on a Friday or Sunday would be awesome.

 

I've heard nothing but good things about the u20 league in the LL/Eos setups. Kids get to play their football on Friday nights and then they have more of the weekend to do as they please. I'd argue that bumping it up to u21 with the allowance of one or two reserves wouldn't be a bad idea, as I've met a few folk that have missed out by a year and been frustrated they can't play. I think if the pyramid continues to develop, I think you might see a lot more teams go down this route.

 

 

 

I have always been interested in the standard of youth football even when I was playing junior football, I was coaching at youth level.   These are some points, questions, viewpoints of grassroots football that should be addressed or looked into. Not saying these problems are constant with all teams but a fair few. Also, nothing to say my solutions would work might even make the standard worse,  I don't know.

 

This post is not been directed to anyone in my experience, just a general viewpoint and hope its seen as such so we can all look for ideas on improvements at grassroots football.

 

From a personal point of view and not having any kids myself, I'd wouldn't say no to getting into coaching, however I'm put off by the pricing to do the badges, never mind knowing where to start as I wouldn't fall into it the way that some parents might have done.

[Bestsinceslicebread]

8 hours ago, the jambo-rocker said:

I'll have a little crack at this. Although I'm a complete dilettante looking at this from the outside in. 

 

 

I'll address all of these points together, because it sounds to me like you're saying that every level of football as become completely categorised with no flexibility between the levels .

 

So if I've got it right you're saying, you need to go through the whole registering process at whatever the main level said player is playing at, and then if he/she were to ask to play for another team playing at a different time/level, even for a game or two, it wouldn't be possible as it would contradict their current registration, never mind should they leave their current side, they'd have to get some traceability documents to level it and join another? 

 

Quite frankly, the more game time you get, the better IMO. It sounds like this process could, and probably should be far more streamlined. This comes across as too many levels of bureaucracy here when it sounds like the kids just want to play, but are put off with the multiple registering obstacles and potential fines that could occur.

 

 

 

 

Kinda yes lol, it is a minefield righty enough.

As far as I'm aware and I don't mind being corrected,  there are youth Saturday leagues and youth Sunday league for the same age group, they never deal with each other in any way unless a Saturday team is drawn with a Sunday team in the regional cup or Scottish Cup.
So basically right now a youth can register for a Saturday team and train with them but not play or register for any other youth team or amateur team. EXCEPT they can play for their School team.

I remember I used to play for my school team on a Saturday morning then play for my amateur team on the Saturday afternoon and then play for my Sunday amateur team, all legit

 

Right now if a youth plays for a youth team on a Saturday, he cannot play or register for any other team either youth or amateur.

 

There isn't too many levels of bureaucracy, there's the SYFA and they can sort it out and address this problem that youths could play for two different youth teams on different days.
I know for a fact if a boy is registered with a youth team then said boy cannot play for an amateur team but they will never come into conflict in any way as they are both different types of levels of football.

 

I feel these bodies just sit behind a desk and say this is the rules we govern and you will abide by them even though ideas that I may have, you may have or anyone may have, for the greater good of grassroots football but they still wouldn't do anything about it as, why, not sure, maybe too much hassle for them and can't be bothered.

This is only one idea though and I'm sure many people out there hopefully have some ideas on imporving grassroots football

[humphrey]

there has always been a rule preventing players registered with the syfa playing for amateur /junior teams but no one ever enforced it until the dutch guru mark wotte arrived as sfa performance director and insisted that all registered youths should only play in their own age group and only for one team. the senior clubs threw out the own age group bit and the sjfa negotiated a dual contract arrangement with the syfa. for unknown reasons the syfa and the safa cannot agree on the issue, in the meantime youths are being lost to the game at an alarming rate, amateur football is in serious decline and the grassroots system introduced by mark wotte, needs ripped up and binned. true to form with people who interfere with things they know nothing about he ran to morocco before the shit hit the pan. I noted today the morroccans didn,t get brainwashed they terminated his contract. enough said.

[Bestsinceslicebread]

43 minutes ago, humphrey said:

there has always been a rule preventing players registered with the syfa playing for amateur /junior teams but no one ever enforced it until the dutch guru mark wotte arrived as sfa performance director and insisted that all registered youths should only play in their own age group and only for one team. the senior clubs threw out the own age group bit and the sjfa negotiated a dual contract arrangement with the syfa. for unknown reasons the syfa and the safa cannot agree on the issue, in the meantime youths are being lost to the game at an alarming rate, amateur football is in serious decline and the grassroots system introduced by mark wotte, needs ripped up and binned. true to form with people who interfere with things they know nothing about he ran to morocco before the shit hit the pan. I noted today the morroccans didn,t get brainwashed they terminated his contract. enough said.

 Yeah, the duel contract is quite a good idea as many junior teams in the past take youth players and sit them on the bench for say 4 weeks, might get 10 mins and the lads cannot play for anyone else, thus not much game time in the space of a month. The duel lets the lads do the same for the junior team but then able to play for their youth team if they are on a different day.

 

It's pathetic regarding this matter, it shouldn't even need for any of us to complain about it, the SFA and SYFA should get it sorted, too busy sitting with a pen and looking after their own jobs to bother.  Youth football needs help and ideas and I don't feel the governing bodies are helping, the same attitude they have with the pyramid system with the juniors and senior leagues.

 

30 years ago, 1400 teams in the Saturday Scottish amateur cup, this year, as far as I'm aware, only 650 teams entered, men and youth football on the decline and they don't bother.

 

Girls youth football on the up and well done to them

An interesting note which I think is great, a girl can play in a boys team up until U16s

[humphrey]

13 minutes ago, Bestsinceslicebread said:

 Yeah, the duel contract is quite a good idea as many junior teams in the past take youth players and sit them on the bench for say 4 weeks, might get 10 mins and the lads cannot play for anyone else, thus not much game time in the space of a month. The duel lets the lads do the same for the junior team but then able to play for their youth team if they are on a different day.

 

It's pathetic regarding this matter, it shouldn't even need for any of us to complain about it, the SFA and SYFA should get it sorted, too busy sitting with a pen and looking after their own jobs to bother.  Youth football needs help and ideas and I don't feel the governing bodies are helping, the same attitude they have with the pyramid system with the juniors and senior leagues.

 

30 years ago, 1400 teams in the Saturday Scottish amateur cup, this year, as far as I'm aware, only 650 teams entered, men and youth football on the decline and they don't bother.

 

Girls youth football on the up and well done to them

An interesting note which I think is great, a girl can play in a boys team up until U16s

just to emphasise we,re obviously from the same type of football background, in my area last week alone 1 amateur team folded 2 youth teams folded, 1 amateur club couldn,t raise a team and a junior club are screaming for players to the extent its unlikely they,ll finish the season and I know the same is happening in other areas as well. my football experience at present takes me all over the country following the familys next generation of footballers and all I see on my travels are empty pitches. I appreciate many people still give time to run teams but unless they are given a more competitive and less restricted environment to work in the purpose will defeat the effort. the facts cant be ignored, football is dying and although the old system was by no means perfect it produced footballers at all levels. I think the way forward is to park the bus and compare the old with the new and pick the best of both worlds before we get past the point of no return but then who is going to take the responsibility.   

 

     just a word on the pyramid, pyramid clubs that run more than one team or multiple teams register all their players on the same form meaning an under 15 can play for any of the older teams including the senior team without being penalised. further the pyramid is open to any junior/amateur/youth team provided they can meet the basic ground criteria and I,m all in favour of it eventually encompassing the whole of Scottish football. 

[john.a]

A lot of ill informed statements on here.
So many 'facts' being stated it's quite obvious the posters have not looked into the matter properly

[Bestsinceslicebread]

On ‎27‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 17:20, gogsy said:

SAC final programmes usually state number of clubs entered in competition for that season

SAc Entries 1987/8 802 peak

SAC Entries 1988/9 774

Entries for Saturday Scottish cup have never been near 1000 let alone 1400

1

 

Thanks for that, I'll look into this more, actually it would be good to get the official stats for both Sunday and Saturday Scottish cup but in reality, they still have dwindled and the post is more about finding ideas on improving grassroots so hopefully we don't get bogged down with inaccuracies with stats, my fault, and hopefully the main points and others people come out with improvements

 

On ‎27‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 19:05, john.a said:

A lot of ill informed statements on here.
So many 'facts' being stated it's quite obvious the posters have not looked into the matter properly

I personally didn't have the facts for the Scottish n regional cups (ONLY) as I know they have dwindled and been I'd been informed elsewhere that the cup was bigger but as stated before, lets not have a post bogged down with people making negative comments when the post is really just about any ideas on improving grassroots football, that should really be the agenda of this post and hopefully most posters.   Regarding 'so many facts', that was the only fact that could be incorrect,, 'the stats' but the subject matter of the cups is correct, fewer teams are entering both cups

 

In general folks back to Grassroots football, whatever the stat of the amateur Scottish cup in the past and up until now definitely has dwindled and it would be good to know the same as youth football regarding the size of teams, how many in Scottish cup, etc..

 

It's hard enough trying to pay for a pitch and referee, pitches usually somewhere in the region of £100, (Donald Dewar n Huntershill) to name but a few and a referee is usually £35 to £40  so its hard enough paying out in the region of £140 to play  a game of football in youth football

Is there any way the SFA / SYFA subsidize or part offer to help with payments of parks, just wished they would look into these ideas even if they are poppycock

I'm also sure that to play a friendly you have to register it with SYFA and pay a small fee, WTF pure hassle again

Edited May 6, 2019 by Bestsinceslicebread
more detail, spelling

[Bestsinceslicebread]

On ‎26‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 22:46, humphrey said:

just to emphasise we,re obviously from the same type of football background, in my area last week alone 1 amateur team folded 2 youth teams folded, 1 amateur club couldn,t raise a team and a junior club are screaming for players to the extent its unlikely they,ll finish the season and I know the same is happening in other areas as well. my football experience at present takes me all over the country following the familys next generation of footballers and all I see on my travels are empty pitches. I appreciate many people still give time to run teams but unless they are given a more competitive and less restricted environment to work in the purpose will defeat the effort. the facts cant be ignored, football is dying and although the old system was by no means perfect it produced footballers at all levels. I think the way forward is to park the bus and compare the old with the new and pick the best of both worlds before we get past the point of no return but then who is going to take the responsibility.   

 

     just a word on the pyramid, pyramid clubs that run more than one team or multiple teams register all their players on the same form meaning an under 15 can play for any of the older teams including the senior team without being penalized. further, the pyramid is open to any junior/amateur/youth team provided they can meet the basic ground criteria and I,m all in favor of it eventually encompassing the whole of Scottish football. 

5

 

Yeah interesting enough at a Youth Academy, as a coach you are registered to the academy which means you can coach any team in the academy. I was previously coaching at a specific team and sometimes other teams would ask me to come and lend a hand with their age group but recently when I told the head coach of the specific team I was with, I wasn't a coach to that team I was registered to the academy.

 

Regarding any team joining the pyramid, yeah that can be adopted by any junior team or any amateur team if they have the correct facilities to operate in the senior level. As far as I can remember most Caledonian league amateur teams must own their own ground to play in the league, (think other amateur leagues have same rules to join), so I suppose there some who may even think of applying for the seniors.

Edited May 6, 2019 by Bestsinceslicebread

[humphrey]

3 hours ago, john.a said:

A lot of ill informed statements on here.
So many 'facts' being stated it's quite obvious the posters have not looked into the matter properly

the posters know their stuff o.k.  the sac programmes and figures don't take into account the regional preliminary rounds which by the state of play at present are not going to be needed next year. the hard fact is youth football is not feeding the amateur leagues and in turn the amateur leagues are not feeding  the junior leagues and the junior leagues are not feeding the senior leagues and the senior leagues are not feeding the national team.  this thread  was started by someone who obviously knows the present game is in dire straits as do I. if you read the posts from the beginning you,ll understand the root cause, la la land, I never played football but I,m a coach because the sfa gave me a badge for turning up at a coaching course for an hour, and oh I,ve never been to a game of football but I get a tracksuit top with coach emblazoned on it. this thread should be the busiest on p/b because if someone doesn,t come up with a change of system and mentality football is goosed in this country if it isn,t already.  just in case you don't know the directive presently going the rounds is it doesn't matter if you don't score a goal but if you do don't celebrate scoring its demeaning to the opposition. try telling that to Cyprus in june when they come calling, but of course they wont have any coaching badges but they,ll want to win the game by sticking the ball in the back of the onion bag. 

[Northboy]

9 hours ago, humphrey said:

try telling that to Cyprus in june when they come calling, but of course they wont have any coaching badges but they,ll want to win the game by sticking the ball in the back of the onion bag. 

I agree with your general comments about coaching badges being dished out for next to nothing. When I was more involved in youth coaching I found the courses to be extremely basic and a bit patronising to anyone who had even the slightest experience of playing, coaching or even watching football. It seemed like a money making exercise to me. However, I cannot believe that the Cyprus management won't have any coaching badges - for whatever they're worth aren't such qualifications mandatory as this level?

[Bestsinceslicebread]

On ‎27‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 23:01, humphrey said:

the posters know their stuff o.k.  the sac programmes and figures don't take into account the regional preliminary rounds which by the state of play at present are not going to be needed next year. the hard fact is youth football is not feeding the amateur leagues and in turn the amateur leagues are not feeding  the junior leagues and the junior leagues are not feeding the senior leagues and the senior leagues are not feeding the national team.  this thread  was started by someone who obviously knows the present game is in dire straits as do I. if you read the posts from the beginning you,ll understand the root cause, la la land, I never played football but I,m a coach because the sfa gave me a badge for turning up at a coaching course for an hour, and oh I,ve never been to a game of football but I get a tracksuit top with coach emblazoned on it. this thread should be the busiest on p/b because if someone doesn,t come up with a change of system and mentality football is goosed in this country if it isn,t already.  just in case you don't know the directive presently going the rounds is it doesn't matter if you don't score a goal but if you do don't celebrate scoring its demeaning to the opposition. try telling that to Cyprus in june when they come calling, but of course they wont have any coaching badges but they,ll want to win the game by sticking the ball in the back of the onion bag. 

13

 

 

 

I as a coach am up to my level 3 but it doesn't matter what level I'm at, it won't change me as a coach as I know what I'm best at coaching and as a person, researching and experiencing other coaches training sessions and watching games. Basically up to level 3 is fairly easy as level 1 and 2 you just stand and watch and get your badge, level 3 you have to produce two simple drills in whatever your selected to offer, ie. defending, possession, attacking, etc....  from then on B and C licenses are a bit different and slightly harder but they can be done if you work your system and drills our carefully as I've watched a few colleagues recently attain their badges at both levels.

 

As coaches, we are all different and working with other coaches helps develop you and the other coaches, bouncing off each other with ideas and positives to making coaching better and more intense if possible. At the moment I work well with the other two coaches as I'm more focused on different things that they excel on and together hopefully we cover all bases for the lads, helping them grow as players.

 

I travel to youth games, sometimes coach up to 5 nights a week, this week 2 nights and learn from other coaches positives and negatives and take points and see if I can escalate the development of our youth. Nothing wrong with going to see junior coaching session, senior coaching sessions when you're free, they all help. I worked at an academy and coached with my main team and was asked by a few coaches to help with some of their sessions with their teams. Some of those coaches classed me as experienced but as I said to them, I pick up good points from them as we should really all bounce off each other after all it's about developing the youths so it all helps.

#

On Saturday our youth head coach's previous team from last year's U19s captain is playing against our current first team who had 3 players from our current U19s team including our captain playing in last weeks first team win so it would be great to have those 3 boys in the squad again participating in the same junior premier league match. We watched our 3 of boys this year play for the first team, (junior) then went straight to another junior game to watch two of our lads from last year, play for another junior team.  Knowing that these boys and others are now at a higher level of football and hopefully destined for higher is what really should be striving for. Personally, this is what I love to see and this is what I constantly want to see from most grassroots teams, producing players for a higher level.  I have to say our head coach is fantastic but he came from a pro-youth background for over 22 years and then went into grassroots and it was strange for him and with help from some of our grassroots coaches on the simplistic in and outs and once he grasped all the advice he just took off and producing players for a higher level and you can't ask any more of him.  

 

I have to admit I see too many teams whose coach is more interested in winning than the development of their players and the lads end up going nowhere football-wise. 

I see so many restrictions for coaches and youths at grassroots level with the pricing of parks, registration, only allowed to play for one team, etc...

 

I believe If we all pull together with the same goals there really could be no stopping us all but sometimes you think people at the SFA and SYFA make decisions and stick with them even though they know  a lot is against the decisions and when it goes wrong, they still stick with them not wanting us to think they were wrong and we just have to deal with their decisions.
In all honesty, any ideas on improvements will help from grassroots up and from the top down to grassroots. If something ain't working, then change and right now football ain't working and we are way behind too many countries who even have smaller populations than us.  The more we all pull together, thinking of ideas, improvements, developing methods can only be good for our game from the youths up

Edited May 6, 2019 by Bestsinceslicebread
detailed information

[Bestsinceslicebread]

Anyone, Any other ideas for improvement?

 

There is usually a deadline for teams to sign youth players for cup competitions.  I believe its 31st of March. Do you think this should be scrapped and if so what benefits, if any,  would help with the development of players?.
I'd like to see the Scottish and Regional definitely have a deadline right enough but not all the domestic cups within each youth league

Edited May 6, 2019 by Bestsinceslicebread

[Northboy]

On ‎06‎/‎05‎/‎2019 at 13:21, Bestsinceslicebread said:

There is usually a deadline for teams to sign youth players for cup competitions.  I believe its 31st of March. Do you think this should be scrapped and if so what benefits, if any,  would help with the development of players?.

I think the rule about not being able to sign players late in the season applies to pretty much throughout grass roots football. I don't see that it has any impact on player development.

[Bestsinceslicebread]

On ‎07‎/‎05‎/‎2019 at 15:15, Northboy said:

I think the rule about not being able to sign players late in the season applies to pretty much throughout grass roots football. I don't see that it has any impact on player development.

 

1

I agree with your comment Northboy to a certain extent but I think it can affect some

Yes, it's good that at least in league games they can play as trialists.

My view is once youths get to U19s and U21s, its genuinely hard to keep them involved due to work, and other normal life stuff, nights out, drink, girls etc...  that might take precedence over football, so any restriction will make it harder to keep the interest going.

I watched the end of this season and know a few youths who couldn't play with U19s teams and some for u21 teams due to the teams mainly having cup games left.
One team had 1 league game and possibly 5 cup games, thus those boys at that level couldn't play, except the one league game.  Again, we should do everything to keep youths involved not add restrictions.

Personally as stated before, The Scottish Cup and regional should have a cut off date but I think the local domestic cups should still be open unless the player is cup-tied after previously playing in the same cup competition with a different team.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2019 by Bestsinceslicebread

[coach]

22 hours ago, Bestsinceslicebread said:

I agree with your comment Northboy to a certain extent but I think it can affect some

Yes, it's good that at least in league games they can play as trialists.

My view is once youths get to U19s and U21s, its genuinely hard to keep them involved due to work, and other normal life stuff, nights out, drink, girls etc...  that might take precedence over football, so any restriction will make it harder to keep the interest going.

I watched the end of this season and know a few youths who couldn't play with U19s teams and some for u21 teams due to the teams mainly having cup games left.
One team had 1 league game and possibly 5 cup games, thus those boys at that level couldn't play, except the one league game.  Again, we should do everything to keep youths involved not add restrictions.

Personally as stated before, The Scottish Cup and regional should have a cut off date but I think the local domestic cups should still be open unless the player is cup-tied after previously playing in the same cup competition with a different team.

 

 

 

 

Great post. Totally agree, in particular, about end of season games involving Under-19s/21s. 

[BTID]

Not sure where to start so will keep as brief as possible:

1. This generation has been dealt a particularly tough hand in football. Academy level has been squeezed to a few elite teams and so grassroots will pick up the pieces. Problem is, it’s run by volunteers and the good will of local people. Who face increasingly brutal financial costs and time consuming admin.

What is required is significant investment in creating a more professional environment at this level. Full time coaching, affordable facilities with clubs who can use football to build a strong culture and good citizens.

I do believe though there is so much going on still at the very young ages - we have a lot of talented technical players. I’ve worked in the US and Australia and they aren’t any better.

What I feel the difference is that the transition from being taken to football and *choosing* football we lose sight. There is such little focus on lifelong participation in the game. It shouldn’t matter if a player doesn’t make it at the highest level they should have a pathway at a club to find it. 

The drop off at U19 and frighteningly U21 is alarming. The U21 league this year was 30 odd clubs in the west region. There is a fragmented setup and having coached at this age a real lack of commitment, resilience, emotional control and communication. 

The world is full of choice now, football must learn to manage that and make it an attractive sport to compete in at all levels. A real push for lifelong participation, what’s the point in teaching all these values and talk about health and well-being when there aren’t the proper opportunities and culture to deliver that into adulthood? 

 

 

[Bestsinceslicebread]

A wee trinket of an idea or maybe putting a problem out there that's is there any way to resolve ?

Do you think the exposure of Scottish football on TV could be better and if so would it get more youths interested ?

Have to admit, that is one thing out-with any coach's role and the SYFA intervention for that matter, football exposure on TV. I mean recently we had the Women's FIFA World Cup and I think it was a success, especially with 12 million watching the England v USA semi final, I'm sure the exposure not just for England but for Scotland and all the other counties has now produces tons more girls to get involved in football due from the exposure alone of the national teams.

In this country and in Britain, we have tons of football but its fragmented, football on 'SKY' or on 'BT' or on 'Premier', many cant afford all the packages, some cant afford any and even here in Scotland we get 'Highlights' of the premier league games on Sportscene and that's it, nothing much in championship etc.. except BBC alba now and then.  Would there be a call to have more championship games or even 2nd or 3rd division games on BBC Alba or BBC Scotland, mainly on the idea that it would get youths interested while being viable and would this level of football get them interested. These big channels don't want the championship league or the other divisions so would there be a call for them on other channels on the cheap.

have to admit, the BBC Alba and Scotland are doing their bit, we even have the interest of Kelty hearts v Auchinleck Talbot on BBC Scotland Tv live

Edited September 17, 2019 by Bestsinceslicebread