Tuesday, April 24, 2007
I'm a soccer coach!
In the months(!) since I last posted I have been appointed(?) the coach of my daughter's under 6 soccer team (we play a modified version called Rooball). We wanted to get my daughter (or preferably daughters) into some sort of sport - to get them active and promote "physical literacy" [this little phrase has become a favourite of mine ever since I read it]. We wondered about what they could do until we were fondled by the hand of fate. The local soccer team registrations were advertised in the school newsletter. We went, paid our ridiculously high fee and signed up for soccer.
My daughter didn't know what soccer was. She had a soccer ball and knew that you had to kick it, but she had never seen a game. I am not into sports in any serious way, although I do like cricket, so there has never been any visual references for her. She was still keen to do it, though, as was my middle daughter. If we told them we had signed them up for abalone diving they still would have been excited. Unfortunately middle daughter was too young to play soccer despite being bigger than some of the boys in higher age groups. She still trains with us though and will be ready for next season.
Anyway, the club president rang us with the training details and mentioned to my wife (who took the call) that they needed a coach for the team - she volunteered me knowing that I had played soccer before, as a kid, more than twenty years ago! Since no one else stepped forward (weak bastards) I got the job.
Trying to get 5 and 6 year olds to do anything is like trying to herd cats. The problems increase for group sizes of 1 or more children. The more there are, the harder it is to get them all doing the same thing at the same time. I really don't know how teachers do it. I have enough problems getting adults to do what they need to do to learn, let alone getting kids to do it (although sometimes there is little difference, I'm sure). Fortunately the club arranged for a former Socceroo, Gerry Gomez, to come and give us a grass roots coach training clinic. We spent almost three hours running through the excellent training manual prepared by the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) and learned that training kids was all about games and fun and engaging them in play. Of course I knew this all along, but with the training manual it is a real no brainer. I wish they had this sort of stuff when my dad coached me in the under 6s. I am sure he would have liked the support.
The club, Ermington United, is brilliant. They have given me all of the support I need to give the kids a great experience. The grounds are well maintained and green, despite the drought. The people are friendly, the kids have fun: everyone should be doing this! Match reports to follow.
My daughter didn't know what soccer was. She had a soccer ball and knew that you had to kick it, but she had never seen a game. I am not into sports in any serious way, although I do like cricket, so there has never been any visual references for her. She was still keen to do it, though, as was my middle daughter. If we told them we had signed them up for abalone diving they still would have been excited. Unfortunately middle daughter was too young to play soccer despite being bigger than some of the boys in higher age groups. She still trains with us though and will be ready for next season.
Anyway, the club president rang us with the training details and mentioned to my wife (who took the call) that they needed a coach for the team - she volunteered me knowing that I had played soccer before, as a kid, more than twenty years ago! Since no one else stepped forward (weak bastards) I got the job.
Trying to get 5 and 6 year olds to do anything is like trying to herd cats. The problems increase for group sizes of 1 or more children. The more there are, the harder it is to get them all doing the same thing at the same time. I really don't know how teachers do it. I have enough problems getting adults to do what they need to do to learn, let alone getting kids to do it (although sometimes there is little difference, I'm sure). Fortunately the club arranged for a former Socceroo, Gerry Gomez, to come and give us a grass roots coach training clinic. We spent almost three hours running through the excellent training manual prepared by the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) and learned that training kids was all about games and fun and engaging them in play. Of course I knew this all along, but with the training manual it is a real no brainer. I wish they had this sort of stuff when my dad coached me in the under 6s. I am sure he would have liked the support.
The club, Ermington United, is brilliant. They have given me all of the support I need to give the kids a great experience. The grounds are well maintained and green, despite the drought. The people are friendly, the kids have fun: everyone should be doing this! Match reports to follow.
# posted by David and Melissa @ 15:56 
