Coaching resources
We encourage our coaches and volunteers to obtain qualifications and to access information to keep up to date with developments in football and child development.
The list of resources below will be regularly updated.
Club documents (currently being reviewed!)
Our club session framework document sets out the structure of our coaching sessions.
Our 'How we coach' document details the principles we bear in mind when designing our practices.
All club practices plans are available in pdf and hard copy in a file held with register.
Twitter is a really good place to engage with coaches, keep up to date with ideas about player development and exchange ideas. The list below contains some suggestions of people/organisations worth following:
@playerDP
@stu_arm
@socceriq
@_gameplaylearn_
@markstkhlm
@nicklevett
@drmartintoms
@peterprickett
@live4footy
@contactcounts
@markproskills
@ministryoffooty
@jimivaughan
@ahffc
@insidewrite1957
@jonnyhenderson
@coachlukesmith
@coachjohnnyo
@ctgprojecthq
@The_W_Address
@renegadestyle
@ImSporticus
@FootballJunto
@davewright07
@coachdanwright
@coachRichBartel
Blogs and podcasts
Some of those mentioned above have blogs and regularly publish articles or podcasts.
Mark O’Sullivan. Coach educator for the Swedish FA - Footblogball
Nick Levett. FA’s Talent ID manager - Rivers of thinking
Stu Armstrong. The Talent Equation
Peter Prickett. Always football
Player Development Project
Ministry of Football
John O’Sullivan. US coach. Changing the game project
Game Play Learn
Coaching Corner
Tovo Academy
Football Junto
Player Development Project Podcast
Youth Soccer Coaching Player Development Podcast
PlayerDevelopment Project, Monthly wrap
Session planning resources
These resources may be helpful for practice planning used with our ‘How we coach’ philosophy and session framework.
Game Play Learn
SSGs – Learning through play
SSGs guide
Ministry of football: SSGs
Ray Powers books – the club has a set
Dan Wright, 50 SSGs - the club has a copy
Dan Wright, Outplay - the club has a copy
Teaching games for understanding
Less talk more action
Soccer IQ
Street games
Fun games for young kids
FA Four Corners.
John Whitmore, Ask don’t tell.
Lara Mossman, 7 steps to self-motivated decision-makers
Australian Sports Commission, Change it
The FA's England DNA training resource can be found on Hive. This contains lots of useful session plans and ideas as well as information from around the Four Corners. More details on how to access Hive can be found here.
My personal football coach. Small-sided games.
Free play
Play England: “… children choosing what they want to do, how they want to do it and when to stop and try something else. Free play has no external goals set by adults and has no adult imposed curriculum. Although adults usually provide the space and resources for free play and might be involved, the child takes the lead and the adults respond to cues from the child.”
World Economic Forum. To play is to learn. Time to step back and let kids be kids.
Alfie Kohn. Education author/lecturer. Five Not-So-Obvious Propositions About Play.
Peter Gray. Psychologist. The play deficit
Peter Gray. Psychologist. The special value of children’s mixed age play.
Pete Sturgess, National Lead Foundation Phase (5-11), The English FA, 'Let’s Make Sure ‘Play' Does Not Become the Next 4-Letter Word'.
Game Play Learn,The Performance Playground
The case for play
Play England. Free play in early childhood: a literature review.
Dr Jean Côté – Play vs Practice, Sampling vs Specialisation and Transformational Leadership
Coaching philosophy/approaches
Mark O'Sullivan, Designing a learning space: football interactions
Todd Beane, Is your football club a learning centre?
Dave Wright, The player
Dave Wright. Change the story
Todd Beane. Let them ride.
Reed Maltbie. How do I balance my why with the demands of the youth sports culture?
Kris van der Haegen. Bringing the street into the club
Rich Dalton. Pre World Cup thoughts linked to youth development.
Training ground guru. Cage football - clubs recreate spirit of the streets.
Training ground guru. Why understanding the teenage brain is key to coaching.
Training ground guru. Coaching revolution that took Belgium to top of world.
Todd Beane, Rondos are the tip of the iceberg
Sporting influencer. Let kids fail.
Coach Garlick. Interview with Jonny Henderson.
John O'Sullivan. Winning the race to the right finish line in youth sports.
Team grassroots. The ‘Unknown Damage?’ caused from the touchline.
Joy of the people
Richard Cleary, The architecture of sports
Brian Ashton, Giving more power to the players
Talent identification
Ted Kroeten, The revolution will not hold tryouts
Dan Wright. He doesn't look like a footballer.
Mark O'Sullivan. We may know what we are looking FOR but do we understand what we are looking AT?
Nick Levett. FA Talen ID manager. The search for talent continues.
Nick Levett. Talent identification in the grassroots game.
Stu Armstong. Vlog. The folly of early talent identification.
John O'Sullivan, Our Biggest Mistake: Talent Selection Instead of Talent Identification
Mark O'Sullivan, The Quiet Revolution Starts to Bring the Noise!
Matt Whitehouse. The Whitehouse Address. The Key Factors Involved in Creating Elite Footballers
Professor Dr. Arne Güllich. Junior success is a poor indicator of long-term senior success.
Early specialisation
Joel S. Brenner. Sports medicine specialist. Sports Specialization and Intensive Training in Young Athletes, American Academy of Pediatrics. Article summarising the report here.
John O’Sullivan. Changing the Game. Is it wise to specialise?
Steve Smith. Professor of clinical psychology. Early Specialization and the Science of Success in Sport
Mostafavifar et al. Early sport specialisation, does it lead to long-term problems?
Jonathan Michael Normand, Andrew Wolfe, Kayla Peak, A Review of Early Sport Specialization in Relation to the Development of a Young Athlete
American Academy of orthapaedic surgeons. Youth specialisation.
Non-linear pedagogy
A learner-centered approach to skill acquisition - teaching and coaching that uses task and environment design to develop skill acquisition.
Mark Upton, Seven principles of non-linear pedagogy.
Shaping the Game
Dave Wright, The Player.
Drowning in the shallw, A bluffer's guide to non-linear pedagogy.
Norwegian Football Federation, Learning in Football: The Role of Nonlinear Pedagogy in Skill Acquisition
Mark O'Sullivan, Participation in sport is a human activity with all its baggage
Constraints Led Approach – Cognitive Dissonance
Coaching Corner, Affordances explained and part 2
Ted Kroeten, The revolution will not hold tryouts
Dan Wright. He doesn't look like a footballer.
Mark O'Sullivan. We may know what we are looking FOR but do we understand what we are looking AT?
Nick Levett. FA Talen ID manager. The search for talent continues.
Nick Levett. Talent identification in the grassroots game.
Stu Armstong. Vlog. The folly of early talent identification.
John O'Sullivan, Our Biggest Mistake: Talent Selection Instead of Talent Identification
Mark O'Sullivan, The Quiet Revolution Starts to Bring the Noise!
Matt Whitehouse. The Whitehouse Address. The Key Factors Involved in Creating Elite Footballers
Professor Dr. Arne Güllich. Junior success is a poor indicator of long-term senior success.
Early specialisation
Joel S. Brenner. Sports medicine specialist. Sports Specialization and Intensive Training in Young Athletes, American Academy of Pediatrics. Article summarising the report here.
John O’Sullivan. Changing the Game. Is it wise to specialise?
Steve Smith. Professor of clinical psychology. Early Specialization and the Science of Success in Sport
Mostafavifar et al. Early sport specialisation, does it lead to long-term problems?
Jonathan Michael Normand, Andrew Wolfe, Kayla Peak, A Review of Early Sport Specialization in Relation to the Development of a Young Athlete
American Academy of orthapaedic surgeons. Youth specialisation.
Non-linear pedagogy
A learner-centered approach to skill acquisition - teaching and coaching that uses task and environment design to develop skill acquisition.
Mark Upton, Seven principles of non-linear pedagogy.
Shaping the Game
Dave Wright, The Player.
Drowning in the shallw, A bluffer's guide to non-linear pedagogy.
Norwegian Football Federation, Learning in Football: The Role of Nonlinear Pedagogy in Skill Acquisition
Mark O'Sullivan, Participation in sport is a human activity with all its baggage
Constraints Led Approach – Cognitive Dissonance
Coaching Corner, Affordances explained and part 2
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