Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
So you think coaching children to play football is a piece of cake?
After all, people often think “Hey, it’s just children. How hard can it be?”
You’d better think again.
Grassroots football is actually a 'league of their own' and whatever you know to train adults cannot all be applied to kids who should be approached differently.
Mind you – even the use of the word ‘coaching’ is wrong when it comes to this special group of footballers, Chonburi FA's (CFA) Education and Vision Asia Director Mohamed Basir told the-afc.com.
Project Chonburi is one of the few AFC Vision Asia provincial or city projects that have gone far by reaching Phase III of the revolutionary and paradigm-shifting development programme, Vision Asia, which is the brainchild of AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam.
Basir said Project Chonburi had officially responded in principles by March 11 to the Grassroots and Youth Strategic Development Plan drawn up by the AFC Vision Asia Department for grassroots football development in the touristy beach haven of Thailand.
On 21-27 March, the CFA organised a Grassroots Course and Festival for 400 boys and girls and 38 coaches.
And a major element in the grassroots phase of the project is the creation of a school league.
“We have identified eight schools to start the school league which has been assessed by the AFC late last year,” said the Singaporean Basir. “It's not easy, but we look forward to the implementation phase.”
So, what makes grassroots football just as tough for the coaches?
It’s in their nature
Basir spelt out in detail the wonderful nature of kids in, perhaps not only football, but also other aspects of their young life.
“The grassroots concept is totally different. The central philosophy is that every kid, regardless of ability and gender, has the right to play and have fun -- anytime, anywhere.
“The coaches' role is to facilitate and organise playing opportunities. He or she is not expected to go into detailed technical coaching, drilling, etc, and the usual regime that is undertaken when coaching elite youth players.
“In grassroots, the game is the teacher -- the kids learn to play and play to learn. The coach facilitates the learning and enjoyment process,” he said.
Therein lie the challenges for some coaches.
Unroot the deep roots
“Generally speaking, coaches working with kids tend to train them like adults,” revealed Basir.
“This is partly due to the nature of the adult competitions, result-oriented pressure from the superiors, lack of knowledge, unrestrained enthusiasm and more,” he further said.
The untrained people or even seasoned professionals may think the above are normal in football.
But not so for grassroots, said the former AFC staff, explaining the reason for the phenomenon.
“These preconceived ideas have been ingrained through attending formal coaching courses, watching videos or TV footages of elite youth teams training or simply based on their own experience,” said Basir, who had attended a FIFA course on grassroots football in Kuala Lumpur last year.
It’s wonderful how a series of actions can stem from the use of a single, right or wrong, word. And words have their origins in the mind.
Using the wrong thinking causes you to use the wrong words and thus, you act wrongly, while working with the young ones.
“Our first task is to make the coaches unlearn their previous notions or misconceptions on grassroots and introduce the new concepts. And if you noticed, we did not call it the ‘Grassroots Coaching Course’ but rather ‘Grassroots Course', omitting the bad word, in this case, 'coaching' and there is such a thing as over-coaching with the children!”
Re-laying the foundation
It’s obvious that a new foundation is needed to make this positive change.
Basir said: “The foundations we lay down are the same universal philosophy and concepts echoed by FIFA and AFC which we also embrace. This was delivered through the contents in our course and festival in Chonburi in March."
Since grassroots demands a whole new level of thinking, it’s imperative that more people are made aware of the unique philosophies of grassroots.
Basir said: “Beyond these coaches, I feel that the local government and other stakeholders have been made aware of the different concepts through this course and festival of ours and also through future collaborations with the CFA and the grassroots coaches and teachers.
“It is important to bring as many kids into football at an early age. So, this awareness created in the administration, stakeholders, partners, etc, is another form of foundation which will reinforce and support the coach/teacher’s role."
Coaches shell-shocked
As usual, new ideas can get strong responses.
“After the course and especially the festival, I feel that the coaches have grasped these concepts as it was undertaken in a stress-free, fun, informal atmosphere,” said Basir.
“There were a few coaches who were 'shell-shocked' but at the end, I feel that most of them said, ‘Hmm, so this is it', or what I call 'enlightenment'.
“And for sure, the coaches had fun engaging the kids and organising the festival. We as instructors constantly reminded and re-assured them that they were on the right track -- no serious stuff, no coaching, let the kids play -- and that kind of stuff,” he said.
But it did not stop here. The CFA will select and appoint some of them to undertake the grassroots programme as staff coaches and will continue to develop more kids through future festivals and courses.
Basir explained: “Our foundation or the big base we have laid down is the 38 grassroots coaches and teachers developed from the Chonburi course.
“They are armed with new knowledge and experience to go out into the province to organise and facilitate grassroots football and festivals for every kid, anywhere, anytime,” aspired Basir.
The Chonburians are surely set to take grassroots football off the launch pad with a new, and more importantly, correct, way of thinking.
The CFA’s work in shifting the thinking, and thus, actions, of the grassroots coaches rhymes nicely with this famous quote by an anonymous author:
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
By: Zam Yusa