Articles4YoungCoaches. #5: Multi-Sports & Football - For the Coach, Player & Group.

Intro

Here we are, another week, another edition of Articles4YoungCoaches. I cannot quite believe we are already at number five. The feedback so far has been extremely pleasing and I hope you can take something from this article too! Number five will explore a different route and focus around multi-sports and coaching other sports alongside football. Something that young coaches will have to get used to quickly. Something that is becoming the norm, but something that has its benefits.

Why?

When I was first starting out on my coaching pathway I was only interested in coaching football. Football was my main sport. Football was my life and football is all I knew. FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL. Despite enjoying playing and watching other sports, I never had a real passion to coach or get involved with any other sports. Football was the only thing that gave me a real buzz. Some may call it being single minded but I’m sure many coaches can relate and understand. The feeling that football can provide as a coach is hard to replicate and supplement through other sports. It’s not quite the same.

However, as a young, inexperienced coach; finding a role (especially in the UK) that allows you to be coaching football 100% of the time are few and far between. With many clubs, organisations, trusts and community projects that work with young people within schools now usually offer multi-sports programs. Multi-sports PE Lessons and after school clubs often run alongside the more favourable to coach football sessions.

Furthermore, after securing my first few coaching gigs in the UK, despite being employed by football clubs and foundations, I quickly discovered the need to be adaptable and learn how to coach different sports. With many roles expecting coaches to deliver multi-sports classes and PE lessons that require children to follow a certain curriculum that involves participation in many other sports alongside football. Honestly, as a single minded, 'football coach' this is something I wasn’t overly interested in. I became demotivated at the start and I thought I was capable of more and deserving of better (Reflecting back now, I had no right to show this attitude).

After delivering a few make-shift sessions, that were thrown together through football knowledge and executed usually with a different shape or size ball, I decided to adopt a different attitude. It was time to wake up, open my eyes to the bigger picture and recognise the positives that both I and the group could take away from each class. This was the first time I’d really made the most out of a bad situation, and damn has it helped me since. Even though you're not always coaching football, you're still coaching. By doing this, you're starting to improve as a coach and develop in other ways that you never would have discovered without doing so.

After reflecting back on my personal experience on this topic, it made me realise there are going to be many other similar individuals that find themselves in similar situations. Coaches that are just starting out and finding their feet, coaches that are graduating from university and coaches that are working out in the community. Do not expect to just be a football coach. There’s so much more to it, for you, the individual player and the group.

This led me to delve deeper into the subject area and reach out to other coaches who have followed similar pathways and found themselves coaching multi-sports alongside football throughout their careers. 

I managed to get in touch with two fantastic young coaches that I know both personally and professionally to share their stories and expertise around the matter.

Tom Stanley – Football coach at 1:1fpc & qualified PE Teacher based in West Sussex.

&

Dan Williamson - Assistant Head of Curriculum and Delivery at Pompey in the Community.

What experiences have you had with multi-sports & coaching other sports alongside football?

Tom: 'Back when I was 15 I gained coaching experience for a multi-sports company during work experience. This was my first real insight into coaching and seeing children enjoy many sports and activities that were on offer. I also have experience of teaching multi-sports through a company called 1:1fpc, where they offer multi-sport camps during half terms and summer holidays. I am also a qualified PE teacher, where subject knowledge of a variety of different sports has allowed for better differentiation of games, drills and questioning.'

Dan: 'Although the majority of my qualifications and experience have been in coaching football, throughout my time at Pompey in the Community, right from when I first started as a casual community coach all the way through to my current role, I have been delivering multi sport sessions in schools environments. Sessions vary from after school clubs to lunch time clubs and school PPA sessions. These sessions provide a wide range of sports, from tennis to athletics. Following this, at Pompey in the Community we also deliver multi sports holiday courses which again provides a range of sports throughout the day for kids and coaches.'

Why do many foundations & companies offer multi-sports alongside football?

Tom: 'Wanting to expand and branch into other areas of the sporting industry. Offering multi-sport days or camps widens companies target audience, which can help grow your company. Companies may actually end up gaining more football business through their multi-sport days.'

Dan echoed Tom's thoughts and added:

Dan: 'Companies and community sports trusts also do this to keep their coaches up-skilled in delivering different sports. Which I personally believe brings a solid foundation for employees and will eventually result in improvements within the overall coaching team when it comes to football.'

What are the benefits for coaches that deliver multi-sports sessions?

Tom: 'Coaching and delivering multi-sports gets you out of your comfort zone and gives you an appreciation for other sports. Growing subject knowledge of other sports lets you give correct coaching points and improve children’s performance rather than just delivering a session. Seeing a child achieve success and enjoy a sport is a massive satisfaction, which is something you get when you coach a multi-sports session.'

Dan: 'There are many benefits for coaches to deliver multi-sports sessions alongside football sessions. The first one being that so many skills from different sports are transferable to each other. This means that although you may be coaching basketball, the skills and techniques you are teaching could be similar to netball or even football. You will find that session ideas, set ups and structures will sometimes mirror each other. I like this as you can deliver very similar sessions in terms of the set up but have a completely different outcomes depending on the sport.'

With the benefits for coaches clear to see and both Tom & Dan echoing similar views. It is important to recognise the benefits that multi-sports provides for the children. The young athletes that participate, the players who compete in more than one sport and the impact it can have on their football skills and long term player development.

What are the benefits for kids who participate in multi-sports or more than 1 sport?

Tom: 'At a young age, it is important for children to experience many sports to build foundations like co-ordination, throwing and catching and running. It provides children with the appreciation of other sports and can build skills such as communication, leadership, resilience and sportsmanship, all of which are key within football and are crucial long term elements when it comes to sporting success.'

Dan: 'The benefits are huge for me! I am a massive believer in the fact that the skills learnt from one sport can 100% be transferred into another, similar to coaching. An example of this would be the core movements in games that link between multiple sports. The movement pattern, the whole concept of when to move, how to move, what speeds to move at and why to move will often be the same. As children improve these core skills through playing multiple sports it allows them to develop and puts them in a good position as they grow and get older.'

With multi-sports clearly offering notable advantages to both coaches and players alike, next I wanted to discover how much of an impact this has when children return to playing football. Is there always a notable difference? Does it depend on the individual player or group? Maybe the age? Is there always improvement seen?

Do you always see an improvement in their football ability?

Tom: 'You often start seeing an improvement with co-ordination, speed and reactiveness which are transferrable skills to football. However, you do not always see an improvement when going back to football. I think it depends on the individual and it's hard to generalise but it definitely has it's relatable benefits.'

Dan: 'I usually do see an improvement in their footballing ability. This comes down to the transferable skills spoken about before. Although some skills may be different from football other factors such as communication and sportsmanship alongside the social element allows players to have a better understanding on what it takes to win games, how it feels to lose games and how to generally apply themselves and behave in a competitive environment. These are huge positives for players that can take this and apply it within football.'

When 'USA Today' researched the USA Women’s World Cup squad, they found a clear trend toward multi-sports and athletes that took part in more than 1 more sport throughout their younger years.

“A quick survey of members of the squad found that collectively they played at least 14 different sports competitively while growing up, as well as soccer. And significantly, all believe the other disciplines enhanced rather than hindered their soccer careers.”

(USA Today)

I think it's safe to agree that the positives really do outweigh the negatives when it comes to coaching multi-sports alongside football, for the coach, the individual player and collective group. With transferable skills, noticeable impacts, comparable foundations and many relatable areas that can help nurture and develop a successful future within the game.

Lastly, I wanted to gain a greater insight on the similar values that multi-sports and football share to discover how one can complement the other so well.

What similar values have do multi-sports & football share? (Coaching / Playing)

 Tom: 'From a coaching point of view; researching and improving your subject knowledge is vital. Football coaches tend to put a lot of time and effort into growing their knowledge, finding their philosophy and planning sessions and this needs to be the same when coaching multi-sport as this can affect children’s thoughts and experiences of the sport.'

'If your subject knowledge is poor, then you may provide incorrect feedback to the children, which can be detrimental to their performance and experience'

(Beukers, Magill & Hall, 1992).

Dan: 'The values between both football and other sports / multi-sports are very similar. Mainly due to the fact that a lot of other sports are team sports, therefore they will naturally carry over the same values of football. As a player, factors such as determination, desire, teamwork and compatibility are just a handful of values that are shared between the two. The link between both can have a very positive and long lasting impact upon young players especially.'

Conclusion

Despite multi-sports not being everybody's cup of tea (Young Ryan)... It's something that can improve you and your players without you even realising. Coaching multi-sports can provide an enormous impact on you as a coach and if you use the opportunity correctly it will without doubt help compliment and develop your football sessions too. Multi-sports offers many coaches, especially in the UK, the opportunity to rack up coaching hours within community and school settings. Which in return is assisting you with getting those crucial 10,000 hours under your belt.

But those are hours not coaching football?

SO WHAT?! With so many transferable skills, similarities and cross overs coupled with relatable core values that link the two together, you start to realise that it really does not matter. You're continuously improving as a coach and thats the most important thing, invest in yourself.

If you're a young, aspiring coach looking for that first opportunity, the chances are you will find yourself coaching multi-sports sessions alongside football, in one way or another. Try to approach the situation with a good attitude and a positive outlook as this will only benefit yourself, the individual and the collective group. Open your eyes and try to see the bigger picture.

Trust me, its worth it.