Inter leagues - a vital tool in your Player Development Programme
Lee Rostron
FA Level 4 (UEFA A Licence) | FA Advance Youth Award Holder | BSc (Honours) Sport, Fitness and Coaching
During my past experiences as a football coach I have been lucky enough to have held positions where I could influence, or choose content to be included in the syllabus's of work and for some time now, I have been a big advocate of using internal leagues/tournaments, to be part of these programmes.
So what benefits do these type of activities have to develop players around the FA's 4 corner model. At first I mainly associated an inter-league with the social corner and used it as a fun activity to take place after what I used to call a celebration session, which focused players strengths. It was always a part players would really enjoy and by keeping a league table that would run throughout the season added to the excitement. For me it appeared good fun and the winning team would be presented with a trophy at the end of the season presentation night.
Recently I have started to think that there might be more to inter-tournaments than the obvious social corner outcomes, for example we always say there is no substitute to actually playing a game and training try as we might, never really reaches the levels of tempo as a game. For anyone who has used an inter tournament where an extrinsic reward is on offer, the motivation and tempo goes up tenfold and as the tackles fly in and players swamp the goalscorer with lavish celebrations, you quickly realise that this is starting to replicate the game. From a physical perspective and mixing the age groups later maturing players will have a real physical battle and can stretch them to different levels that they might not get within their own age group. Also players that are older, but less physically developed as their peers may benefit from 1v1 duels against a younger players where they might experience more success and build confidence. Psychologically you will see players come to the forefront applying leadership skills, especially in older age groups and maybe ones that didn't have the confidence to do this within their own age group.
The challenge now is can they be used as part of the syllabus to deliver technical outcomes, but without losing the match day tempo that we have now managed to harness. We can now start to tweak the learning environment and by adding constraints, we can go after different technical outcomes. If the topic of work had a focus on passing forward then we might play a tournament where the games are conditioned in a way so that a free kick is rewarded for sideways, or backwards passes. Again if the topic was on individual possession then two goals may be rewarded if a player was to dribble past an opponent before scoring. If we wanted to get returns on attacking in wide areas then using a pitch that was short, but wide will increase the amount of time that play happens, in this area of the pitch. For topics that involved finishing, or emergency defending, then having a small pitch possibly with wide areas tapered off, will get more goal mouth repetition. Also consider the environment by using different surfaces, grass, 3G, indoor (Futsal), different size footballs to increase the challenge and provide a variety of experiences. These are just some ways to have inter tournaments with a technical focus, but also including the previous 4 corner outcomes.
When designing these inter-tournaments try and be creative and find out the children's interests. It might be we replicate a tournaments such as the Premier league, or champions League to ignite their imaginations. How about building in games they play on the PlayStation/Xbox by tapping into things they find interesting.
As time goes on I have started to become a big believer in this approach and now looking to include more inter tournaments in my programmes, of work. I believe that this could be a vital tool, to help produce players of the future and creating fun engaging learning environments for children to reach their full potential.
Director of Football
4 年Like the idea lee .
Uefa 'A' Licence / Head of Academy Operations - To oversee academy individual development plans and ensure players are supported to their fullest potential
4 年Yet another good read Lee. I am a huge advacote of this, so many gains/rewards and for me is a vital part of player development, spread across the 4 corners, but also an opportunity to assess performance. Adding constraints to tweak learning in a direction which supports players needs is also advantageous. I also feel these types of practices give players ownership, autonomy and responsibility, especially with the older age group, where like you highlight leadership attributes come to the fore and you observe players gain that much needed confidence, and at times allowing the players to take control of their own practice, allowing for the coach to stand back and observe. Hope we are all staying safe and taking care
Senior Operations Manager @ GXO Logistics & UEFA licenced football coach.
4 年Good read Lee. I'm a big fan too. Real benefits across the social/psych corners for some of the younger/smaller but technically very good players when in Futsal type setting for top end of foundation phase when some struggle to transition to bigger pitch formats.
UEFA B (level 3) Football Coach at Montenesa CF (Catalan Federation) Foundation Coach (6-12 years)
4 年Lee, I agree. Working and coaching here in Barcelona, I can tell you it is a vital part of the players development (not just in the social corner), but all four corners. The formal informal(usually best) setting you find the children are more likely to be more creative, take risks, try new things, and experiment in the game. A classic example of this is the players tryng feints, outlandish turns, dribbling, all ways of staying on the ball (without the pressure of the need to pass the ball and move all the time). When we do internal tournaments/leagues with SSGs, we tend to find, its best for the children to have very little input from the coaches (set the rules and let them have informal play). In this way experimentation and decision making opportunities are enjoyed by the children, especially in the Foundation phase.