YOUTH FOOTBALL: Parents SHOULD Be Part of the Experience

Whatever it is you do in life it’s important to be able to see the perspective of those you serve. It’s my view that we all serve everyone we’re connected to in some way. You serve your parents, your serve your siblings, your friends and in your working life you serve your colleagues, customers or clients. In the case of the Head Coaches it’s our duty to serve children and parents, providing them with the best possible service that we are capable of. Having spent most of the last 12 years running youth football programmes I have developed a pretty good understanding of how best to achieve this, but over the past year I’ve developed an even better understanding of how parents think and feel… because I became one!

In January 2019 my life changed forever as I became a Dad and over the past 12 months I’ve loved every minute of the best year of my life so far! The love that you feel for your child is like nothing else on this earth and it’s made me stop and think about the power myself and the rest of the FFF Head Coaches have in our hands. Parents live for their child and their number one goal is life in for them to be happy. When they see their child enjoying something they are doing, it’s the most magical feeling in the world… which is where we come in!

Last night I delivered a training session in Red Lodge and Jonny Martin joined us for the session. As I was delivering my session I couldn’t help but keep looking over to the parents that were standing by the side of Jonny’s session watching their child. Their faces were a picture. A beaming smile was etched on the face of not only every child, but every parent watching. Jonny was delivering our famous ‘remote-control’ session – a real favourite with the kids! In the session there were very little ‘coaching points’ or technical information, if any at all. Instead the focus was on fun and enjoyment and the number of touches the children were getting on the ball and the tasks they were being set meant that their development would simply take care of itself. Jonny and I had a conversation as we were setting up about how we welcome parents INSIDE the AstroTurf during the sessions as opposed to standing like caged animals outside the AstroTurf fence. In our sessions kids’ faces are lit up with excitement. They are having the time of their lives and what a shame it would be if the rules that we set meant that the parents couldn’t be a part of that. We’re desperate to create the best possible environment for the hundreds of children that we now coach. As the hundreds turn to thousands and ten’s of thousands we’re determined to continually improve the way we interact with children and parents as the FFF is all about community.

Having Luke as a member of the team is valuable in so may ways, not least with the insight that he is able to give as a player that has played at grassroots to the very highest level, but the fact that he is a parent who has also seen his two sons do exactly the same. Luke has stood on the side-lines at grassroots games, development session and Academy fixtures supporting his children and is perfectly positioned to give us brilliant insight into the thoughts and feelings of a football parent. We’ve had some brilliant discussions recently about how we can give incredible service to parents and children and Luke has helped shape those discussions and come at it from a parents’ perspective.

I know that when my daughter is old enough to start taking part in courses, classes or events or goes to school, I’d be over the moon if her coach/instructor/teacher made her happy. If that person was able to put a smile on her face, inspire her and make her want to continue her participation in whatever it is she does, then in my eyes that person will be a superstar! At the FFF we’re determined to be superstar coaches. So in gaining this perspective in becoming a parent recently, me and the rest of the FFF team will do everything we can to find ways to make our programmes fun and engaging for children and to allow parents to be as close to the action as they want to be!