We take the development of coaches every bit as seriously as the development of children. We are proud of the difference that MoF has had for coaches who have worked on the programme, and of our contribution to the wider national discussion on children's play and development.
Our Coach Education section of the website was originally put together to help new MoF coaches understand the programme and expectations. However, the advice and help may be useful to all coaches, working with children in any context.
Our Coach Education section of the website was originally put together to help new MoF coaches understand the programme and expectations. However, the advice and help may be useful to all coaches, working with children in any context.
Session Essentials
4. Use simple, varied activities
5. High 'Active Learning Time'
6. Fair, fun, inclusive behaviours
Expert additions
10. Child collaboration and problem solving
Extra help
There are 12 areas in the MoF 'Session Checklist', which is a set of considerations for all MoF coaches and sessions. The first 7 areas are considered essential for every coach in every session. The next 5 are for coaches to focus on after that. The final two areas provide extra help in specific situations. You can click on any of the areas from the menu to find out more.
"An expert is a person who has few new ideas, a beginner is a person with many" - Albert Einstein.
Where on the graph would you plot yourself? Be careful of considering yourself an expert if you aren't full of unanswered questions about why and how something works,
The current and future children that we coach need us to keep improving.
When we think back on how we were as coaches two years ago or five years ago or ten years ago, we will probably admit to having changed a great deal over that time. Growth is constant, even though we may hardly notice it week to week. Growth can be made more rapid and more specific if we take time and effort to channel it and nurture it.
When we talk about learning, we could usefully define this as 'a relatively permanent change in someone's behaviour due to experience'. This is a useful definition because it reminds us that learning needs to be applied; it is not enough just to change our knowledge, if that doesn't change our behaviour. It may also be worth considering how we think the children learn to play football: We can probably identify children we have coached who were 'good learners' and those who weren't so successful. We need to consider that the importance we give to a child trying new things in a game (in order to learn), can also be valuable to ourselves as learners. As coaches, we need the courage to try to do things differently, and the wisdom to reflect honestly and realistically thereafter.
Ministy of Football is very proud of its coaching staff. A major product of the programme is the development of effective, confident coaches. MoF coaches have gone on to do some amazing things and work in varied roles in and out of football. Whatever the future holds for us as coaches, people, learners, parents - or whatever else - we want all our coaches to look back at their time at MoF and remember it to be a time when they grew, changed and developed for the better. The ideas below aim to give you inspiration and direction to your journey as a MoF coach.
Who are you?
Real change doesn't happen because you have a new practice idea or you went to watch someone do a session that you thought was really cool. Real change isn't about where to put your cones, or what clever question to ask the children. Real change is not a read of a superficial coaching manual, or the completion of a new Level of coaching qualification. Real change comes from a better understanding of Who You Are. What makes you, you? What do you stand for?
There are many ways to start or continue discovering yourself. One way to begin is to write down your coaching philosophy. Try a Google search of "coaching philosophy" for more info and ideas on how to this. If you want to go deeper - and you really should go deeper - then start asking yourself not just what you believe, but why you believe it. Ask yourself where your main convictions have come from, see if you can work out what made you the way you are. Get inspired, watch videos about personal discovery, read books about life, talk frankly to people you admire or who know you well, always asking yourself: Who am I, and why am I like that?
You may find that it is very tricky to answer these questions without going back deep into your childhood. And if this is the case - that we are all mostly products of our childhood - then perhaps we need to question how well those decisions about ourselves and our lives (that we made when we were children) really serve the children we are now responsible for.
Suggestions for evaluating yourself and identifying areas for improvement
At a more superficial (but useful nonetheless!) level, here are some suggestions on how to improve your coaching to become a better MoF coach:
Evaluating your sessions
Evaluation of sessions needn’t take a long time, but reflection and evaluation is absolutely necessary in order to improve and grow. Try finding 15 mins the day after a session to think about:
You may also like to consider more specific questions, depending on what areas you are trying to improve in. For example:
Build a picture of yourself as a MoF Coach, in relation to the Session Checklist. Identify areas that you want to improve in, and tailor your planning, delivery and reflection to focus on these areas.
MoF coaches should become experts in the design of activities that encourage children to explore specific areas of learning. In the pages linked below, we provide some activity set-ups which we have typically used and have been successful in the MoF context. It should be noted that ages are approximate only and provide a rough guide. (We don't group children by age at MoF).
Because of the use of music at MoF, there are certain activities which don't work well: For example, activities where the coach (or child leader) needs to be heard, e.g. calling constant instructions, are inappropriate. We don't use activities with queues, even short queues, ever.
Because of the use of music at MoF, there are certain activities which don't work well: For example, activities where the coach (or child leader) needs to be heard, e.g. calling constant instructions, are inappropriate. We don't use activities with queues, even short queues, ever.
Copyright Ministry of Football 2020 - All Rights Reserved
Mark Carter
mark@ministry-of-football.com
07772 716 876
