Changing
times...the emergence of a young adult
Across the country we have a challenge in youth football
- when we get to U14 and upwards we start to see a decline in young people
playing the game. This continues as a challenge in the transition from youth to
adult teams and it all falls in line with a time young people experience some
of their biggest changes. As well as growth and maturation developments being
at their fastest for many young people, it coincides with exam pressures and a
shift in their priorities too. As a young person eleven years old and below,
their interest is in pleasing adults and as they get older, this shifts into
impressing their peers before they start to connect to others and the world
around them.
When you listen to young people going through these
teenage years it is fascinating to hear their insight into what they would like
their experiences to be. This article will look at the demographic of young
people in the 21st century; share some research from young people on
why they are dropping out of the game and their views. You may not agree with
these from your experiences, but these aren’t your experiences, these are the
views of the people we spoke to and therefore cannot be written off or ignored.
When asked about
the things they love about football, this was their feedback... (the bigger the
size of the word, the more important to them it was)
It is clear from this that the ‘team’ and social outcomes
from young people in this research, 14 – 16 year olds, is one of the biggest
things they love about the game. Fun is hugely important for their continued
participation, as is the ability to practice their skills. Notice also some of
the words that aren’t as important from the perspective of young people too.
Interesting that competition is bigger than winning and this fits from my
experiences of speaking to young people – they want a competitive match every
week, not a 15-0, but don’t get hung up on the outcome of the game as long as
some adults do.
Some questions to
consider:
How do you foster and develop teamwork?
Do you recognise the importance of teamwork and therefore
plan to develop this as much as you plan for technique and skill development?
Having fun is a massive outcome for young people; do you
create an environment that enables this to happen (on their terms, not
yours)?
Do you inadvertently focus on the smaller words rather
than the bigger words because they might be your outcomes?
When asked about
the reasons they joined a club, this was their feedback...
A mixture of outcomes here which suggests young people
enter the game with a variety of different intentions. It is evident they want
to be with their mates, aligned with what they love about the game, but that
they also want high standards. They want an organised competitive match, with a
qualified referee on some decent facilities. Winning is important as they get
older and this starts to become evident here and there is also still a hope of
being scouted by a professional team.
Some questions to
consider:
Does your approach align with their motivations and
drivers?
Have you asked the players what they want from football?
Do you deliver the outcomes they are hoping for from
their football experience?
How do you ensure there is opportunity for all to play in
a professional environment?
When asked about
the reasons they stopped playing football, this was their feedback...
Many of the reasons they stopped playing were extrinsic
to their own thoughts; not getting any game time (decision made by adults), not
getting picked (another made by adults), too competitive (influenced by
adults), bullying (not managed by adults) and quality of training (led by
adults). If we are going to ensure we keep young people in the game to transfer
to become adult players these are things that we can manage better. There are
factors on there we cannot influence as easily; girls, exams and school work,
but there are many we can.
Have a read of many of the small words on there, does it
scare you that adults are acting that way and causing young people to stop
playing? It certainly does for me! Things like; arguing, angry parents, drills etc.
Equally, things can be combined, such as if the negative situation causes one
player to leave, and that’s their friend, one player leaving often becomes two
or three because the reason they are there is friends in the first place.
Some questions to
consider:
What can you easily influence and change to make the
situation better?
How do you need to change personally?
What are the controllable factors you can make better and
invest energy into rather than the uncontrollable elements?
Quotes from
young people
These are all genuine quotes from players that have
lapsed playing or felt like they were going to stop playing football. There are
some really crucial messages we cannot afford to miss here.
“The A team is a lot more serious than the B team.
Everyone wants to play on the B team.”
“You feel a bit
sad if not picked, just sat watching the game.”
“As a kid you want to be a professional. As you get
older you start to ask ‘where do I go from here? Will it happen for me?”
“Training is
too tedious. It’s the same every week and they do too much stamina training.”
“The parents take
it more seriously than we do.”
“If it’s not fun, you don’t look forward to
it.”
“There is more pressure than when I started out. You
get punishments like 3 laps round the pitch if you do something wrong.”
“Your mates are
like ‘come out’, but you have to train. I’d prefer to be out with my mates.”
“It takes up too much time. I have other things to do
like school work. I need to study for exams.”
“The club
expects you to give them priority. They expect you to turn up to training
instead of doing homework.”
Many of those ring any bells if you have coached older
players? Many on there we can influence? I definitely feel there are a number
we can certainly affect which means we can keep more players in the game for
longer. We might need to consider a number of things moving forwards if we are
going to address some of these issues, things like;
- alternative/later
times
- more
appropriate training for young people, with variety and ownership
- summer
leagues
- youth
leagues to make allowances for exams being a priority
In summary, coaching young players in their teenage years
can be a challenging time. We all know about the hormonal changes going on and
sometimes they can be difficult but they are just finding their way in the
world. They are ready for more responsibility and get frustrated when they
don’t get this. Your challenge as a coach is to manage when you start doing
this together, developing them as decision makers in different ways, and giving
them a voice on things that truly matter to them.
The best coaches I have seen working with older youth
players make this look easy – they enjoy the company of teenage boys and don’t
treat them like they are still 8 years old. They allow them to lead on the warm
up, recognising that they have done GCSE PE and Sports Leaders qualifications
and know plenty about the human body, they use current coaching methods that
don’t involve just telling players what to do the whole time and they make the
environment feel like it’s all about them, not the coach. Easy, when you look
at it that way...
