Developing young volunteers

One of the things that gets mentioned when discussing youth football and developments to the game is the consistent pressure on volunteers and the same few people doing more and more. This is certainly true in many clubs and leagues, with the all-too-willing doing all-too-much. In truth, I wouldn't do some of the roles that some people I speak to have; 20+ hours-a- week on top of having a full time job?! That's a big commitment.


So, what are the solutions to this? Well, a few ramblings to follow might encourage a couple of thoughts of your own, and a reflection of your own situation. 


First up, I have spoken to thousands of people around the country all volunteering in grassroots football and there is a fairly consistent message: "We need more volunteers". However, when you get to the crux of it, actually, many of these people are unwilling to give up some of the 'power base' they have. They volunteer loads of time but when someone says "can i help?", the job they get offered is either the rubbish stuff they don't want to do or they don't let them in. 


I do think we would be far more efficient in recruiting volunteers if roles were split up. Make that 20hr-a-week role into five jobs of 4hrs, as people might be willing to give up that time, but who wouldn't be scared of an extra 20+hrs a week? I know I couldn't commit that extra on top of my current life. 


Secondly, parents take a lot for granted, certainly at junior football clubs. Many will turn up, drop the kids off and disappear shopping. Some don't even stop the car, they'll just open the door and boot them out! I know of some clubs now having success with a "Parent Pledge" - a commitment to giving up some time to support the running of the club. For clubs to be truly at the heart of the community, they need people to pull together, and after all, they are leaving you with their most prized possession in the world. (Mine is a completed 1984 Panini Sticker Album, but that's only because I don't have kids!). 


Committing an hour during the week, in the same way you as the coach/volunteer commit loads, to wash the kit, do some fund raising, put up the goals etc can be great support. Also, have a dig into what some of your parents do for a living - an accountant could be your new treasurer, a PR guru could write your match reports (alongside the children doing it?) and a teacher could be a great learning mentor for you.


The next thing, when I delve into where have you actually looked for volunteers, is that the breadth of locations is limited and often in the wrong places. 


I came across one Youth League in the Midlands that wanted to develop a website and do some marketing and decided as they were all old(er) and didn't know "any of that technological stuff", they would advertise for two volunteers that did. So, who knows that kind of "stuff"? Young people. And where do they live? Colleges. 
So, they advertised to a local 6th Form College and low and behold they had 52 applications for the two roles. Keen, willing, enthusiastic and dynamic young people with modern knowledge. Smart work by the old(er) people there. 


This leads me on to the subject title - The FA Junior Football Leaders Award. 


Yesterday, Roger Davies (FA) and myself delivered the first of two national tutor training events to develop a cohort of tutors to roll out county and regional training for this new award. These people will deliver a training course locally for teachers and coaches that want to run this award, provided they have met the minimum criteria, and would like to introduce young people to opportunities other than participation. 


The course is an introductory 6-10hrs, for young people age 12+, and gives them some basic knowledge around four key areas of leadership:


Organising and managing a football activity
An introduction to refereeing
Helping with a team
Different football events


Our next generation of coaches and volunteers exist within the young people of today. If you would like more coaches for your Mini-Soccer section and have older teams, start there. The under 16's would be fantastic role models for the younger players, complete that pathway of succession planning for future coaches and keep the atmosphere in the club vibrant and energetic. Yes, they will need support, of course, they are young people. 


But you could also find some very able coaches and referees that you could also learn a thing or two from. Give them the opportunity, you could be surprised...

Coaching - The third session, first week...

One of the delights of coaching at a Professional Club is the level of debate and discussion that goes on between more experienced coaches. My session yesterday was not delivered by myself but by a coach coming in for an interview for one of the vacant coaching slots we have available for this coming season. 


With the new U9's still in the early stages and most of them off on holidays, they joined the U10's again to make a better number in the group. The lad coming in to deliver, nice guy, asked lots of questions of us, the kids and the Academy; a very good start. Once into the session, he had a great manner with the boys, very impressed with that, lots of demonstrations but maybe some more learning to do. 


However, whilst he was doing his thing, it gave Del, the lead coach of the U9's, Geoff, the Assistant Academy Manager and myself, the chance to throw some random ideas around, with conversation ebbing and flowing from the importance of self-reflection (hence for me, this blog), how vital it is to spend time with good coaches to learn and how to plan for  flow/tempo/structure of coaching sessions. Within the mix was also a very eloquent 'rant' from Geoff about how players in this country aren't technically lacking of our European counterparts, but skilfully deficient instead. 


An important part of gathering feedback on the session that took place, beyond the subjective opinion of the three of us, is to ask the children. That for me is a vital test on the session - What did they like? What didn't they like? This is a clear indicator on whether or not the session has been well received, what they enjoyed and what they found confusing. 


Whilst doing my day job, I had an excellent meeting with an American child development expert I have been doing some work with; a fascinating guy. We have started work on developing a model around the interactions between coach/player/parent/game and the detail that underpins the relationships of each with the other. One of the things we started to discuss was developing a process so that players can evaluate your coaching, because if you don't know what they think of it, how can you improve right? An iPad app, for example, for there and then feedback. 


For some coaches this will be scary, and quite a brave thing to do, as this will potentially open themselves up for things they don't want to wistfully hear. But how can you improve if you don't ask the children? Finding the way they can be honest and constructive in their feedback, without fear of repercussion, that produces some information to help us all get better is the challenge. Hands up who wants to pilot this?!