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HTML <html> <head> <title>What’s wrong with children’s football coaching in England?</title> </head> <body> <h1>What’s wrong with children’s football coaching in England?</h1> <div class="info">Author: <a href="author_1_105735.html">Damian Nicolaou</a></div><div class="body"><p>We've seen it all a hundred times before, England go a goal down to unfancied opposition, run out of ideas and the ball is shuffled back to Sol Campbell who booms a hopeful ball forward in the direction of the Hateley, Heskey or Crouch of their generation. The next day the papers are in full crucifixion mode, haranguing the FA, players and manager. Whatever sport it is: football, tennis, athletics, when British or English competitors fail the same excuses are trotted out: no facilities, no funding, poor coaching, bad weather, no government support, and so on. Which is not to say any of it is untrue, but do nations like Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Russia, Argentina, Spain and Belgium really have such vast natural and financial resources at their disposal for youth tennis? No, yet they have produced top class players. And what about football? Once again, no. England has a huge talent pool, great interest in the game and vast amounts of money to plough into football, but somehow some of the poorest nations on the planet can churn out quality player after quality player while the youth coaching systems of the world’s richest footballing nation sometimes struggle to get even a single player into the first team of clubs such as North London giants Arsenal and South London moneybags Chelsea.<br /> <h3>The problem - A culture of ignorance</h3>The problem is not down to funding, facilities, coaching, or even poor weather, although they do contribute to it. The problem with English football is one of attitude and culture.<br /> <p>For a variety of reasons, as a nation we are moving away from an active physical culture and becoming increasingly sedentary. Whether it is down to the lack of civil amenities such as playing fields at schools and public parks, fear of paedophiles stopping parents allowing their children to play outside, TV, DVDs and video games keeping kids glued to their screens, or the omnipresent signs forbidding ball games, children as well as adults play less sport and do less exercise than they did a generation ago. The government too has played a role, consistently cutting physical education and games lessons to accommodate the ever growing demands of the National Curriculum. Even when children do get a chance to play football at school, there is no coaching and their teachers have no qualifications to coach. The end result? An increasingly fat, unfit nation who still somehow manage to lag behind their European counterparts educationally.<br /> <p>If a child or parent is to get involved in the sport more barriers stand in their way. Many children have their love of the game destroyed in their first involvement with youth football. The constant parental interference in matches, not to mention the aggression as angry fathers brawl on the sidelines puts many off. Playing eleven a side matches on full size pitches teaches a young child little about the game, and benefits only larger children who have the ability to lump the ball long distances. It becomes a game of kick and run and the vast amounts of space do little to improve a child's ball control or passing skills.<br /> <h3>The solution - Football coaching that teaches children to love the game</h3>If a child is to learn to play the game, and most importantly enjoy it, the emphasis in these formative years needs to be on fun and building the skills that lie at the heart of football: touch, control and vision. Unfortunately, the very attributes the adult game in England is famous for (pace, power, passion and aggression) are those which have lead to the absence of English players at the highest level. Youth football is dominated by larger, physically mature players who often, whether due to lack of ability or poor coaching, don't possess the technical skills to develop into skilled adults. <br /> <br /> <h3><a href="http://lbug.co.uk" >Damian Nicolaou, Lightning Bug</a></h3><h3><a href="http://www.ministry-of-football.com" >With courses available in North London, Ministry of Football is a fun, dance music based football coaching system</a>.</h3>All Ministry of Football coaches are FA qualified, CRB checked and trained in emergency aid and safeguarding children. The Ministry of Football method encourages fun, fitness, creativity and self-expression. </div> <div class="source">Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlealley.com/article_249147_32.html">http://www.articlealley.com/article_249147_32.html</a></div> <div class="author"> <div class="authorOccupation"><strong>Occupation:</strong> Viral advertising, marketing and promotion</div> <div class="authorBio">Damian Nicolaou works for Lightning Bug, the viral advertising specialists. Our team of experienced writers and production staff can take care of all your company's promotional needs from corporate and copy writing to producing viral videos. We take pride in the quality and effectiveness of our work.</div> <div class="authorUrl"><a href="http://www.lbug.co.uk" target="_blank">http://www.lbug.co.uk</a></div></author> </body> </html>
Text What’s wrong with children’s football coaching in England? Author: Damian Nicolaou We've seen it all a hundred times before, England go a goal down to unfancied opposition, run out of ideas and the ball is shuffled back to Sol Campbell who booms a hopeful ball forward in the direction of the Hateley, Heskey or Crouch of their generation. The next day the papers are in full crucifixion mode, haranguing the FA, players and manager. Whatever sport it is: football, tennis, athletics, when British or English competitors fail the same excuses are trotted out: no facilities, no funding, poor coaching, bad weather, no government support, and so on. Which is not to say any of it is untrue, but do nations like Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Russia, Argentina, Spain and Belgium really have such vast natural and financial resources at their disposal for youth tennis? No, yet they have produced top class players. And what about football? Once again, no. England has a huge talent pool, great interest in the game and vast amounts of money to plough into football, but somehow some of the poorest nations on the planet can churn out quality player after quality player while the youth coaching systems of the world’s richest footballing nation sometimes struggle to get even a single player into the first team of clubs such as North London giants Arsenal and South London moneybags Chelsea. The problem - A culture of ignoranceThe problem is not down to funding, facilities, coaching, or even poor weather, although they do contribute to it. The problem with English football is one of attitude and culture. For a variety of reasons, as a nation we are moving away from an active physical culture and becoming increasingly sedentary. Whether it is down to the lack of civil amenities such as playing fields at schools and public parks, fear of paedophiles stopping parents allowing their children to play outside, TV, DVDs and video games keeping kids glued to their screens, or the omnipresent signs forbidding ball games, children as well as adults play less sport and do less exercise than they did a generation ago. The government too has played a role, consistently cutting physical education and games lessons to accommodate the ever growing demands of the National Curriculum. Even when children do get a chance to play football at school, there is no coaching and their teachers have no qualifications to coach. The end result? An increasingly fat, unfit nation who still somehow manage to lag behind their European counterparts educationally. If a child or parent is to get involved in the sport more barriers stand in their way. Many children have their love of the game destroyed in their first involvement with youth football. The constant parental interference in matches, not to mention the aggression as angry fathers brawl on the sidelines puts many off. Playing eleven a side matches on full size pitches teaches a young child little about the game, and benefits only larger children who have the ability to lump the ball long distances. It becomes a game of kick and run and the vast amounts of space do little to improve a child's ball control or passing skills. The solution - Football coaching that teaches children to love the gameIf a child is to learn to play the game, and most importantly enjoy it, the emphasis in these formative years needs to be on fun and building the skills that lie at the heart of football: touch, control and vision. Unfortunately, the very attributes the adult game in England is famous for (pace, power, passion and aggression) are those which have lead to the absence of English players at the highest level. Youth football is dominated by larger, physically mature players who often, whether due to lack of ability or poor coaching, don't possess the technical skills to develop into skilled adults. Damian Nicolaou, Lightning BugWith courses available in North London, Ministry of Football is a fun, dance music based football coaching system.All Ministry of Football coaches are FA qualified, CRB checked and trained in emergency aid and safeguarding children. The Ministry of Football method encourages fun, fitness, creativity and self-expression. Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_249147_32.html About the Author: Damian Nicolaou works for Lightning Bug, the viral advertising specialists. Our team of experienced writers and production staff can take care of all your company's promotional needs from corporate and copy writing to producing viral videos. We take pride in the quality and effectiveness of our work. http://www.lbug.co.uk
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