Grassroots Football Coach

There are still a couple of weeks to go before I start my FA Introduction to Coaching Football course and things are starting to move forward. I have been getting involved at training sessions and I've had to pick up my first dog crap off the pitch, now I feel more like a coach! Plans for the new team for next season are under way, Eight players have committed to the new team, with about five to decide which team they want to play in and we are looking for a few new players, specifically a goalkeeper. We have played one friendly so far, against a team in the league we will probably be in next season. Our team was made up of the girls committed to the new team and a few players from the existing team and a few of the under 13's, to make up the numbers. I was responsible for the pre-match warm-up for what turned into a great game. We drew 1-1 and saw some girls who have never been on a pitch at the same time as each other and two girls playing their first ever match, play like a team. There is still some work to do, but the foundations are there, we have a team.

We have now played the last league game of the season. Six of the girls from the new team played due to some of the more regular players being unavailable. The whole team played well and won a hard fought game on a very hot Saturday morning (I now have a sunburned neck). I am also more involved in training sessions, refereeing training games, and helping out more in general.