ESFA SAP welcomed FNSW’s Player Development Manager Drew Taylor to our training ground on Wednesday 19th February. This initiative aligns with our Development Philosophy providing diverse experiences and exposing our children and coaches to professionals working in the football industry.
The sessions (delivered to the U10 and U12 age groups) focused on the Psycho – Social Corners of the Long – Term Player Development Model (LTPD). This area of development can often be overlooked with coaches focusing on the Technical / Tactical Corners.
Some of the key outcomes were the children’s opportunity to collaborate and strategize. This encouraged them to effectively communicate with each other by providing specific detail of their thoughts and feelings during game play and stoppages. Drew supported their understanding that active listening is also an essential part of communicating effectively. The children chose their role in each segment of game play which encouraged compromise and the need to use conflict resolution techniques to ensure everyone was presented with equal opportunity.
Each block of games provided coaches the opportunity to observe if the children had the tools to implement their strategies. This was a powerful coach education moment, if coaches are active listeners, we can gain a deeper understanding of children’s current knowledge, informing our observations and how we can stretch and support the children’s learning and development.
The sessions delivered by Drew provide coaches with so many creative opportunities to adapt player numbers, add challenges, constraints and scoring mechanisms that are age and stage appropriate for the children in their care.
On behalf of the staff at ESFA we thank Drew for this development opportunity and look forward to welcoming him back into our environment later in the season.
Mixed SAP and Girls SAP Coaches
For more information about our SAP & GSAP programs contact sap@esfa.com.au