Why do children take part in sport?
Why should children take part in sport?
How are children different from adults?
Coaching Priorities 
Coaching a skill to Children
Conducting a Coaching Session
Summary
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For too long the practice in sport has been to identify and cultivate the talented players and elite teams at younger and younger ages. There is the tendency to nurture the perceived best and neglect the rest. This has contributed to adult training regimes and playing conditions being imposed onto young players. Training and competition is geared to outcome and winning and not for the process of development. For coaches of kids, there must be a balance between the need to win games and trophies versus the need to develop players and recognise the importance of fair play - provide full participation within an environment where players are encouraged to achieve their full potential. If you consider the reasons that children participate in sport, and the reasons that we as adults want them to participate in sport you can see that there is a lot of common ground for coaches to work in:

Why do children take part in sport?

There are many reasons that Children take part in sport, but research has shown that Children primarily participate to:

• Learning new skills
• Making friends
• See new places – and have new experiences
• To be part of a team
• For the competitive challenge/winning
• Sport improves their self worth
• To Have Fun

When children do not experience these feelings, they drop out from sport. Some will drop out in favour of other activities where they feel that these needs are being met, while others will simply drop out of sporting activities altogether. It is the role of the coach to create the environment for children to experience these.

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Why should children take part in sport?

It may be obvious that children play to enjoy themselves and have fun, but there are many more reasons why you as a parent or coach should encourage children to participate:

• Increased confidence – playing sport will provide each participant with confidence, and allow them to develop a real sense of achievement
• Becoming part of a team – children like to feel as though they are part of a team or group. It also challenges them to work as part of a group and to think of others
• Improved skills – participating in sport helps children develop a range of skills including balance, coordination and agility
• Children that participate in sports are less likely to be overweight and suffer health problems

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How are Children different from Adults?

Children are physically developing from early childhood to late adolescence. This means they have different capabilities for exercise and exercise affects them in different ways. For this reason training programs for Children should not be just scaled down versions of adult training programs. There are many ways in which Children differ from Adults:

• Technical
  • Children have limited co-ordination, agility and balance (See ABC/Have-a-Ball for ways to develop these skills)
    
• Tactical
  • Children have poor positional awareness (we have all seen Children playing where all players follow the ball – ‘beehive football’)
    
• Team Play
  • Children play for themselves
  • Children have limited communication skills
    
• Physical
  • Limited strength
  • Endurance – children have lots of energy but need frequent breaks
  • Speed – their speed tends to be reactive. There is a window of opportunity to develop speed amongst Children
  • Poor response to heat and cold
    
• Psychological
  • Children can lack confidence
  • Children can be emotionally immature – moody/lose self control
  • Children can be very choosy about friends and who they play with
  • Children tend to lose concentration quickly or be easily led by others
  • Children's decision making ability is poor and slow
  • Children may not know how to react to the different personalities they might face in a group
  • Children will try to emulate what they see from sports stars

All Children are Individuals – the rate at which they develop in each of these areas will be different 

Emphasis should be put on the child's own progress, and not on comparing their achievements with those of others. This means that where possible individual instruction and challenges should be provided and a broad range of activities should be planned and presented.

Activities should develop to be of an increasingly complex nature and be challenging but 'doable'. Where possible children of approximately the same skill levels should be grouped together for coaching. Also take care to note which children work well together, as disruptive children can make organising a coaching session very difficult.

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Coaching Priorities

What are a coaches 3 main priorities when coaching Children?

• Develop the Skills
• Increase Enjoyment for All
• Safety of Players

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Coaching a Skill to Children

When coaching a skill to Children, use the I.D.E.A. model:

Phase	How to Communicate
Introduce the Skill	Verbally introduce the skill, providing a brief description. Outline the main Coaching points.
Demonstrate	Demonstrate the skill – perform it a number of times. Make a point of noting the position of your Head, Hands and Feet when demonstrating.
Explain	Verbally and Visually explain how you are going to practice the skill – explain how to perform the drill or activity that you have set up.
Attend	Observe the Children performing the skill a number of times. Provide feedback on how to correct any errors. Do this in a positive way – say ‘try it this way’

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Conducting a coaching session

A coach and any assistant/s should ask a number of questions relating to the planning of any session:

Do we all PLAN each session before we get to the pitch? 

Do we consult our assistants or fellow coaches to ensure they know what’s going to happen at the next session?

Or do we arrive at the pitch and then decide?

It is important that all training sessions are planned. This will ensure that the players enjoy the session and achieve the maximum benefits. The following general points should be considered when planning a session.

Appropriate activities:	the activities chosen must be appropriate for the players ability and age. It is important that kids are not pushed too hard too soon. Alternatively for kids to maintain their interest and continue to develop as players it is important that they are challenged to achieve best results.
Progression:	the activities should be broken into teachable elements which progress from simple to more complex movements.
Demonstration:	demonstrations by the coach or good players can be supplemented by videos of players performing the skill.
Variety:	the session must have variety of activities to ensure the players stay active and enthusiastic.
Practice:	ensure enough time for the children to practice and experiment with activities. Show them how they can practice the skills outside of formal coaching sessions. Playing against a Hurling or Football Wall or with one or more friends is a very effective way of developing skill.
Supervision:	contribute to the development of the child's abilities by encouraging the child, reinforcing good behaviour and practice and providing feedback when appropriate. Be positive in your feedback; do not try to be too technical as the child may not understand what you want them to do. Try using key words or phrases to reinforce key points of a skill
Play:	give them time to play. At practically every session, a childs coach will be asked - 'Are we playing a game?' Provide actities that develop skill in a fun filled manner - fun games and small-sided games, such as the Go Games, are best.

The ideal coaching session for young people will last between 45 to 75 minutes, depending on the age of the players. The plan below is based on a 60-minute session but can be modified according to the time available.

1. Group organisation (5 mins)
Use this time to bring the players together. Talk to them about the session. It allows for latecomers to settle before beginning the planned activities.

2. Warm up (5 mins)
Warm Up activities incorporate brief, mild exercise which is performed in preparation for more vigorous activity. Warming-up typically involves:

• Pulse Raising – e.g. Walking, Jogging, Hopping, Skipping, Jumping

  The Warm Up and Cool Down

• Mobilisation – Bringing the joints through their Range of Movement e.g. Arm Rotations, Hip Rotations, etc.
• Stretching – Light, short stretches of the Major Muscle groups

4. Introduce/Revise a Skill (10 mins)
Revise a skill taught in an earlier session and reinforce the key points. Demonstrate (or have someone else demonstrate) the skill that you have planned for the session. Break the skill into parts if necessary but be sure to demonstrate the skill as a whole and at normal speed. Make sure everyone can see the demonstration and repeat it several times highlighting the key points. Remember to use praise and plenty of it. 

5. Practice the Technique/Develop the Skill (20 mins)
Outline an activity for the players to perform to practice the technique. Progress from Basic to Intermediate drills. Initially allow the players to practice the skill without having to worry about movement or opposition. Gradually introduce movement and finally opposition - but only when the children have mastered the basic skill. 

Observe all players so that you can praise good technique and spot basic errors. It is better to walk around the area rather than stand in the same position so that the players feel that you are paying attention to the whole group.

Coach the players who need correction. If you find a number of players making the same errors, re-demonstrate the skill. Be sure to be positive and supportive. Emphasise what to do rather than what not to do. Shouting and criticising won't achieve anything.

6. Fun Games/Modified games (15 mins)
Young people will want to play a game so set aside some time where they can practice the skill in a game situation without too much instruction from the coach. Make sure that everyone is involved and not sitting out for too long.

7. Concluding activity/Cool Down (5 mins)

The Warm Up and Cool Down

Use this time to emphasise the key points from the skill introduced in this session. This revision can be done whilst the players are cooling down. Praise all the players and also use the time to talk about the next game and other organisation matters.

Some Key Points

• Children learn through activity and fun
• Select activities that provide variety
• Include challenges in each session
• Give lots of praise for improvement and effort.
• Grade activities - make early activities easy and later ones more difficult
• Allow children to be with their friends
• Allow children to learn
• Vary the type of activities to ensure an interesting session
• Suit the players age, level of maturation, level of fitness and skill acquisition
• Challenge the children, but ensure that the activities are 'doable'
• Be flexible to deal with the available facilities and environmental conditions

Organisational Hints

1. Gather in a semi - circle
2. Separate ‘Giddy’ Players
3. Gather in Sliotars/Footballs
4. Face players away from distractions and sun
5. Speak with the breeze
6. The coach doesn’t have to be able to demonstrate skill
7. Match the task to the players’ ability
8. On whistle – Activity stops and players jog to coach

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Summary

One of your main duties as a coach is to ensure that Players keep returning to training. A decrease in the numbers attending says something about how you prepare and/or how you conduct your coaching programme. At the same time, maintaining and increasing the numbers at your sessions indicates that you are doing something right! 

Key Points

Keep Winning in perspective
Losing isn’t Failure
Strive for excellence in the pursuit of victory
Children will Risk error to learn – with Praise and Encouragement

Remember!! Your Coaches motto should be:

Children First, Winning Second

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