Adolescence is a time when players:
- Have conflicting commitments – Teenagers like to be involved in a number of different sports, or with a number of different teams (within the club, school and/or county set up). Many also take part time jobs to provide some income.
- Seek independence - Parents do not necessarily provide the same level of support (in terms of transport to training or games) for teenagers as they do for children. Teenagers often want to demonstrate a higher level of independence by not having to rely on their parents.
- Pressures from school – The later years of second level schooling places additional pressures on teenagers, as they are told that to get an advantage in the adult world, they must perform well towards the end of their school life. Many parents advise their teenage children to limit or forgo sporting involvement at this time.
Some possible practical consideration that a coach can make for teenagers to assist them with these challenges include:
- Use school facilities for training purposes – reduce the need for students to travel to participate in Gaelic games. Developing a good club/school link can help in this case, especially where training and competition schedules overlap
- Provide flexible schedules to accommodate the demands of study, and/or work
- Carefully follow the progress of each player, offering encouragement and advice where necessary
- Provide quality training equipment and facilities
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The Transition to Adult Gaelic games
Teenagers are in a phase in their lives where there is a distinct change from the fun filled environment of childhood play, to a more structured, imposed and restricted type of organised training and competition that is seen at adult level. Coaches should always maintain the enjoyment factor of sport, and many teenagers will attempt to keep this through trying something different, some tricks or touches that they have developed through individual practices.
Some of the problems associated with the transition to adult Gaelic games include:
- Adult training regimes imposed on less developed teenage bodies and minds
- Player skill levels may not match the demands of performance in adult situations
- The player may not be sufficiently developed cognitively to understand and implement the coaches instructions – especially when dealing with team play issues
- Coaches may question the players commitment and discipline as they struggle to come to terms with the more demanding nature of teenage play over childhood play
Coaches may find that they become disillusioned if they do not adequately take notice of the above issues. Coaches must be prepared to change their expectations in response to accelerated growth and emotional development.
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Growth and Developing From Childhood to Teenage to Adult
Coaching teenagers can be viewed as an adventure as this age is one of the most dynamic and changing periods of a player’s development. The various stages of development can be generally categorised as:
The age at which players experience a growth spurt at the end of their Childhood varies, with the average age at 11.5 years. At its peak, the players can grow up to 4 inches in height per year, with the most physical growth completed by the age of 16.5 years. Because the rate of growth is so large amongst this age group, proper nutrition and rest need to be incorporated into any training programme.
Often players of the same age in years (Chronological Age) will vary greatly from team mates and opponents of the same age in terms of their physical, emotional, intellectual and social development. This can vary in some cases by up to 4 years – a player of age 14 may be biologically between 10 and 18 years of age!
The difference between the Chronological Age and the level of maturity of an individual player give rise to the concept of Early Developers and Late Developers.
Early Developers are players that are further developed at an earlier age than other players in their age group. These players often dominate games at underage level due to their early physical maturity and the advantage that this gives them over average and late maturers. Examples of these players are well known, often being termed the ‘Underage Star’ – from Jimmy Doyle (Tipperary) and Tommy Murphy (Laois) to Brian Corcoran (Cork), Brian McDonald (Laois) and Eoin Kelly (Tipperary). All of these players were earmarked for success from an early age largely because they were dominant figures in games in their early years.
However, these players are the exception rather than the rule. Each Club and team will be aware of players who are Early Developers, whether in your own Club or on opposing teams. Once other players begin to ‘catch up’ in a developmental sense and the dominance of the Early Developer is reduced the result can be a difficult psychological adjustment for both the player and the coach. If the coach does not recognise that the reduced dominance of the Early Developer is more often related to an improvement in the other players rather than a decrease in effort from the Early Developer, the result may be that the Early Developers begin to feel isolated and marginalised at their loss of ‘stardom’ as coaches may change their position on the team to accommodate other players who developed at a normal or at a slower rate.
Just as there are a number of situations that the coach needs to be aware of dealing with Early Developers, Late Developers provide a separate set of issues for the coach. Just as each Club and team is aware of Early Developers, within each Club there will be a number of players who did not show early promise but go on to develop into important members of the team. These are termed Late Developers.
Late Developers would typically be physically smaller than the average player at their age group and can often drop out of sport because they do not have the physical size or strength to match their team mates or opponents, or because they are placed in peripheral positions on the team leading them to believe that they are not important to the team.
It is important that the coach tries to allow for the maturational differences in players by attempting to match players of the same maturity in games and training activities. Thus Early Developers are exposed to a greater challenge by working with other players who can match their physical size and strength, while Late Developers will get a sense of satisfaction that will encourage them to continue to participate as they develop.
Remember also that it is not just physically that players can develop at an accelerated or slower rate. Young players will vary in their intellectual ability, their emotional and social maturity which may affect the rate at which they learn new skills, or develop their tactical or team play abilities. These differences will influence the rate at which you can coach your players. However, if you incorporate the different stages of the Skill Development Model into your coaching sessions and attempt to allow for the physical, intellectual, emotional and social differences amongst players, you can assist all players to achieve their full potential.
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Maximising the Coaches Performance
Apart from having an understanding on the rapid physical changes that take place during adolescence, coaches at this level will maximise their effectiveness provided they place sufficient emphasis on:
- Consolidating the basic skills in a varied and stimulating fashion
- Introducing and developing standard matches, where there is proper regard for tactical development and team play
- Increasing awareness of the psychological skills which underpin good performance, e.g. being self-confident, avoiding anxiety, being able to set and achieve goals, not being afraid of failure/losing etc.
Teenagers, especially those in their early teens, should be exposed to as many different playing positions as possible with the emphasis on developing their technical skills and developing their ability to play off either side.
Coaches who choose to coach teenagers will have the pleasure of witnessing dramatic changes in their players – physically, emotionally, technically, tactically. These changes bring inherent difficulties as well as enjoyable times.
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