I’m a bit of a dreamer. So naturally fantasies of becoming the next Klopp or Pochettino occupies my daydreams the majority of the time. And being a grass roots coach is, a millions miles away from the Elite game. It is though, a necessary step especially if you didn’t play 500 league games. This blog aims to address some of the things you wouldn’t have considered about being a grass roots coach when you’re dreaming of winning the Champions League.
When I joined my local youth side, I thought great! I’ll chuck some footballs, cones and bibs in the boot of my car and I’m on my way to recreating my very own 9-a-side Pep Guardiola inspired side. The proverbial bricks came crashing down when I realised that coaching is only one aspect of the gig. I mean sure, I knew there would be more involved but until you know, you don’t know, if you know what I mean.
Building relationships. This so far has been the least considered aspect of what I do. And I don’t mean your players (more on that in future blogs). But what I didn’t anticipate and you should prepare for this before embarking on a GR coaching journey, is managing parents. I hadn’t managed anything in my life and there I was managing 14 parents who are all totally unsure about me. It’s daunting at first, but my advice would be to get to know the parents as much as you do your players. Ultimately the parents are the most important people to keep happy, without them you don’t have a team.
Organising fixtures. Maybe I’m the only person in the world who was a bit ignorant to this. I doubt i am but if you are about to take on a role as a coach then you need to know that you’ll be contacting other coaches to confirm details for the weekend fixtures. Seems simple, but when organising my first game I booked the only pitch i could find for 12pm-2pm and when I went to confirm the details with the away team coach, i was met with an extremely unhelpful and grumpy coach. It seemed before i got any sense from him the only reply i got was ‘this is an AM league’ – yeah cheers pal! So before you organise your fixture, find out if you’re at home or away, where to book your pitch and what times you normally kick off for your league and age group.
Registering players and getting confused about the process. You’ll be badgering parents for payments, to action FA links and passport photos. Photo’s are easy enough but the first two will likely cause some sort of issue. Payments will end up pending or not going through and the FA link the parents need to action will make as much sense to you as it will them.
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