Observations and research into the modern footballer through the eyes of a secondary school teacher and AFC B Licensed football coach, specialising in youth development
5. WHILE YOUR CHILD’S BRAIN IS DEVELOPING,
YOUR CHILD MIGHT:
• Take more risks or choose high-risk activities.
• Express more and stronger emotions.
• Make impulsive decisions.
6. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MODERN
PLAYER
• Trust and meaningful relationships
• Highly confident (outwardly)
• Tech savvy
• Compromised visualisation and imagination
• Expect fast results
• Constant feedback and gratification
• Enjoyment
7.
8.
9. TRUST
If we think about athletic development as a three-legged stool,
the legs consist of the athletes, the coaches, and, especially in
youth sports, the parents.
Remove a leg, and the stool collapses.
Remove trust, which is the glue that holds it all together, and you
end up on your rear end.
Great coaches are trusted by their athletes when those athletes
know that their coach has their best interest in mind.
10.
11.
12. WHO KNOWS TALENT?
• 16 players to choose from
• All coaches have rank the players from 1 – 5 (Number one being the
most likely to make it, then the next four likely to make it)
• All coaches had UEFA A Licence, highly skilled
• 100+ years of player development between them
• The players were 15 years old
• Not one coach chose Simon Kjaer in their list of five players
16. AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, YOU SHOULD BE:
• Encouraging positive behavior and habits.
• Promoting good thinking skills.
• Helping your child get lots of sleep.
17. WHY DOESN’T ALL POPCORN POP AT
ONCE?
• The reason that they don't all pop at
once depends on things like kernel
size, temperature of the kernel,
moisture inside the kernel, how hard
the kernel shell is, the material
composition of the kernel and it's
specific heat capacity, maybe even
heat concentration inside the kernel.
• Basically, each kernel is different
• Not every kernel will pop
18. ENCOURAGING POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR
• Let your child take some healthy risks.
• Help your child find new creative and expressive outlets for
feelings.
• Talk through decisions step by step with your child.
• Use family routine to give your child’s life some structure.
• Provide boundaries and opportunities for negotiating those
boundaries.
• Offer frequent praise for effort and perseverance but never
talent.
19. YOU CAN SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR
CHILD’S THINKING WITH THE FOLLOWING
STRATEGIES:
• Encourage empathy.
• Emphasise the immediate and long-term consequences of
actions.
• Try to match your language level to the level of your child’s
understanding.
• Help your child develop decision-making and problem-solving
skills.
20. SLEEP IS ESSENTIAL TO HEALTHY BRAIN
DEVELOPMENT.
• Ensure your child has a comfortable, quiet sleep environment.
• Encourage ‘winding down’ before bed, away from screens
including phones.
• Reinforce a regular sleeping routine. Your child should aim to
go to bed and wake up at regular times each day.
• Encourage your child to get enough sleep each night. On
average, teenagers need 8-10 hours each night.
22. MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING -
QUESTIONS
• How can I help you with ___?
• Help me understand ___?
• How would you like things to be different?
• What are the good things about ___ and what are the less good
things about it?
• When would you be most likely to___?
• What do you think you will lose if you give up ___?
• What have you tried before to make a change?
• What do you want to do next?
23. REFLECTIVE LISTENING
It can close the loop in communication to ensure breakdowns don’t
occur.
The listener’s voice turns down at the end of a reflective listening
statement. This may feel presumptuous, yet it leads to clarification and
greater exploration, whereas questions tend to interrupt the child’s
flow.
Some people find it helpful to use some standard phrases:
• So you feel…
• It sounds like you…
• You’re wondering if…
24. THE POWER OF FEEDBACK
"Honest feedback is frequently like getting into a very hot bath. It
scalds to begin with, but then you get used to it and begin to like
it. Eventually you start thriving on it!"
• What went well?
• What needs work?
• What did you learn from today that you can work on in practice
in order to improve?
26. PERFECTION
Growth Mindset
“I can get better with practice”
Goal Setting
“These are my steps to success”
Deliberate Practice
“Every session that I do has a
purpose”
Feedback
“I’m assessing my progress”
Environment
“My parents and coaches help
me grow”
27. I don’t know what
to do or how to
do it
I know what to
do or but I can’t
do it
If I think about
it,
I can do it
I can do it
without thinking
about it
28.
29. YOUR ROLE AS A PARENT IS THE MOST
IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR CHILD’S LIFE
30.
31. SUGGESTED READING
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore and Uta Frith, The Learning Brain – Lessons for Education
Bill Walsh, The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership
Damian Hughes, The Barcelona Way – Unlocking the DNA of a Winning Culture
Jonah Lehrer, The Decisive Moment
Rolf Dobelli, The Art of Thinking Clearly
Wayne Goldsmith, New Sport: Why Sport has to Change
Stephen Rollnick et al. Motivational Interviewing in Sport
Rasmus Ankersen, The Gold Mine Effect
Davd Epstein, The Talent Code
Anders Ericsson & Robert Pool, Peak
Carol Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
John Sullivan, Every Moment Matters: How the world’s best coaches inspire their athletes and build championship teams
Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/style/permissive-parenting-the-pros-and-cons-
according-to-a-child-psychologist/
https://raisingchildren.net.au/pre-teens/development/understanding-your-pre-teen/brain-development-
teens
