England legend Marieanne Spacey has recently returned from Moldova where she put on a coaching session as part of the ‘Ambassador for Peace’ programme.
Spacey, who collected 91 international caps during her playing career, travelled to Chisinau to help discuss and demonstrate the methodology for coaching female players and also how to develop women’s football in Moldova.
The coaches in attendance will attend a UEFA B course in October and they are all currently coaching female players.
Spacey explained: “We started with a look back at how women’s football has developed over the last 20 years in England and how this development has been achieved so far.
“The coaches were asked to get into groups to discuss where they feel they currently are in the development of girls football and what were the challenges they faced.
“As a group discussed ways to address the challenges they faced and the coaches came up with some solutions to these challenges that would fit with the areas that they work in.”
The FA’s Long Term Player Development ‘Four Corner Model’ was then brought into play, paying particular attention to the Social and Psychological ‘corners’ and how important these are when coaching young female players alongside the Technical and Physical ‘corners’.
The coaches then observed Spacey’s practical session and noted down the different styles of coaching she was using, how the coaching style may impact on female players and how the appropriate coaching style with the appropriate players can create a positive learning environment.
The event culminated with the first-ever girls-only football festival run by the Moldovan FA which saw 14 teams take part.
Spacey added: “All the coaches made me very welcome and it was inspiring to see how passionate and enthusiastic they were to create better opportunities for girls to be able to participate in football activities.
“A huge thank you to all at the Moldovan FA, British Embassy in Chisinau and Spirit of Soccer for a really enjoyable and insightful visit."