How to create your own club DNA

Over the last 18 months, the England national coaching staff have followed a process of defining the England DNA.

Five sections – who we are, how we play, the future England player, how we coach and how we support – have been used to frame the discussion and debate.

But what is your club DNA? What content would you include in each section to make the DNA personal to your club, at your level and in your environment.

We know that there are some fantastic club philosophies, codes of conduct, coaching programmes and syllabus out there and many of you will already have something similar to the DNA framework.

For those who don’t, or for those who want to refresh their own philosophies or club documents, the DNA framework may help you to think about some of the important issues. Similarly, you may want to use the framework to reflect on your own beliefs as a coach and create your own DNA as a coach.

Be clear and concise in your messaging. Working in this way will hopefully make the content shareable for others.

Here's a few questions to help you along the way.

Who we are

What are the core values and beliefs you have as a club, team or individual? How do you want people to act and behave at your club?

Is history important to you – what does your crest mean and how does that link to what you want to do today and in the future?

How we play

How would you describe how you want your team to play when:

• you have the ball
• you don’t have the ball
• in transition (in the moments just after winning or losing the ball).

The player

How would you define the characteristics and attributes you want your players to have? How does this change for different positions and different ages? How does this link to your ‘how we coach’ section?

How we coach

How would you describe your coaching approach? What is your club view on:

• coaching styles
• types of practice/coaching syllabus
• how do you link training to matchday?

How we support

• What other things do you do to help improve your players and support the process of player development?
• Think about the work you do in the physical, psychological and social corners.

This article was first published in The Boot Room magazine in December 2014.