Matchday experience: before the game

In the first part of a series focusing on the matchday experience for Foundation Phase players, we look at what to do before the game starts.
The build-up and excitement surrounding matchday is woven into the very fabric of our national game. Every weekend hundreds of thousands of supporters travel the length and breadth of the country to support their team. Likewise, there are an array of coaches, parents, volunteers and young players who are also on the move ready to fulfil fixtures.

As Charles Dickens once said, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” and this could not be more true. The junior and youth football landscape in this country means that on any given weekend the players could have the best of times or the worst of times regarding their matchday experience.

The series, which will feature video clips, focuses on the experience that two U8 teams are given by their coaches. A massive thank you to: Jamie Williams, Steve Lloyd and Leominster Town U8’s and Tom Bullock, Nick Loader and Ledbury Swifts U8’s for taking part and providing good examples of how they work on matchday.

In both cases the coaches have put the needs of their players first, creating a great environment for playing and learning as well as role-modelling some great behaviours that everyone could learn from.

Whilst Jamie, Steve, Tom and Nick all work with U8’s, the principles are the same; you don’t have to begin shouting and screaming as the coach just because you work with older players and are in a competitive situation.

What you have to do is provide a memorable experience for all the right reasons, not the wrong ones.

To make sure that’s the case, you need to first start by thinking about what you need to do before the game to get your players prepared.

The warm-up is a great time to activate both the mind and the body, so have an activity planned that can do this and try to relate it to some of your key messages if possible.

However, even if you’re focusing on one of your messages, for example, individual possession, it doesn’t mean that you can’t mention other good play if you see it.

The video below shows a great example of this, as the coach saw an opportunity to make a good point about defending and then proceeded to reinforce it throughout the session.