It's not one size fits all
Bex Garlick, FA county coach developer, and Pete Connolly, Droylsden Juniors coach, reflect on the UEFA B course and the role of the tutor.
Tutoring on FA coaching courses is about “getting to know the people in front of you and understanding their needs and their context,” says FA county coach developer, Bex Garlick, who believes the introduction of in situ visits on FA courses has been hugely beneficial to the learning process.Coaches on the UEFA B course now have 9 days of contact time as a full group, with at least 3 follow-up visits at their own club. The in situ visits allow the tutor to observe the coach working with their own players in their own environment, tailoring any feedback towards the individual.
“For me the in situ visits are the best thing that The FA have added to the UEFA B course, because you actually see the learner with their team and see what their challenges are,” explains Garlick who joined The FA in 2010 as an FA skills coach, before moving into her current role in 2016.
“It's easy for the tutors to deliver a course in a nice facility with players who will just do what you want, when they need to, but that's not the reality for the coaches on the course.
“With the in situ visits it’s about making the whole process link more closely to the reality for the coach,” she adds.
In situ support visits were added to the UEFA B programme in 2016 and although Garlick believes it has been a huge positive to the coach development process, she also recognises that it can be a nerve wracking process for the learners.
“The visits can, at times, be overwhelming for the learners; they can have so much going around in their head and we have to empathise with that.
“When I visit the coaches I'm supporting, I think about how I can be a safety net and how can I make them feel comfortable.
“I always try to have that initial conversation when I get there just to make them relaxed and to calm them down as I'm watching their session,” explains Garlick.
Although there are some core themes on each UEFA B course - the role of the coach, practice design, technical and tactical detail - understanding the coaches in front of them is the strongest thread running through all of the tutors’ work.
“Prior to each block we always have in mind 'what are the needs of the individual learners' - as it can't be a one size fits all approach.
“The way the course is delivered has to be what they need and I think that's probably the most difficult aspect because there are 24 people who will need different things” explains Garlick.
“Once we've seen them coach for the first time at their club we get a good idea of what they're about as a coach, what drives them to do what they do, what their environment is like and you get a feel for what they might need.”
One of the UEFA B coaches Garlick is currently supporting is Pete Connolly, a coach at Droylsden Juniors in Manchester. Connolly admits the course environment can be quite challenging at first, but feels the in situ support has helped him make huge strides forward with his coaching.
“Obviously you see some of the coaches deliver on the course and think ‘wow, they’re really good’. You ask whether you should actually be there because they’ve just done a really good session” explains Connolly, who started coaching the under 12’s at Droylsden when he joined the club before moving through the age groups with them.
“That was what I struggled with mentally at first, but then I thought hang on a minute, I've been chosen to get here, Bex knows I'll put 100% into getting better so I'm going to have to go for it.
“It's about getting yourself into the mindset of I deserve to be here, let's go for it. You're not going to be perfect with your delivery, and no coach or environment is ever perfect, so just get in and go for it.”
It’s a thought process many learners encounter and one Garlick has tried to understand better in order to help each individual.
“Each coach on the course will come in at a different point on their coaching journey, and if I can take them one step further on that journey and just slide them along a little bit more, in terms of their learning and their development, I've probably done something right.
“The biggest challenge is trying to cut off my own thoughts about how I would do it. It’s about taking those blinkers off about what would I do, as it's not about me, it's about them and they've got their own experiences to bring and their own ways of doing things.”
Going through that process about how you might put it right can be quite powerful
Connolly explains that the course and Garlick’s support have had a big impact on his coaching style.
“In the past I was probably guilty of following the ball during sessions, so one of the key things I’ve taken from the course was looking at: on the ball, around the ball and away from the ball.
“For example, I needed to step back and say: ‘the ball's over there but what's my left back doing, what's my centre half doing, what's my holding midfielder doing?’
“I needed to take my eyes off them and put my coaching cap back on instead of being a football fan. That was a lightbulb moment for me. That has helped for my practice designs and it has helped me as a coach.”
During the course experience it’s not only the coaches that are going through a learning process, explains Garlick.
“As tutors I think it's important that we show some vulnerability during the process. When we’re delivering it can’t be perfect every time and I think, whilst we want it to be perfect as tutors, it probably benefits the learners more when it's not perfect because it shows 'actually stuff does go wrong for them as well'.
“Afterwards, going through that process about how you might put it right can be quite powerful.”
You can learn more about the UEFA B course by clicking here.