Parents - vital to our national success.
For most of us, our parents are our first coach. Lots of us can remember chasing after Mum or Dad in the garden or park whilst they dribbled around you until you did not see the funny side of it anymore. Finally, they passed you the ball, and you would set off on a somewhat shorter dribble before they nicked the ball back off you! You were getting your very first insight into the game with no formal coaching - just learning on the job so to speak.
The parent in the first coach role is now even more important - gone are the days when you could simply play outside on the street or over at the park without your parents worrying. I feel that we should get children playing with their parents again. Let’s upskill the parents so they can subtly feed their child with the correct information and further enhance the learning process.
As a footballing nation we should be doing more with the parents to educate and raise awareness of the importance of the individual and to enhance a club culture where everybody is heading in the same direction with the child’s development as a player and person at the forefront of this journey.
At Premier Skills we have worked extensively with grassroots coaches, parents and players and have devised the ‘Parent as the First Coach’ workshop which includes:
• The role of the parent coach
• Communication
• Foundation skills
• Individual and team analysis
• Matchday preparation
As coaches we always show a thirst for knowledge. Let’s see if the parents want to join.
