Introduction to U14 Girls Coaching

The Group
The group I am going to coach this semester are aged between 12 – 13 and female. The girls have a general level of skill and I can see the opportunity to really develop there skills further. As it is a school team there participate for a large number of reasons from been with there friends to wanting to play for England in the future. All of the girls are interested in football but do not totally understand the rules and have a basic knowledge of the game. As all of the girls take part in PE twice a week and most do all other extra curriculum sporting activities they have a good level of fitness.

Skills
The group all have a good level of knowledge and skill at football. 80% of the group are young sport leaders, learning how to demonstrate good social and team cohesion. The team have set targets for where they would like to be in the next year and how they are going to reach each of there goals.

What do they want to do?
With my previous experience at coaching boys I fell that I am now ready to take over the team and make it my own. The school teacher, Miss Haslam has overall control of matches and fixtures but the team is selection and sessions are up to me. When taking this team it was explained that the good players with higher ability carried the team and didn’t really include the whole team. Although this tactic has worked and they have been school champions for the last 3 seasons I would now like to improve the B team up to that level and bring back the champions and runners up of the league. The school also has a chance to represent Newcastle if they win in the next local 7 a side competition with the best schools in the region. This will give them the first chance of some silver wear this season.

The Coaching Sessions
In the session over the next six week period I hope to progress the sessions from starting at a very basic level then moving it on to skill training and at a pace where all abilities are having fun but learning at the same time. The sessions are often held the day before match day which generally takes place on a Thursday with training on a Wednesday. This will allow me to help the team prepare for the match the day before with the tactics still fresh in there mind s to go on and win the matches. As the participants are only young I will ensure that we have regular breaks and take on liquid often.

Programme Objectives

By the end of the six week coaching plan the intention is that players will:

1. Have the ability to pass the ball over a short distance, moving on to longer passes in the correct direction.
2. To be able to dribble confidently keeping head up and awareness of the surrounding area.
3. Been able to shoot from all ranges on target – working towards a more powerful shot.
4. To have a basic understanding of defensive techniques; closing down and showing inside and out.
5. Have a basic level of ability to control the ball and then look up for the next stage of play.
6. Basic understanding of the rules and regulations.