In this blog, The FA’s coach development officer, Pete Augustine talks about culture, the difficult conversations we can have about it and how to embed a good culture at your club.

When we consider the four corners, there are many things that we look at. We think about how the corners affect each other, how physical preparation affects technical performance and how the psychological affects the social. But how often do we look at the idea of culture when deciding how to set up our environment?  

So, what is culture?  

Social behaviours, norms found in human societies as well as knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, and customs. These can include food and music etc. When a young person comes into a new environment, they come into a world which they know little about and they must make sense of this new world. As coaches we must consider how we integrate our new players into this new world.  

What do we know about them? Are there players of a similar background in our team? What have we learned from them? How do we see culture? Is it race, colour, religion, language? As I write this piece, I think about how I may have been seen by some of the coaches I played under. Maybe I was just seen as a black man/boy however this would have just been the surface. I am British born with Caribbean parents, how I was raised and the rules of which my family was run would be different of those of a black man/boy from parts of Africa. There are even differences across the Caribbean islands.  

If you think about how different people behave throughout the UK. The English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish – they all have different cultural rules. There are similarities but it is the differences that define identity. We have a multicultural society whether we like it or not and we must consider all players that come into our care. If we do not consider culture, we risk causing harm to them.  

If we include culture within the four corners, we may fit it into the social corner. However, if we look at culture more deeply, we may realise that it in fact affects all corners. For example, language that might be used to pertain to an individual’s cultural identity may be seen as banter. However, the person who is on the receiving end may find it upsetting. This may then affect their desire to attend training which can have a knock-on effect on physical and technical performance due to a lack of practice and motivation. Imagine going to a place of work where the food is totally different to what you are used to? How would this make you feel? These are just a couple of examples. I urge anyone who reads this article to look at your squad. See what cultural differences may exist.  

Let’s look at the first image and compare it to this one. Could this one be an alternative model - where culture is part of everything we do? We would then be able to have a much more inclusive discussion about all cultural issues. Somewhere we are not paralysed by the fear of saying the wrong thing. Conversations need to be honest. We need to speak from a platform of education, not segregation. This is where football can lead and not follow. 

To conclude I will leave you with these questions:  

• Can we take another look at the players we coach and figure out what the cultural make up is? 
• Can we have an open and honest conversation with them about our culture? 
• Is our club/organisation culture truly inclusive? 

What do you think of Pete’s blog? How do you assess the culture in your club? What is the culture? Is it inclusive? Let us know below!