Martin Dighton, FA regional coach development officer, looks at how you can connect with your players during lockdown. 

We once again find ourselves separating from our players due to a lockdown. We know that they’ll be missing kicking a ball about with their mates, but what about us?  

If you’re anything like me...  

… you’ll desperately miss the buzz of coaching. The enthusiasm the players bring, the thrill of seeing them improve, the crazy things they often say, the ways they surprise us and the excitement of matchday. Even the smell of the wet grass early on a Saturday morning. 

However, these frustrating times could give us a chance to get back that coaching buzz in a slightly different – and digital – way. In this blog, I’ll cover a few ways to connect with your players during this difficult time. But first, a few house rules.  

When using any of these ideas: 

• Always follow safeguarding best practice – just as you would if you were working directly with your players.  
• Communicate with parents not children, and only run group sessions.  
• Always have another club official on the call and wear club kit or similar. 
• Don't make calls from a bedroom. 
• Run your ideas by the club committee, you can get help from other coaches and your plan could support and motivate even more players!
• Send any invites to parents and carers. Briefly explaining your intentions for the session(s) and what's expected of them. For example, it’s their responsibility to supervise their child, know what’s going on online and grab any equipment that’s required – such as an extra pair of socks or a cuddly toy!  

To find out more about safeguarding on video calls click here. Then, to get stuck in, read on.  

Idea one: wonder goal of the week 

Ask your players to create, video and score the most elaborate and incredible goal possible in their back garden or local park. It's important to remind parents and carers they need to supervise this activity. The players and/or parents and carers then vote for the best one each week. The best one I’ve seen involved a 10-year old’s volley that clipped a shed roof and bounced off a tree, before pinging the cross bar and nestling in the net. I challenge one of your players to beat that!   

Idea two: skill of the week 

This is similar to wonder goal of the week, but the players try to complete a skill of their choosing. Set them off to watch some freestylers on YouTube for inspiration and see how creative they can be. It could even be that the winner each week sets the skill for the team to try the week after.  

Idea three: top 10 challenge 

Create a ‘top 10’ of skills to practice and share with the team. However, stay away from the typical (and boring) toe-taps or turns. Instead, see how many times your players can nutmeg their family members around the house or land a volley in a bucket. Can they do keepy-uppies with a cuddly toy or recreate a famous goal? Perhaps they could even try to keep a ball away from their pet dog! Basically, anything that’s exciting and unusual means they’re more likely to have a go. 

Idea four: player knowledge 

Now is a great time to invest in gaining some knowledge to help you be an even better coach. Technology makes it easy to send a small questionnaire around the team. For example, why do they play? What do they like best and worst about your training sessions? What do they think their strengths are? What would they like to get better at? How would they describe you as a coach in three words? You could then follow these questions with a Zoom call to discuss their thoughts. You might learn some things now that will make your coaching even better when football does return. 

Idea five: play Monday night football 

Find a football clip on YouTube that demonstrates a well-known team doing something that fits your playing philosophy – and then share it with your team.  Ask them to watch the clip and reply with their observations and thoughts. What do they notice and what would they do in that situation? This could be followed up with a team Zoom call so the players can discuss and debate their opinions. 

None of these ideas are rocket science

But the aim is to help us stay connected with players. They will be missing football as much as us. But, perhaps even more importantly, it’s the social connection that us humans need most. If we can get them doing some football stuff too, then that’s a bonus. And remember: if you’re ever concerned about the safety or welfare of any of your players, contact your club welfare officer or county FA designated safeguarding officer. 

Hopefully you can have a go at one of the ideas above, and please add your own to the comments section below. Failing that, feel free to be like me: wandering round my local pitch on a Saturday morning – enjoying the smell of the wet grass. 

What do you think about Martin’s ideas here? Can you think of any others to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below! 

Blog image courtesy of Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.