FA women’s and girls’ coach development officer, Suey Smith, reflects on her experience of working with a girls’ grassroots football team.

To give my advice, I must reflect, and to reflect, I need to take you on my journey so far. I’ve been coaching for nearly 20 years, all in very different environments and with different players.

I’ve coached in primary schools, Saturday morning soccer schools, a girls' team, a women’s WSL team and, latterly, coached a men’s team. So many different experiences, with each one giving me so much to learn and reflect from – and trust me, I’m still learning.

In my new role as FA women’s and girls’ coach development officer, I hope this blog offers some support and insight for a new coach.  

I was 16, loved playing the game, and fell into coaching, as that was my only way to make a career and be still involved in football. 

So there I was, excited to take my first-ever girls’ football team, a very inexperienced young but enthusiastic coach. I knew football, so I knew I could support players and pass on my knowledge, however, as I have l learnt, coaching is very different. It’s not just football; it’s about the player and how to communicate too, all the things that in the first session didn’t cross my mind. 

My cones were all set up, my session was planned, 14 girls were coming to play football, and that was it. I wanted to maximise the hour we had to give these girls as much football as possible, after all, that’s why they came. Well, so I thought.   

In reality, 14 girls of different experiences, different abilities, different personalities, all turned up, some in kit and some not. That wasn’t in my plan or my expectations. They didn’t go near the football bag.

I could never work out why every time they turned up to training, that after 10 minutes of them being there, the footballs were always still in the bag. I had visions of them being dropped off, itching to get a ball out and play football, even kicking the ball in the back of the net. I did at their age, so why didn’t they?

It made me curious as this wasn’t the environment I had created in my head. Why didn’t they wrestle and fight to get the footballs out the bag? The boys in the session before did. 

I set up the perfect football environment or so I thought. 

Girls like football; some love it; however, I quickly realised that these girls enjoyed being around their friends more.

Most of the team I coached back then didn’t go to the same school or even live in the same area, so football wasn’t at the top of their list when they arrived, it was speaking to their friends, sharing how their day went. 

So from that, what have I learnt that you could use practically if you experience the same? 

Arrival activities – which include the ball and yet allows them to socialise.

I used a whiteboard to set challenges on arrival, for example:

• Find a friend and grab a ball. Starting with the ball on the floor, how many ways can you get the ball into your friends’ hands?  
• Create a gate with two cones, find different ways to pass through the cones while asking your partner what they did at school.
• Four cones, four friends and one football. Create a game, ensure it has rules and a way to score points or goals.  

Not only did it get them straight into playing the game, but it was also fun for them. They owned the first 15 minutes, and they loved having the time to talk to each other and not feel like football was being thrown at them on arrival.

Be flexible with your own expectations and always incorporate their expectations with the players needs first.

After coaching my girls’ team for five years, and for those five years of learning, I had so many experiences that, knowing what I know now, I would’ve taken a different approach had I known it back then.

The game and children have evolved since I last played as a child. Set the right environment, and if you’re not sure on the environment, ask them.

Twitter: @suey_smith

What do you think of Suey’s story and ideas? Have you witnessed the same? Let us know in the comments below.