Hi Marc, first off, let me agree with some of the other comments you're going a great job.

That you're trying to help and involve he is huge, keep at it I have every confidence you will find a way eventually. 

Having been faced with similar situations in both boys and girls teams in the past, the thing I found important and helped me a lot was to keep going..

Looking at her experience compare with the others: has she been training since U8? You mentioned the team had been goiing since then. Is she one of  your smaller players. In which case avoiding conflict with bigger players, may, I suggest, be a perfectly sensible solution to a difficult problem, one which may well sort itself out once she hits her early teens growth spurt and can then compete on an even footing for strength and speed.

You mention you have some high fliers who she is struggling to keep up with. Do they have older siblings? If so, the football they play, away from your sessions, will probably be at a  much high level and when compared with their peer players who don't have this opportunity  and subsequently they will  show brighter. Does she have the opportunity to practice away from your sessions? 

I've seen ownership come up a few times and that is something to build on, Coaches can't play, we can only watch, the need to be able to make decisions within the game becomes increasingly important and training needs to reflect this, It may start with picking what colour bib, but this leads to deciding how many defenders 

For me environment is everything, get that right and the rest falls into place.

They need to feel safe, not just physically, but emotionally, if they give it go praise the effort, praise the attempt and they will try again, and again until they have success. Criticise the end result and they may not try next time. For some players it will click in training, for others it may take a few games before it clicks but they will get there with your support. Players are sponges, they soak up everything you say and do, they just reproduce it at their own rate and in their time. I've had, and still do, have sessions where at the end I come home and think what on earth am I doing this for, they haven't picked anything up. And then, a few weeks later, an occasion within a game happens, and the player who couldn't or wouldn't do it at the training session all those weeks ago, will successfully execute the action. So keep at it, be patient, if players can learn to embrace and not fear errors and see them as the learning opportunities they are, they will then own their learning.

You mention she just receives the ball and gets tackled. In your warmup games, try to include opportunities to hide/shield the ball. Tag games are great for this and also improve ABCs.

Apologies about the ramble, but I feel your pain and wish you and your players every success in everything you try, and if it doesn't work, give it another go, and another, until it does. Good luck.

Regards

Phil

Thanks Phil.

Good to read the responses and know I'm not alone and am trying, doing a lot of the right things.

Weirdly a lot of the players are the eldest siblings but they do seem to all have varying levels of involvement in football outside of the team.

That is one of the things I discussed with her parents and she is now attending a weekly football session where there is a focus of technical ability and only 5 or so in the class.

Hoping this will start to reap rewards for her in group and team scenarios.

Thanks,

Hi Marc Hollis , thanks for your insights around what a typical practice session looks like for your girls' squad. Also, based on the answers you have given to others, it sounds like your young girl really enjoys being part of your squad.

Therefore, a couple of things that might enhance enjoyment and involvement for her, and indeed all of your girls. These ideas are framed around the concept of 'GAMES TO ENGAGE': see resource below which provides detail for the following games underpinned by a simple themed approach 'MOVE TO IMPROVE'.

1. For warm-up/arrival activity, play TAG games which can range form 1v1 'cat & mouse' using 5x5m square -see below.

2. 2 x small sided 3v3/4v4 games of 3-2-1 - see below. Great for development across the social and psychological corners in terms of teamwork and tactics.

3. Whole group mulit0directional game GREAT ESCAPE - see below.

Note, more ideas like these are available through our FA PE Team learning page at: https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/PHYSICAL-EDUCATION 

Let me know how you get on Mark.

Regards, Vinny Halsall

Hi Vinny,

So I have been using the guidance that has been provided by you and others over the last few months. 

I'll be honest it has helped to improve lots of the girls in the team, including those towards the lower end of the ability scale of the team.

Unfortunately it hasn't seemed to help close the gap the the specific girl I had raised this questions about. The situation has actually got worse as those she was closest to have significantly improved whilst she has not.

To add a little bit of context, in mini-games at training she will touch the ball maybe once in a hour and not successfully make a single tackle or force a single mistake, and in actual games she won't touch the ball more than twice in the 30 or so minutes she is on the pitch.

The league we are in is split into three to maintain competitiveness and we are currently at the top of the middle third. Is there any value in exploring options that would put her in more similar ability level groups? We have another team at our club that is in the lower third of the same league system and has players she is more closely matched to. Would you see value in her joining their training session to see if she can be more competitive there and get more opportunity to be more involved in the action?

Hopefully this doesn't sound like I'm giving up or trying to get rid of her as it really isn't. I just don't want her to be left in an environment where she is set up to fail over and over again, with limited progress being made.

Thanks,

i think that would be a great idea, if the player is happy to give it a go and the parents are on board.

making sure it is nit a negative to them but a great opportunity for the players development.

the fact your asking and replying to any advice shows your commitiment and your duty of care for the player

well done and keep going 

all the best lee