[Jamie]
Hello and welcome to CoachCast by England Football Learning, the coaching podcast that brings you insight from people across the game. Today we're chatting to Dwight Barnett, a grassroots coach from Brixton, London, to discover his journey so far and how a local football project he's involved with is helping to engage the community.
[Louise]
Hi Dwight, nice to have you on the podcast and good to meet you. So before we get into finding out a little bit more about you, can you just tell us about who you coach and how long you've been coaching?
[Dwight]
Thanks for having me on. It's good to be here speaking with you guys. So yeah, I'm from Brixton, more so Towshill, working with the St Matthew's Project, an organization, a sort of charity football club that I was once a player for. I've been involved with the club since I was 14. Then I went away, did some other sort of football commitments and off to college. And then I came back when I was 17 to volunteer at the club, do some coaching on a Saturday. And now I'm the current project coordinator for the project.
[Jamie]
Just as a bit of an icebreaker really, it's an arrival activity for you. Basically just getting some top coaching tips.
[Louise]
Yeah, so we'll give you 30 seconds on a timer. There's a little bit of music so you know how long you've got to go. And within those 30 seconds, if you can just give us as many top coaching tips as you can. So when the music starts, that's when you can begin. Okay, if you're ready.
[Dwight]
Yeah, I am. Right, so think simple, be the master of the basics. You've got to love football first and foremost. Really embed yourself with the environment that you are coaching in. Know the young people, they are humans before football players. Enjoy the game, love the game, rain, snow, cold, windy, sun, coach to your best of ability, and just enjoy every time.
[Louise]
That was great.
[Jamie]
Love that. Well, I suppose we'll dive in and find a little bit more about you, Dwight. So first, what was your first experience of football like and when was it?
[Dwight]
As young as I can remember, it was in primary school, playground, literally just kicking around with your friends. Then I went to a few school tournaments. But I remember I didn't have any football Astros. My mum couldn't afford it. But my PE teacher gifted me one through the schools and that was a potent memory of mine playing football and lots of tournaments. My dad used to drive the minibus for into away games. And yes, more so primary school for real grassroots level for me. Were there many opportunities then to play when you was younger or was it mainly through school? So in terms of structured sport for me, there was nothing outside of football that I really took to. It was more literally on the street with neighbors. I remember going down two streets away from where I lived at the time. Another young person from school, I just used to link up with them and play curb, play two tops on the wall on the street. A bit dangerous now, back then anyway, but that's a fun memory of mine. But nothing structured until probably secondary school.
[Jamie]
That sort of informal play then playing curb and everything like that. How important was that and that sort of unstructured play to your development and enjoyment at that age?
[Dwight]
So it was important because when you asked me to give as much coaching tips as possible in 30 seconds, I remember saying just enjoy the game. At the time when I was young, I didn't have any affiliations with any teams. I just loved kicking the football with my mates, scoring goals. There was no tactics to it. There weren't, you know, I mean, all these things that we learned on our coaching courses. Now it's literally here is a ball, here's a goal. If it's two bags or two bottles or whatever it was, two shoes, just play the game. And that's where my enjoyment really came from that sort of unstructured environment playing football.
[Louise]
And you mentioned earlier that you used to play for the project that you're working with now. When did that come about? When did you start playing for them?
[Dwight]
So I moved in 2008 to another part of Brixton, well, to where I grew up in St Matthew's estate and all the kids around that area played for the project. But again, I didn't come from an environment where I knew structured football. It was just all for me, unstructured football at the cage. But they've always, you know, when I used to go there, be like, yeah, come along, come along. So I had to wait till that season finished. And then next season, one of my friends that I grew up in, in the estate, his mum and dad were the managers. So obviously I was playing for them. It was real, real close knit community environment. And having one of the parents as a coach, it really felt like a community feeling and environment. And yeah, we really enjoyed it.
[Louise]
And so when did you start getting a sense that you might want to do some coaching?
[Dwight]
It was when I was playing for Bromley for the academy set up. I knew pursuing football at that time would be a mountain, a huge challenge. And I moved out my parents’ house when I was 16. So at that time in non-league, if you were lucky to play at 17 for first team, you're probably getting 25 pound a week. And obviously, I had rent to pay and you know, make a living and so forth. And so I pushed more to the side of coaching. My academy manager and the head coach, massive influences to that. I learned a lot of how and their behaviors, their methods inspired me a lot. And yeah, I came back to St Matthew's and just took it from there.
[Louise]
So would you say that you were inspired by the people around you and kind of learn from the way that they coached you?
[Dwight]
Yeah, 100%. There were some good elements of what they did. There were some things that I thought, I don't really like that. But that's what life is, I guess. You take the good and the bad and you make it, you know, how you want to see life and you push forward. So within coaching, you know, looked at the good, looked at the bad and sort of made it my own and into my own way of doing things.
[Jamie]
What did you think about like your first taste of coaching? Was it something that came naturally to you? Did you, you know, what did you enjoy about it?
[Dwight]
It was not a team, it was actually just like a turn up and play environment that we do at St Matthew's. So would have been on a Saturday. And, you know, the kids arrive, you know, you do like a fun bulldog game, then maybe, you know, like a 5v5 with 6v6 and then just match it. So there was no tactics involved. It was literally play and have fun. For some, they may say that's not coaching. But for me, being 17 at the time, I was loving it. I was enjoying it. And I sort of slowly building up the coaching ladder. I didn't dive straight into doing, you know, phases of play, you know, all of that stuff. I just did. I just started off on a Saturday, getting the teams in, you know, 5v5, 6v6, mini matches, bulldog, all of that good stuff play. And it was enjoyable.
[Jamie]
What were the kids like? Were the kids quite receptive to that?
[Dwight]
Yeah, at that age, the age were between seven and 10, or six and 11 or around that. They love it. They love a bulldog. They love, you know, stuck in the mud with and without the ball. They love shooting, they love scoring, they love celebrating with their friends. And as some of them knew me from around the area, they knew obviously, I used to play for the club. So that connection and that relationship really took on.
[Jamie]
I think this is going to be a running theme throughout this podcast. But it sounds like even when you first started coaching that you quite valued having kind of a fun, friendly environment. How important is that to you then and now?
[Dwight]
It's massively important because I'm a big believer of a coach imposing his personality into the environment as much as they can. Be authentic to yourself. You know, a big mistake a coach could make is going in and pretending to be like someone they see on TV in a community environment or actually in any environment. You've got to go into an environment and be authentic to it. And for me at St Matthews, because I'm from the area, I came from the project. It's important for me to reflect that in the coaching and the style of coaching and everything that comes around with St Matthews. So, you know, the parents trust St Matthews, the community trusts St Matthews. So I'm a big believer in making sure that the young people that come to us really feel at home and comfortable for them to enjoy themselves.
[Louise]
Can you think of any particular ways that you try and do that to try and make people feel comfortable?
[Dwight]
So a lot of our coaches are ex-participants and before they fully coach with us, they have to volunteer. So they, again, are embedding themselves with what we are trying to do here at St Matthews. It's massive to us. We welcome them in and then that feeds down to the players welcoming them, the regular members welcoming them in. So it's great that a coach can be friendly, but if you have long-term members that hold the core values and beliefs that the project has, then it becomes easier for new members to come in. And then you have sort of like mini leaders and mini captains without them even knowing, because they're taking on board what we do at St Matthews, they make it easier as well. And that comes from the top.
[Jamie]
Do you want to tell our listeners a little bit more about the St Matthews project? What's it all about and what does it mean to you?
[Dwight]
The St Matthews project is offering free structured football and sporting activities for our local area, the people within it, in a safe environment where the young people can thrive at them being themselves. We here know that many of them will not become pro footballers. So we don't sell that dream. We say come as you are, enjoy here, thrive within yourself, explore, make friends and really enjoy every single moment here at the project.
[Jamie]
How many kids do you think each week are with the St Matthews project?
[Dwight]
Right, so now we're talking stats. I can actually just talk you through what we do and give you a rough gauge of what the numbers are, because I actually do the stats weekly. But for example, Monday we do a football session at Jubilee Primary School and the head members on that. Monday night we do a total estate session where anyone can turn up and play within the local estate. Monday just gone, we had 25. Tuesday is normally our day where we have SMFC training. So this season that just went, we had under 11s, under 13s, under 14s and under 15s training. And on average there's, you know, let's say there's 13 on each. I don't know if any of you are calculating this, I was just giving you. But yes, let's just say it's well over 200 a week, well over. Monday to Friday we partner up with schools, we're in our local estate offering free football on a Monday and Wednesday. We partner up with Fulham Foundation Kicks to offer free girls' football on a Wednesday. We have a girls-only program on a Saturday morning, we are just doing Wildcats as well. So and then on Sunday, we got our seniors, which is more or less 30 plus playing, Saturday is our turn up and play scheme. So yeah, if any of you added that up, it will probably say 200 plus weekly.
[Louise]
Which kind of teams do you coach?
[Dwight]
So my team last season, that just went, I was the under-15s coach. We actually were the only team at St Matthews to bring home silverware, so a bit great there. So next season, I'll be taking them to the under-16s. So yeah, that's my team, but I help obviously all the other teams.
[Louise]
And had you coached other age groups or girls or adults at all?
[Dwight]
At St Matthews, I took my team from under-10s upwards. So each season, I went with them. And then that's something that we are very proud of, to help give the young people stability and build a relationship with the project. We don't want to, you know, here with one coach one season and move on. There's a real sense of growth together through the project. Me myself, in my early days at St Matthews, I helped coach on the girls' program. Obviously, as I said, I was volunteering on Saturdays, and I was coaching on Saturday mornings at the turn-up and play scheme. I lead on the parent and toddler session at Jubilee Primary School. So for the first half hour, the parents read with their child, doing phonics and such with one of the nursery teachers. And then for the rest of the half hour, they come outside and play football with me. So I set up drills for the parents to do with their child. So I've coached them that as well. So right across the board at St Matthews, I've done quite a lot.
[Jamie]
How much of an impact has the St Matthews project made on the community?
[Dwight]
Wow, where could I start?
St Matthews project was founded in 2004 by no other than Lee Deamer. He lived in the area at the time. And the fact that we are here 18 years on, and each year we are giving back, we are giving back, we are giving back. Like I said, a lot of our new coaches came from the project. Just a minute ago, I was with a young player last season that's now coming on board to coach with us this season. So that's something that we're really proud of that the community trusts us with. So yes, it's had a massive, massive impact in the community.
[Jamie]
What's part of the project that you're involved with that maybe you're most proud of?
[Dwight]
Those numbers that I just said, I believe when I was playing, St Matthews was only active on a few occasions a week. Now we're doing activities every single day. And that's growth, we're strong partners in our local schools. So the two closest schools to us, we are running projects in there and that's something big for us. We're happy that the schools can bring us in as a reflection of the community to do work with them. I'm just proud every day to be a part of a project that, again, gives back and I can only look at myself because I was once a player and now I'm in a position of making more change. So I can't pinpoint to one element what I'm proud of. I'm just grateful that we're still standing, we're progressing and we're still having that massive impact in our local area.
[Louise]
And I guess being a role model to all those kids that are coming up through the project as well. So that's really good.
Okay. So now we've heard about the project and yourself and your coaching journey. What we thought we'd do is move on to a section where we use some questions that coaches have brought up on our online community.
We get a lot of people asking questions about getting players to communicate with each other well. So it'd be really good to know what your approach to communication is so that it's a really good and enjoyable environment.
[Dwight]
Communication for me, I've always said that, I actually said it today at one of the projects, that's why I had to push this interview back as a school and I said, it's important for us to communicate and speak because we're doing a group activity, right? And I was posing them some questions and they weren't responding as quickly. So I gave them an example of if you were away but messaging your friends on WhatsApp, how quickly and easy would you find it to respond? Because you just type in words, you'll send an emoji and so forth. But when you're in person, you've got to become more comfortable in terms of communicating and conversating and having dialogue in social situations. So I'm very big on eye contact and listening to someone else's views, giving your views, debating, there's a saying, challenge the point, not the person. So you can disagree, but you can still be respectful to each other and you only get better at that whilst being in social settings a lot more. And that's why I'm a big advocate of communicating and speaking and getting your views out and hashing these little disagreements out. And one way of doing that in training is building a social element. So I know obviously the FA have the four corner model, I'm a big person on the social side, you've got to get along, you've got to get along, you've got to have fun, you've got to enjoy it before the tactical side. Going back to earlier in the podcast when I said, when I first started to coach, I didn't go straight in doing phases of play and pattern drills, it was literally here's a ball, 5v5 or you know, the bulldog or stuck in the mud or whatever it is, fun races, and just enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy football.
[Jamie]
So that social development is so important, isn't it, especially with the impact in so many young children that it's so important getting that social development right at that age.
[Dwight]
Yeah. When I was growing up, I mentioned it to you before it was that unstructured sort of sense of football outside on the street playing football. Nowadays we're, you know, being challenged with young people that are in the house a lot more on their phones, communicating a lot more on these different social media platforms and these games that are virtual reality and they're not really exploring reality. So yeah, that side is important for me, 100%.
[Louise]
Can I just ask, so say you had something that was going on in the group and you needed to kind of develop the communication a little bit more, when's the right time to do that? Is it when they're playing or do you kind of talk to them beforehand?
[Dwight]
So at our sessions, because when it's turn up and play, not everyone turns up at *** on at the start. So we use that first sort of half hour, 25 minutes to be like an introductory, so there's more games, there's socials, they'll do like a Rondo, they might do a two touch little tournament, they might do end to end and that bit there is literally saying, you guys, this is your time to speak to each other, enjoy. For example, on a Saturday, they might be looking forward to this the whole week. So giving them that platform and say, right, there you go, here's your friends, go just enjoy with your friends for the first 25 minutes before you even get into anything that is sort of semi-structured, enjoy that platform. So if you want to, you know, kick around with your friend, speak about whatever you want to speak about, here's that environment to do so. So for us, it's really from the get go, as soon as they come down to us.
[Jamie]
Getting player engagement is like a really good coaching skill to have, which is mentioned in playing Rondos, playing Bulldog and getting that, it's a really good thing to understand players needs and wants to be able to get that engagement and it sounds like you've got that quite right at the St Matthews project. Was that quite an easy thing to do to understand what players want and players need?
[Dwight]
I think with us at St Matthews, we do not like to over-complicate football, I think. Football is very, in this environment, grassroots is pretty much ABC, fun, enjoyable, together. And with us being in the community since 2004, it goes back to that trust of the families know they can bring their child to St Matthews and their child is going to enjoy it and have that fun element and having our coaches come from the project and a lot of our, when we were growing up, a lot of coaches lived in the local area. So they would see each other outside of football. So when Suze came to football, it was like, oh right, you know, it's more of the same and then just get straight to it. So that play engagement is something that we thrive on here at St Matthews.
[Louise]
One of the questions that we get from community members is that they struggle with mixed ability groups and making sure that everybody in a training session or a match day gets everything that they need. So say there's like some players with higher skill levels than others, like how do we balance it out in terms of making sure that parents are happy, but also the players themselves. Have you had experience of that yourself?
[Dwight]
Yeah, most definitely with us, because our main provision is literally turn up and play. We get the participants from every skill level. So we've been training our coaches to recognize these four players are running the show. Can we, you know, structure in a way where it is more balanced? So maybe spread them across different teams, give them a target of passing to their teammates before or to say, you know, you can score five goals, but between each goal you score, you have to assist and really just, you know, make sure, making sure our coaches are recognizing situations. Because, yeah, we've had the players and parents come out, oh, this person, you know, that child wasn't passing, oh, he said, I'm not good. And it happens, it happens very frequently, but again, our coaches are on it quickly to recognize it and sort of nip it in the bud and try and make everything balanced and fair for everyone. And with our teams as well, you know, our coaches know that it's always performance over result. We've come up against teams that have, I'll actually give you an example. A few years ago, we played a team, this was at 11 aside, played a team, they had around nine players on the bench, on the pitch, they had around three very, very, very good players and they just ran the show. But then they had seven, eight, nine players on the bench that, you know, weren't getting a look in. So I'm just looking at it, you guys clearly are prioritizing result and, you know, at this level, it's always, well, for me anyway, and for us at St Matthews, we're always pushing performance over results because it's very easy to pass to the best player up front and he scores or she scores every single time, but it's harder to build from under 10s right to under 16s or, you know, build a playing ethos, a philosophy and having everyone buy into it, you know, with mixed abilities. So in my team alone, I know that there are five players that haven't played for any other team before playing for St Matthews. So their only experience of football is through St Matthews and, you know, coming up against teams that players started off when they were five and they've been to elite camps, they've been to showcase games, they've been to one-on-one training, you know, they're always playing football and whereas with us, they probably will only play football two hours a week. So yes, really coming up against those barriers and those differences and then trying to make a level playing field. But for us, it's always about performance and targets over the result most definitely.
[Louise]
Have you ever had any challenges from parents because they want to see like better results or their child play more or something like that? And how do you manage that?
[Dwight]
Yes, yes, we have had that many times. Many, many times. They're saying our coach don't know what he's doing. And we're like, we've had players and families leave because, you know, they're not happy with what they're seeing on a Saturday. But again, you know, we know what we're doing here is right. Because again, started off in 2004, you know, year by year, we're strong. And that's only because we're strong with what we have outlined and outset to do with our local area, with our local community. But yeah, that happens quite a lot. But saying that they would leave and then they want to come back.
[Jamie]
It's been great listening to you and hearing a little bit more about the St Matthews project. And it'd be, you know, it'd be pretty easy to go into so much more detail. But looking at looking at time, it is coming up to the end of the show. But it does mean it is time for our final feature, which is very exciting. It is our Swift session. So what the Swift session is, is another 30 second challenge. We love 30 second challenges on this show. Yeah. So basically, we want you to explain a session idea in 30 seconds. So it can be your favorite session that you do or one you've tried recently. Are you up for the challenge of trying to do that in 30 seconds?
[Dwight]
Yeah, I like these 30 second challenges. I might do one at training.
[Louise]
Okay, got the timing ready. And your time starts now.
[Dwight]
So the focus will be on ball speed and being press resistant. So you can either have three or two teams, one team keeping the ball, moving the ball as quick as they can, and the other team pressing. And their aim, as soon as they win the ball, if they win it, they can score in either goal. So normally when I do this practice, there's four goals, and we're in a box. One team just moving the ball around as quick as they can, the other team, as soon as they win it, any goal, as quick as they can, score a goal.
[Jamie]
So you squeeze that in just there, just before the final whistle.
[Dwight]
I'm getting good at this aren't I?
Speaker 1]
Yes. This is what it is, so many 30 second features that it builds it up for the grand finale at the end. I like this. It's been great having you on the show, Dwight. And obviously it's been the St Matthew Project, as you say, has been around since 2004. And I'm sure it's going to keep going from strength to strength for many more years. And we really hope that that is the case. And we'd love to obviously keep in touch and hear how it's been progressing from our chat today.
[Dwight]
Yes, well, we should be having our 20th anniversary in two years. So you guys will be having an invite in the mail.
[Jamie]
Oh, we look forward to that. That'd be great. Thank you very much for your time today. Hopefully you've enjoyed talking and sharing your messages about the St Matthew's Project.
[Dwight]
Thank you for having me.
[Jamie]
Brilliant, thank you very much. Right, that's all we have time for today. But don't forget to check out the episode description for all the links to our platforms. There you will be able to click through to the England football community. This is where you can post your coaching questions for us to discuss on the podcast or just connect with loads of wonderful coaches.
[Louise]
We'd love to help you out with your coaching questions. So please do check it out. We'll be back soon with another episode of CoachCast. So if you haven't already, hit subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode from all of us at England Football Learning. Thanks for listening.