Please Note: The transcript is automatically generated by Supertranslate.beta in case you come across any typos or misquotes during your reading.
[Jamie]
Hello and welcome to Coachcast by England Football Learning, the coaching podcast that brings you insight from people across the game. As always, I'm Jamie and I'm with Louise and today we're joined by Vicky Fisher, an FA coach development officer who's returning to Coachcast to chat about the importance of maintaining your well-being as a coach. Well hi Vicky, welcome back to the show. How are you?
[Vicky]
Yeah I'm good thank you. It's really nice to see you both.
[Louise]
Yeah, really nice to see you and have you back here again. Just for anybody who hasn't heard you on an episode before, can you just give us a recap of what it is that you do at the FA?
[Vicky]
Yeah, so I am an FA Regional Coach Developer. I work across the South West region and essentially our job is to help coaches with a specific focus on female coaches so how do we encourage and support female coaches in the game.
[Jamie]
Brilliant well once again fantastic for that but just before we jump into the main part of the show as you know as this is a coaching podcast coaches could be on the way to training right now so we always like to give them some good advice at the top of the show.
[Louise]
Yep, so as usual this is your arrival activity, warm you up a little bit, get you into the zone. We're gonna ask you to give us as many top coaching tips as you can in 30 seconds. You up for that challenge?
[Vicky]
Always up for a challenge.
[Louise]
When the music starts you can begin.
[Vicky]
Some of my top tips would be use your players as much as possible. As coaches we feel we have to do everything. Our players can help us set up sessions, our players can help make decisions in sessions, our players can help take some of the responsibility away from us, so engage your players, use your players and get them involved in the process, however big or small that might be. It's probably not 30 seconds but that's my top tip.
[Louise]
I think that's a really good top tip but it spans doesn't it? Yeah, absolutely.
[Jamie]
Well we'll dive into the main part of the show Vicky and well it is your third time on Coachcast now, you're as experienced as we are at doing this, so a hat-trick of appearances but it has been a little while since you've been on the show, so how have you been since the last time that we've been chatting?
[Vicky]
It's been as busy as ever, the world of football never stops does it? So job-wise, busy supporting coaches, meeting new coaches, We've had some fantastic events across the region so you know that's really exciting. And then on a personal level, completed another season of grassroots football which we know is challenging and tough but also I think you know when you get to the end of the season it's also really rewarding. So yeah, get ready to go for another season. So yeah, personally, professionally, I can have a season on the pitch.
[Louise]
Yeah, fantastic. Have you had any kind of interesting bits of advice or different things that have cropped up that maybe have changed the way that you approach coaching at all?
[Vicky]
Do you know, I think a lot of it links to what I've just spoke about in the top tips around, I think sometimes as coaches, we feel we have to do everything ourselves. You know, it can be a really tough, lonely world sometimes. And I think embracing others. So whether that's, you know, fellow coaches or like say players, Sometimes I think we forget it's their game. I guess our job is to help make the game happen, but it's their game and they're the ones on the pitch. So yeah, we're always learning. I'm learning, I work with coaches who are learning and it's a good healthy place to be to reflect and try things.
[Jamie]
And you mentioned some events that you've been working on since the last time that we spoke. Do you want to give us a bit of an insight into what they might have been? Like a little bit of a highlight recap really.
[Vicky]
So a real big focus is on how can we support and encourage more females to get into coaching and really important, how do we keep them when they've stepped over that line and have started their journeys. So we've made real steps across our County FA network around the country that every County FA is pretty much offering coaching sessions, workshops, development groups for female coaches. That's really significant. So, and within them then there's some amazing events, you know, each county is different and runs events that are right for them. So yeah, for me it's a real privilege to be able to go out and meet people locally and just to be part of that process.
[Louise]
It must be really nice seeing that grow as a project as well.
[Vicky]
Yeah, massively, you know, from where we were three years ago where we didn't have any of this to then, you know, bit by bit each year seeing more grow to now, like I say, pretty much wherever you are in the country you can access an opportunity, like, it's really important.
[Louise]
Yeah.
[Jamie]
Yeah, no, it's really nice to hear about that growth, like some really good piece of work that's been going on. In terms of, you mentioned grassroots football, another season, what sort of learnings have you taken away from the season that's just finished then?
[Vicky]
Probably linked really nicely to the podcast today and the episode around the well-being piece and can't do everything on our own. It's tough sometimes, you're always trying to keep so many different people happy. And I think sometimes there's a realisation that you can't do everything or be everything for everyone and you need either that support network around you or people around you. And for me, it's been very much around, I could say, sharing the workload and sharing responsibilities and trusting and empowering other people. It's not always easy as a coach, like you say though, to let go of some bits sometimes, but I think to be the best version of yourself and to look after yourself and those around you, sometimes you have to.
[Jamie]
Brilliant. Well, you mentioned there that we are here to talk about wellbeing as a coach. I suppose looking back at your journey from, I believe it was, was it Mrs Jones, I think it was, that helped you with the, get onto the level one course to today. So looking at your journey, what does wellbeing mean to you when you reflect on some of the key parts of your journey so far?
[Vicky]
Yeah, it was Mrs Jones. That's a great, great memory. I think wellbeing is around, like essentially, how do you feel in yourself? Like, and I think I say it quite often, trying to be the best version of yourself. And at any moment in time, there are so many different things that can impact that. Just like the can, like everyone around us, you know, we always say, you never know what anybody else is going through on that day. So for me, wellbeing is around, I'd say, how am I feeling and what's probably affecting how I'm feeling. And there's probably some things that we can control and some things that we can't control. So for me, a lot of it's around now controlling the things we can control and like owning that part and accepting there's stuff like say that that you can't but that you can still recognise and respond to and probably deal with.
[Louise]
And I suppose if we think about it in terms of mental health, how important is it to keep on top of that do you think?
[Vicky]
So important, you know, and we hear it and we see it all around us now, but it's not always as easy probably to recognise in ourselves perhaps, or start to talk about or even share. So even actually if we do recognise that we might be struggling or we might not be feeling that great, where do you go with that or who do you turn to or who's your support network or who do you feel comfortable with, like say, probably maybe opening up to? Again if we link it to football, yeah, football can be tough sometimes, you know, if you're the one at the front making decisions or people are relying on you. When we talk about mental health, I think sometimes there could be this fear of weakness or vulnerability or, you know, letting your guard down almost. And if we don't look after ourselves, we're not going to be able to look after the players or anyone else around us. So like it has a knock on effect on it all.
[Louise]
And I guess it's one of those things, isn't it? You, once you start opening up, you realise it's not just you. A lot of people feel the same and it's kind of, it's really important to build that, being able to be open about it with other people, I guess.
[Vicky]
Yeah, absolutely. We talk all the time and I totally appreciate it. We probably don't recognise it and it's not the reason why people coach, but our coaches are role models to those around. I say it often to the coaches I work with, you know, nobody gets up every morning and thinks, oh, I'm a role model today. You know, you get up and be the best version of yourself and help everybody. But as coaches or managers, whatever role you play, it's like, it's a really entrusted position that is respected. And like you say, you become a leader and people take notice.
[Louise]
Like what things could happen if someone isn't, or a coach isn't taking care of their mental health?
[Vicky]
I think that's hard because I think it's personal to everybody. You know, every single one of us is different. I think you know yourself, how you're feeling. And, you know, we have good days and we have bad days and things happen that might affect us, like I say, on and off the pitch. I think it's when you start to have those feelings more regularly, you know, actually, do you know what, something isn't right here. And then how does that affect us longer term? Well, it's probably going to have a negative impact on our life. You know, how we go about things, how much interest we take in things. When we're in a position where we're trying to look after other people, if we can't look after ourselves or we're struggling to look after ourselves, it then becomes, like I say, really hard to look after others. And again, you're probably going to have an impact on them in a way that you're not, you don't want to have. And that's really tough because you're trying to do the right things because you don't want to let anybody down you're doing it because you want to keep going and like saying not let anybody down but at some point actually we've got to stop and look after ourselves first.
[Jamie]
If they're minded as asking anyway what sort of things can affect your mental health I'm trying to think if anybody that's listening, if there's something that maybe resonates with one of the listeners, what kind of things to look out for that could affect mental health of coaches, really.
[Vicky]
Coaching, it can feel like a lot of pressure, like a lot of pressure. And whether you coach young people or adults, there are always so many people looking at you to make decisions. Football's a game of opinions as well. So one day you could be the best person in the world, you could be the best coach, you know, and the next day somebody could have a totally different opinion on you. So in terms of your own mental health, that can be really difficult, really difficult to know where you stand and how you feel and how people's opinions of you might change even though that you're just being you and being really consistent. But like I say I think it's so individual to everyone and I think only you will recognise those feelings that you have and it's not the same. So one person's experience won't be the same as somebody else's. We're all really passionate about football. Everybody steps on the pitch to try and win the game and it always feels rubbish actually if you don't get the result that you want. Depending on the level of the game that you work in, for example youth football or development football, actually the performance might be more important than the win. But actually the people standing on the sides might not understand that or recognize that. So from a coaching view, actually, you might be really proud of your team's performance that day, because they might not have won the game, but they might have actually done loads of the great stuff that you've been working on. But for all the people sitting in the stands or on the side of the pitch who are disappointed that you haven't won, it's a different agenda. Like it's a different mindset. It's like say how do you level that out in terms of how you're feeling and what they're feeling and thinking and how do you not let that perhaps affect you?
[Jamie]
It's kind of different for everybody so I'm not saying like there's an easy way to be able to improve mental health or anything. But do you have any top tips for helping coaches maybe deal with that pressure from your experience in grassroots football with that pressure? Is there any top tips that you can kind of be in control of that?
[Vicky]
I think, you know, again, it's so easy to say, but surround yourself with good people. So quite often we don't coach on our own. We often coach in teams or pairs or you might have a coach and an assistant or several people. Those people are your allies. They're your go-to's. So whether that's from planning your session each week to talking about the game, they're sharing the same experiences or similar experiences to you. So they're a really good place to turn to, you know, for the good times and the not so good times. Because actually, again, you know, say it, sometimes we don't know how other people are feeling. So by having that conversation, actually it might be, do you know what, actually I feel like this and Jamie, you might be feeling really similar, but we've never actually openly said it. So I think having good people around you, also, you know, in coaching, we often talk about like the plan, do review process. Like we plan our session, we do it and we review it. And I'm not sure how often we do the review part in life or share that. And I think that review or that reflection can be really important in terms of how we feel about things. So actually this situation has happened. Do we just stop and move on and ignore it? Or do we reflect and think about it and spend some time to be able to then move on so it doesn't affect us? And whether that's, you know, me as an individual just driving in my car thinking about what might have happened in the session or the match, or me sharing those thoughts with another coach. But like I say, I'm not sure sometimes that we give ourselves the time or opportunity because life's busy. Like there is almost so much to do. But I think that review and reflection piece allows us to like say, either process, decompress, share stuff, but like say, almost say move on sometimes.
[Louise]
I think as well that kind of review and talking about it with someone else almost like stops it from being such a big thing in your own head. It kind of breaks it down a little bit and makes it more manageable.
[Vicky]
Yeah, I totally agree.
[Louise]
In the past, has there ever been a challenge that you've faced that's impacted your well-being personally? And if so, how did you overcome that? I could write a book up here.
[Vicky]
But again, I think that's probably normal life that we think all this stuff only happens to us and not other people. Personally, like, I've had huge challenges along the way, you know, from bereavement of family members and the impact that's had, to just, again, the realities of being a grassroots football coach and trying to be everything for everybody. You know, There's times during the season where probably I've really struggled. You know, I do a job that I love and I'm always trying to help people. Spend a lot of time away from home and it's that reality of can't be there for everything. So I need to trust those around me, respect those around me and almost allow people to help me and not try and be the superhero that can do everything. But that's not easy. So yeah, that's been probably a real big lesson for myself this year, but a really probably valuable one that will affect lots of different parts of my life, not just football.
[Jamie]
How easy was it in terms of to get people on board to come and help out? Easy in terms of like, were they willing to come and help at all or was it that a little bit of challenge at all?
[Vicky]
I would say a mixture of both. Easy in the sense that I was already coaching and working with other people so that was great. But probably a big part was understanding different people's motivations. So like, what was their why for being there? So my why is because I love football and I want to make a difference to those people that I work with and to be able to do that in my hometown is really exciting for me. But everybody has their own story or their own why or their own reason and that's really important and I'm not sure we always take the time to understand that. You know, yes we're coaches but we have our own motivations so those motivations could be totally different for different people in different settings. It could be for coaches that are like aspirational coaches that want to get a career in the game. So they might want to coach to get different experiences. They might be coaching because their child plays. And yeah, they do want to coach, but they're doing it to make sure their child has an opportunity to play and to make sure there's opportunities for them. And that's just two, you know, there's loads more. It might be, like I say, players who are transitioning from playing and starting to coach to give stuff back. So for me, the first bit was around actually, I've got these great people around me, but what's their motivations? Because that will probably affect what they're able to give or help or support with, or will offer different viewpoints on things. So again, whereas you might just think you don't agree with somebody, what's the angle they're coming at from it? Because that will tell you their reasoning and actually that changes the narrative sometimes. Like it can go from, why are you saying that I don't agree with you? Oh actually yeah, okay I understand why you're saying that and you know what your viewpoint is?
[Jamie]
Yeah, no, the reason for asking is just like it's just almost like it's interesting just to see in terms of like we say a lot of times like trying to get other people to help or just interesting hearing like personal stories in terms of how difficult or easy is it actually to get help. But you made a really good point there in terms of, we always talk about the importance of understanding players. What are their motivations? It's the same with coaches, with parents, anybody that's helping out, understanding their motivations, because that's going to impact the way that they behave. And also, ultimately, coming back to the topic of today, is there wellbeing as well? So it's just really important just to understand each other to really help with everybody's wellbeing as well, isn't it?
[Vicky]
Yeah, I just think, like I say, we're so busy as coaches trying to help everybody else that we perhaps don't always take the time to find out about each other or the people we even work with. We turn up at sessions, we have plans, you know what you're doing, but what about, like I say, beyond that? I think it can make a really big difference.
[Louise]
What are some of the challenges that coaches could face at training, do you think?
[Vicky]
I think there could be so many, I think it could be so different. I think coaches are really busy people and we're trying to fit lots in. So, you know, as coaches you always want to go and deliver your best session. Like you want your sessions to be good. You want your players to love being at football and you want your sessions to reflect that. And you know those days sometimes where things just don't go quite right? And it might not be because you haven't planned it, because you've done the plan, but for whatever reason the session just doesn't work. Like, that can be tough. And that piece where we said about, well actually, do you actually reflect and review and use it to move on. So, but there's also so many factors. We said earlier, like we've got the factors in our control, but we've got the factors outside of our control. Like the number of times you might have planned a brilliant session and the players come in and for whatever reason, like the players might have had their own bad days or struggles. There's other things that you could have injuries in your session. You know, it's, it's always really difficult. It's been a couple of times in my career where we've had a training session or a match where actually there's been a really serious injury or incident that's happened in it. Like that just changes everything in that moment. Everything that you've planned for everything, you know, you, you imagine how your evening or your day's going to go. And in that moment, like I say, everything changes, you know, having to be a coach that makes a 999 call for an ambulance. There are so many different variables that can happen in any moment from, like I say, your session not just going to how you wanted it to potentially a serious accident or an injury. And it's, you said it from the start, being able to control the things that you can control, having good people around you. I'm probably like, I say quite often, like being consistent for your players, so your players kind of know how you're doing and actually sometimes actually don't, if you're not doing so well, because players can sometimes help take some of the pressure off of you as well. Set it in the top tips, you know, you don't have to do everything. Your players are so capable. Sometimes they can be great to take the pressure off of you in moments.
[Louise]
And would you say there's any other different challenges that would come up on match day perhaps?
[Vicky]
Yeah, match day is different again, isn't it? We've said it, football's often a game of opinions, isn't it? And as a coach, your opinion on the game can be very different to those watching. You've got the dynamic, obviously, of spectators, so whether that's in youth or adult football, people come with a different interest. People like to see the results in the game. You've also got the dynamic of players, haven't you? How do you keep your players happy and loving the game? And how do you deal with conflict sometimes? How do you manage difficult conversations? How do you have the conversation that actually, you know, you might not be starting today, but you're going to start on the bench, but I know you can make a difference. Again, when we talk about mental health, you can spend so much time as a coach worrying about how you're going to deliver that information that almost by the time it gets there, that could have been what you've built yourself up on and not even the game. As a coach, you've got so many different things that you've always got to be thinking about and preparing for and planning for. And you know, sometimes it's just about going and having a go at stuff. Sometimes we can spend so much time worrying about something, we almost just need to do it to know what it's like or feels like to even learn, actually, I'm not going to do that next time. I'm going to do it this way next time. But match day obviously brings different challenges to training.
[Jamie]
You mentioned a really good point there in terms of like, almost like you could be worrying about everybody else's well-being as well. And I was going to actually ask in terms of how you could potentially manage that in this scenario. But you provided a really good example there in terms of like saying to a substitute for instance, they might be absolutely gutted about missing out, but the way that you phrased it there was like, don't worry, like you're going to get your chance sort of thing. And it's like you're a game changer sort of thing, like, and almost like reassuring them. And it kind of changes the narrative a little bit, doesn't it?
[Vicky]
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's what I say as a coach, you know, you've got to know your players. So, you know, some players will receive that information better than others, but I think a lot of that links to the environment that you create anyway, you know, you being consistent with your players and them knowing what to expect from you, how you're going to give that information. We talk quite often about creating a training environment where players want to go to. So I've probably said it before, often we have a culture where, if you don't train, you don't play. We want to create an environment where actually we just want players to love coming to training. Like, it's not like a bribery. Like we want them just to love coming to training, just because they love being there. Whether that's because it's social and they get to see their teammates, whether it's because they want to keep learning and developing. But as a coach, and again, like that wellbeing piece, like We want our players to be happy and to love it. We want there to be an open process where players can talk to coaches and vice versa, for coaches to be able to talk with players. And if we get that bit right, actually it probably takes the pressure off a little bit of match day because the conversations will always be challenging because like I say players just want to play football. Every single player wants to get there, put their kit on and get on the pitch but the reality is you only in the adult game 11 players can start and a new football will be left. So it's how do we deliver those messages, how is it consistent, how do we deliver it so that we don't worry about it as coaches or makes us really anxious or nervous? Because I could say that's just one tiny component of what's going to happen in that day.
[Jamie]
One of the phrases that you've used a couple of times on this podcast is controlling the controllables. Out of interest, like I'm trying to think of what could help coaches potentially reduce a little bit of pressure. So please correct me if I'm wrong, you don't have to agree with this at all. But is it possible that if you almost like maybe redefine what success is for the day almost like, or you've got certain values that you just want to achieve on match day, would that help handle sort of expectations, the pressure and maybe improve wellbeing at all?
[Vicky]
Yeah, absolutely. I've said it before, you know, as coaches, probably we're looking for different things on the sideline than the people standing on the sidelines and watching. So being able to define what success is in that moment. And that could be anything. That could be success for an individual. That could be success for the team. We talk quite often about performance over results. So actually, like, if you've been working on something and training and they then go and do it in the game, as a coach, that's the best feeling. And when the players start to recognise that as well. We, like as an example, we've been working on some defending stuff and we're talking about actually success isn't always making that big tackle. Success might be actually our team shape is really good. So it means that we can put pressure on and then we can intercept the ball so we win the ball back. So it's the players understanding what success looks like and then us probably praising and recognizing it when it happens. So no we're not celebrating because we scored a goal but actually we're praising and recognizing actually do you know what your shape was fantastic then. We press and then we're able to regain and in that moment that really helps our players. I think in some areas of the game, there's a real opportunity to share those success measures with our parents. So if we're coaching youth football, actually there's no harm in saying to the parents, this is what we're working on in training. These are things that we're trying to watch out for in the game. And if you see it, actually give the players a clap or shape the conversations in the car on the way home, like around those things. And we almost reframe sometimes what we're going after. But again, as coaches, we've got to be brave to share that with those, you know, say we're trying to do everything ourselves. Can we try and share some of it and take people on the journey with us so it's not just us trying to do everything?
[Louise]
And I think it would like having that interaction with the parents and if they're on board with that, then it really helps to build the journey of like success and kind of where they go in and all of the little bits that go into it not the kind of just the winning or goals or whatever.
[Vicky]
Yeah absolutely and you know Control the Controllables is about how can you just make your life as easy as possible as a matchday because there's almost so much extra stuff that you end up just having to do. So, you know, I say it all the time, but like involve the players. So actually if you've got pictures that help, like need setting up, even if it's corner flags, like players can help do other jobs as well. That's one thing then that you don't have to be worrying about, you know, your team lineups or your substitutions, how much can you plan in advance so you're not standing on the sideline then trying to juggle and do everything because that's pressure and that's really tough. Your key outcomes of the day, you know, what three things are you going after? Like, can you plan it and tell your players and your team talk. So it's almost like, like I say, because that moment that the whistle blows and you're on that touchline, there's so much to think about. I think it's really easy for coaches to say to feel, like feel that pressure and it can be tough.
[Jamie]
Yeah, that's it. It's really important just to try and open your mind a little bit to go we can delegate some responsibilities whether it's players, whether it's the parents or carers on the sideline that it could be from anything from like say setting up pitches to maybe even observational tasks or any other admin or something like that just trying to almost like create a bit of a community behind the coach, isn't it really? It's just so important.
[Vicky]
Yeah, no, absolutely.
[Jamie]
You mentioned in terms of like on match day, the people on the sideline might see things a little bit differently, just out of interest. Do you have any top tips to maybe help coaches deal with like challenging situations where maybe there is a little bit of a disagreement or it's just a bit of a challenging conversation between a parent that you might have to have at all?
[Vicky]
Yeah, there's going to be different situations all the time. I think the first thing is that you've always got to keep yourself safe. So don't ever go and have a conversation that you think could get confrontational or actually, you know, I think sometimes there's a time and a place, but I think sometimes there's also an opportunity and sometimes it's, you feel really uncomfortable doing it, but sometimes you almost have to challenge certain, I think maybe behaviours. And I say that in terms of, if you are able to share as a coach what you're going after, so like, you know, when you talk about sharing those successes, actually this is what success might look for us today, or this season, or this is how we're trying to play. Sometimes the more that you share that with those around you, the easier it is then to challenge them and almost remind them and say, well, actually, do you know what, I understand what you're saying, but remember what we're trying to achieve here. So you're frustrated over this, but actually, do you know what, she didn't go and win the ball then, but actually we did the next time and we're really happy with that. Or quite often, we hear it quite often, when the ball gets passed backwards, why are you passing the ball backwards? Well actually, do you know what, we've passed it backwards, but we've kept the ball and we haven't given it away. So we maybe take for granted that as coaches, we know what we're doing, we know why we're doing it, but not everybody's on that same journey as us. So we've almost got to be able to share to be then able to challenge and help them with it and I say get them on board, but to understand the why, But it goes both ways, doesn't it? You know, you've got to share to do that, but also, like I say, you've always got to keep yourself safe.
[Louise]
How would you suggest that people try to maintain good wellbeing? Is there things that you kind of plan into your setup or your planning, even for sessions or day to day.
[Vicky]
Being really honest, it's probably something that I've always struggled with. How do you look after yourself the best you can when you're always trying to look after everybody else? I do just think it's like say it's about keeping that support network around you and like I say that might be fellow coaches but actually that might be away from it, that might be you know your friendship network or your support network. For me it's really important to try and make time for my wider network, you know I spend a lot of time away from home and I'm really privileged to do a job that I love doing But juggling that with then going home and doing grassroots football, sometimes you just find yourself with no time So I think it's really important to try and make the time sometimes You know, you can easily get weeks to turn into months and then it's another season So trying to make time for the things that are important for you, because that's going to make you feel good. And if you're feeling good, you're going to be the best version of yourself.
[Louise]
So maybe like plan some time in ahead, like if you've got, I don't know, maybe it's a once every two weeks or once a month, if that's all you can give, like at least if it's in your diary it's kind of something.
[Vicky]
It's a commitment isn't it, you make it. I've got a calendar on my fridge at the moment and it's got different colours on it. So my work is all one colour, so if I see the calendars all full of one colour that is not a good place to be. So yeah I've got work, football and then a different colour like for family and friends almost and social things. And it's like I say, it's more of a visual prompt to say, I need to find some time or I need to like adjust some things to make sure, try and get that balance as best as I can.
[Louise]
That's a really good idea actually. Like that visual thing.
[Jamie]
Yeah, yeah.
[Vicky]
It's a visual reminder it's there, you can't hide from it.
[Jamie]
It's a really important message though as well isn't it, like in terms of trying to, I suppose it's like every day, like that work-life balance, but of course in this situation it's work-life and football balance as well and it is trying to do that because it's trying to find the bits that really make you, you in terms of and can kind of recharge your battery almost isn't it?
[Vicky]
Yeah we just take it for granted we think we can just do everything all the time you know and just keep going and at some point we can't and like I say you'll start to feel it we all know maybe you know if we're a bit tired or yeah we like we know it in ourself and if we know it people around us will start to recognise and know it too.
[Louise]
I guess it's even just simple things as well, like trying to get enough sleep. And that's one of the big things that people always talk about with well-being and drinking plenty of water and just kind of making time for those little things that seem insignificant but they can make a big difference.
[Jamie]
Yeah, absolutely, it's just all looking after yourself and I know it's easier said than done sometimes with, you know, work loads and especially with the amount of time that volunteering in football can actually give. But yeah, please do kind of think about at least if there's one thing to take away from this podcast is just to kind of think about ways that you can kind of recharge your battery and look after yourself and to be the best version that you can be. Talking about obviously helping people with their wellbeing, in your role, have you ever find yourself supporting a coach with their own wellbeing at all?
[Vicky]
Yeah, naturally. I think it's a conversation that comes up quite often now. Coaches don't have a lot of spare time. And I think some of the conversations I have are around coaches that really want to go and deliver great sessions and feel like they don't have the time to put in. And then that affects their well-being because it's like how it makes you feel. So Probably some of my work is around how do we help coaches with their plan and how can we signpost them to where they can get sessions and content really easy to take the pressure off to say, actually, here's a website or here's English football learning, go here, get some sessions and you can use it. And then that's one thing that actually you don't need to worry about. And like I say, there's always other conversations as well. There's, like I say, there's always challenging conversations. Sometimes there's the different coaches have different challenges with players because all of our players have individual needs. Some of the struggles sometimes around managing difference in sessions, but that can be really tough for coaches. Like I'm really trying my best and I don't feel like I'm giving my players enough. So when we talk about that well-being, it all links. So I think sometimes it's trying to, I could say, have that conversation, find out probably what might be causing some of these feelings and almost like taking a few steps back and then almost trying to find some solutions to some of it. And then, like I say, hopefully then it starts to take some of the pressure off. But then, like I say, you've almost got to just go and have a try at some stuff, which in itself can be scary.
[Jamie]
Are there any maybe tools or other methods that you would recommend to help coaches stay on top of their mental health? We've had quite a lot of really good advice, but is there anything else that coaches could potentially use?
[Vicky]
I think sometimes it's just being aware of the support around you. And like I say, that'll be different for everybody. Everybody needs something different. But I think sometimes it's just recognising when you might need some help and support whether that's like you know informal for you know friends and having conversations or more formal support and you know sometimes just being brave to take that first step of going actually do you know what I'm not feeling great.
[Jamie]
Yeah I think that's the important step isn't it, reaching out and just thinking what can I do, what support is there to help me, it is a really important step to take?
[Louise]
And perhaps even just thinking about what that support would look like to kind of take that pressure off, because it might be that some stuff you could keep doing or some stuff feels okay but it's just certain tasks that are maybe a struggle.
[Jamie]
Yeah and that support network that's been a big message of this episode really is building up that support network maybe it is the fact that if possible I know this is might be different for each individual but if there are parents or co-coaches or whatever that might be able to help out maybe take a training session so they might give you that training session off now and that might be difficult because we all love football and we want to be involved but I'd like to think that that's okay to do like sometimes just have to look after yourself and if somebody else can step in and take a session or something just to give you a bit of breathing space to recharge and come back it'd be a nice thing to do.
[Vicky]
Absolutely and you know it's such an important message as well though to our players as well sometimes like we're all human and yeah you know sometimes it's alright to not be okay yeah Like sometimes we just need a week off, we just need a break and say the power of role models of coaches and the impact that makes on our players too.
[Louise]
Looking back at everything we've discussed throughout, can you summarise the key top tips that you want coaches to take away.
[Vicky]
Recognise your support network, take that time to reflect, to reflect and reviews that will help you move on. Don't be afraid to probably share things wider. So when I say that, I mean around, you know, how can we take the pressure off ourselves sometimes as coaches, So delegate responsibilities, get players involved with tasks and feedback information. And likewise, parents or supporters on the side, how can we control the controllables? So, you know, how can you plan and prepare as much as you can to take your pressure off of you, you know, in those pinch points, so you know, on those match days or when you get to training, you know, how can you have everything as ready as you can be because I think, say, all of those things just take the pressure off a little bit and probably make you feel like you're in a better place with things, so then like I say, you can go out and be the best that you can be.
[Louise]
Brilliant and then what we've been doing lately is asking our guests to kind of set a bit of a challenge to listeners whether they're struggling with their well-being or it's just something that they just want to set into their working pattern I guess. What kind of thing would you challenge them to have a go at?
[Vicky]
Yes I'd say my challenge would probably be around do you know who your support network is? And I said it earlier actually do you know what like what their motivations are as well? So if you know coach as a group of coaches what are each of yours motivations? And then a step beyond that actually, if you're struggling to identify who your support network is, I think that's a really great opportunity to probably start to build one and make those connections. So yeah, probably that I'd say that would be a good challenge to go away and think about.
[Louise]
Do you have any tips for, you know, someone doesn't feel like they've got a support network around them where they might find those people?
[Vicky]
Yeah, I think probably within, you know, if we've got coaches who are in clubs, naturally that means there's lots of like-minded people in one place. And sometimes it's just about finding your people. So it's around actually within that club network, you know, what other roles are there in the club? Who are your key people who coach and manage different age groups? Who's the coach on the session next to you when you're coaching? You know, we say it, coaching can be quite lonely and isolating sometimes. You know, we get our training slot, we turn up at our slot, we've got our kit, we set up. How often do we talk to the rest of the coaches on the pitch or anyone around us? Because we're almost like we're in our zone. So I think for those who actually might not know who their network is, I think there's probably loads of people out there. It's almost just about finding them and making them your network.
[Louise]
Brilliant.
[Jamie]
Right, it is time for our Swift Session feature.
[Louise]
Yep, so to finish off, we've got a 30 second challenge and we're going to ask you to explain a session idea to us in those 30 seconds. Are you up for that challenge? No problem. Okay, Once again, when the music starts, you can begin.
[Vicky]
So for me, any sessions that involve scoring and stopping goals are the best because everyone loves scoring. So this session is you need a mini pitch so you can have goals or cones. It doesn't matter. A goal at either end, two teams at either end, no more than four players really at each end, and it's all about letting the players choose. So they can choose to play 1v1 or 2v2 or 3v3 or 3v1, but it's about giving them ownership and letting them play the game. So, which is very much what we've been talking about all day, like, let the players choose.
[Louise]
Perfect.
[Jamie]
Lovely. Straight to time as well. And what a nice little session to be able to take away and yeah, give it a go. Let us know how it gets on in the comments as well. Well, Vicky, it's been brilliant talking to you. Yet again, thank you very much for giving us your time. Hopefully you've enjoyed being on, but it's been a really nice conversation and I know it's a really important topic that maybe doesn't get talked about enough. So thank you very much for sharing your time and your thoughts on it today.
[Vicky]
Thank you for having me back.
[Jamie]
Any time, any time. Hopefully you'll be back again. Right, that's all we have time for today, but don't forget to check out the episode description for the transcription of this episode and for all the links to our platforms. There you'll be able to click through to the England Football Community And this is where you can post all your coaching questions for us to discuss on the podcast or just simply to connect with loads of wonderful coaches.
[Louise]
Yep, 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.