I am Archie Suter and I have volunteered at Faversham Strike Force FC for 4 years now, both as a coach and match day announcer at matches.I coach the Mini Boltz on a Sunday which is 4-5 year olds so lots of fun and energy as the children start their football journey while on a Saturday I travel home and away with our Men’s First team where I announce the starting line-ups, goals and important messages.

Part of my role as a volunteer coach is inspiring the children to be active and in this blog we will look at the key ways coaches can do this.

In 2023, I was surprised to have been shortlisted for Kent FA Young Volunteer of the Year, and before I knew it, I had won that award, and was onto the next stage and competing for the National FA award! This was an amazing feeling and I had so many people wishing me good luck and talking to me about volunteering. I was very proud.

Very soon after I got the call that I had won Young Volunteer of the Year at the FA National Grassroots Awards and would be going to Wembley to collect it. The day itself was incredible! The award was presented by Gareth Southgate and after collecting the award I bumped into the Arsenal and Manchester City players in the tunnel and managed to meet one of my heroes Jack Grealish. The wow moments didn’t stop there, as I was invited on stage to sing Wonder Wall with the band playing at the awards! All in all, the awards day was unbelievable and to share it with my family was great.

If you know someone who makes a difference in grassroots please nominate them – if they don’t win, the nomination won’t go unnoticed and will mean so much to them! And if they do, then how amazing is that! You can nominate someone in the game who makes a positive difference to your experience in football here: England Football Grassroots Football Awards | England Football | England Football

First of all when working with the youngest age groups, you must make your session fun and connect with them so build your sessions around TV shows or characters they like. Make it more about having fun than the activities themselves.

When coaching younger age groups my top tips would be to  understand that every child is different and that means you will need to adapt your communication. Don’t use phases only seasoned footballers will know and get down to their eye line. Children can be really excited to play football so do not stop this with long breaks or you explaining the whys to them in detail. Keep it simple, demonstrate and get them on the ball as much as possible.

When coaching young children  get to know their names and try to understand their motivations. Why are they there? Parents made them? Love Football? Want to be there with friends? Once you understand this you can build sessions that allow them to play for themselves rather than others motivating them. Think of a Primary School classroom when designing your practice: Colourful, fun, lots of choices and age-related topics. 

When you are having a bad day or struggling to get motivated to volunteer, let me know what gets you out of bed and out the door?

When coaching the early year age groups such as the 4-5 year olds, what is their favourite game they like to play?