< Previous© August 2019 The Meath Coaster 50 Lesson: Seek alternatives, broaden your understanding of the coaching process and try new things – be creative. Take ad- vantage of the courses the FAI offer. Track down what other options there might be in the coaching world, different ways to deliver and what makes a good learning experience for players. Watch other club coaches. 3. Getting hung up on learning out- comes As a teacher I tend to organise activities based on a predefined outcome. Working in this environment really accelerated my own learning and being around excellent coaches, both full-time and part-time, re- ally challenged and developed my think- ing. You also had to be a lot more detailed and planned with everything that you did. This particular session had gone great! We had done 60 minutes on ‘movement’, I tried a new game I had made up and it worked brilliantly. The quality of my questions had been good, they had loads of fun and I was really pleased with the outcomes linked to the coaching theme. As we got to the chat time at the end I asked the boys about the different ele- ments on the topic, getting all the right answers I was hoping for, until one kid, Steven, said “I learnt how to mark”! We had spent an hour doing movement and finding space and he had learnt the complete opposite of what I wanted the players to learn! And that’s what I learnt that day. Finding space away from others was what I wanted the boys to learn but ultimately they will take from the session what is relevant for them. Lesson: Try not to be too rigid but have a plan and be flexible for this going in a different direction depending on the needs of the players. They are the ones doing the learning. 4. Keeping it real As a novice coach there is one main chal- lenge at that time; having enough games to keep the players interested. However, in this modern age as long as you know how to search online there are millions and as a new coach I did exactly that. I would find new sessions, print these off and try and ‘download’ onto the players. But I would also use drills and ‘conditions’ that I had been exposed to as a player. Luke was right (as annoying as that is as his mammy) The start the session had gone well, we were into a game and the rule was a ‘2 passes before you score’. Luke received the ball at left back with open space in front of him, had his second touch out of his feet and travelled up the pitch. Still with more space in front of him avail- able he had another touch, but that was his third, took a shot and scored, so I paused the game. It was only for fun but I was doing a learning point, he had taken too many touches and failed to pass. Luke simply turned to me and said “well that’s what I would do in a game”. Luke was right. Lesson: Try not to use practices or impose rules that wouldn’t happen in a game. Oh, and listen to the kids, sometimes they are smarter than you are! 5. The excitement of game day© August 2019 The Meath Coaster 51 The team I had this year and will continue to have are a really nice group of kids that are keen to play football and have a really good time doing it. The parents are a great group as well, they just wanted the best for their kids and were never any trouble at training or games. I even managed to get a few vetted for helping out at games etc. When I was a younger played back in the dark ages match day for me was a dif- ferent experience. As soon as the game kicked off coach would be pacing up and down the touchline, covering more miles than some of the players. Desperately wanting the players to win and the flurry of information would be shouted as they moved them around the pitch it was terrible. It was like PlayStation for adults. For some reason I think they thought and some still do think the kid’s team winning or losing was a reflection of them as a coach. Lesson: Take a metaphorical box with you to the game and just as you go out to coach, leave your ego in there. The game is about the players trying their hardest, learning some new stuff and having fun with their mates, that’s all. If we could I’d love to see so coaches, coach on match day from a little stool! It’s only through reflection we develop, improve and ultimately make the experi- ence better for the players but it is tough, challenging and can be painful. You just have to make the choice to be brave. §© August 2019 The Meath Coaster 52 C2 General Stamullen F.C. Club news W e are all back training and prepping after a few weeks off and are lov- ing training in the sunshine. We are busy playing some friendlies and getting match ready for September. Festival of football We had an absolutely amazing day on Wednesday the 24 th July for our FAI festi- val of football day. We had over 140 kids turn up to have fun and play some foot- ball and meet Richard Dunne and Megan Campbell. It was a great day for the com- munity and a special day for the club and we would like to thank the FAI, The com- mittee, the coaches, parents and everyone who helped organize it and helped out on the day. © August 2019 The Meath Coaster 53 Boys awards night After a short season we had Our boys awards night in Whytes function room on Wednesday the 24 th of July. It was a bril- liant night. We had teams from under 7 all the way up to under 14s and had awards for the most improved and player of the year for each team. Below are some pics of the night and some of the award win- ners (some of the winners were on holi- days so absent for photos). Well done to all the boys and thanks to all the coaches, players and parents for a terrific but short year of football. We are looking forward to going back to winter football and a longer season in September. Players wanted! Our under 14 girls and our under 13 and under 12 boys are looking for players. If © August 2019 The Meath Coaster 54 you know someone who is interested please contact the club on the details be- low. Club Contact Details: Email - stamullenfc@gmail.com Facebook - www.facebook.com/stamul- lenfc Club Secretary Marcus Kelly – 0851477825 Website – www.stamullenfc.com §© August 2019 The Meath Coaster 55© August 2019 The Meath Coaster 58© August 2019 The Meath Coaster 59 EST. 1950 Cockhill Road, Stamullen, Co. Meath T: 086 1731739 E: pro.stpatricksmeath@gmail.com Facebook Stpatricksgaastamullen/ Naomh Padraig GAA Senior Hurlers win the Hurling League in Style!! 1 st July the Pats hurlers took on Trim at home and won by a great score of St.Pat’s 3-09 Trim 2-05. Then on the 4 th July St.Pat’s played away in Baconstown to NaFianna and a very close second half ended the match in a draw of St.Pat’s 2-12 NaFianna 2-12. On the 20 th of July the team marched on to the Dunshaughlin pitch against Killyon in the final and what a match! The team were strong and didn’t disappoint their many supporters. They kept the lead right the way through the match although Killyon came back stronger in the second half the Pats matched them score for score and ended on the final whistle St.Pats 3-13 Killyon 2-06. Well done St.Patrick’s hurlers. B League Senior Team 11 th July the B league seniors played against Trim at home and won their match St.Pats 4-15 Trim 5-08 Senior Ladies 4 th July St.Pat’s ladies Championship match away to Navan but unfortunate- ly it wasn’t to be their night. 11 th July the ladies played in the Masita Cup against a very strong Skryne team and unfortunately lost. Camogie 2019 A hugh congratulations to our camogie players who played 3 matches against Kil- tale and they showed amazing skill, team- work and strength. These are a group of girls to watch for the future. Underage Football and Hurling Go games were still running up until the beginning of the month and a lot of the teams are now in summer leagues. We also have 8 ladies teams entered into the Autumn leagues across the different age groups. Next >