Lindon Cooper Westmorland FA Coach Mentor

2016 / 2017 Season Winter 2016

Wattsfield J.F.C With summer upon us & the start of another season working with the Wattsfield J.F.C. We began the pre-season with lots of small sided games enabling the players to make lots of decisions relative to the game, This also allowed me to show the coaches the importance of being able to let the children play & then go in & do some one on one individual coaching. Setting different tasks to different players depending on there individual ability. Some would be difficult to stretch the high achievers & some tasks would be more about boosting the Confidence of a player.

Every Wednesday at Howard street I support the boys under 9’s 10’s & 11’s plus the girls 10’s & 12’s The set up is what I would call a model club with all the correct facilities in place , lots of relaxed players having lots of fun but at the same time lots of learning too. Even if some of the equipment is a bit questionable !!

On a Sunday morning through the summer Wattsfield host the entry level sessions aimed at under 6’s which I supported for a few weeks. This again was a great environment for new players to come in & have a taste of what football look like

Girls Football The girls section goes from strength to strength with over 28 players now coming every week ….. I have been with Chris to support him & the girls on some of there match day games .. They have a really good attitude towards the game , there opponents & each other… Chris the coach faces many challenges with the girls section as he is a victim of his own success !! Above his daughter Shannon is taking the warm up as part of her little job to help dad each week with an arrival activity / warm up ..

Wattsfield J.F.C Winter Training commenced at Kirkbie Kendal school Astro turf in September.

Every Wednesday at Kirbie Kendal Astro turf Ian Bigland was there with his under 11’s, Gary & Alan Fawcett also were there with 12’s so I can support both teams, then the following hour Phil Chaplow & his 14’s came on along with Andrew Troughton & the under 15’s.. Meaning over 2.5 hours I could assist 4 teams with sessions or ideas or guidance on what they were working on.

I am supporting Ian and the way in which he delivers his sessions to the boys week in week out. I have challenged Ian to use the Tactics board a little more so the players really get an understanding of what Ian wants them to do in his session that night

I am working with Chris & the girls on managing his session , Content & outcomes for each session, one idea I have asked him to think about is working in 4 to 6 week blocks on one aspect before moving on to the next topic We also looked at :- arrival activities Session content Managing a large group of players Planning ahead Match day planning & organisation

With Phil & the under 14’s we are looking at ways that the boys can take what good things they do in training into there match day performances – its been suggested that they go very quiet in a game so I have been using sessions which require lots of communication to achieve the right outcome….

One of the targets for next spring is to host a CPD style event in which myself ,Steve Smithies & maybe Tom Penny skills coach could deliver some sessions to all the coaches from Wattsfield who have been supported. It could also be used to invite other clubs to come & see what we do in terms of support for there club or individually as a coach. I also want to sign post any coaches from the club who are not licensed coaches with the FA This evening could be used to also raise the profile of local courses in the area that are running from Westmoreland FA