The Way Forward

 Football is by far one of the most popular sports, and it is a dream and an honour for many young players to play for famous clubs all over the world and represent their country. However, only a few players develop their abilities to reach this level of expertise. Nowadays, Professional Clubs like South United Football Club and National Associations are investing large amounts of money on new venues to identify and develop elite players. The reason behind this is that this is, indeed, a valuable investment since a player is unrestricted at the time of joining and may be worth millions in time to come.

If this approach is to be effective, it requires extensive knowledge and a great understanding of the development process leading to the Elite Level. To develop a specific model of Long-Term Player Development (LTPD), an understanding of the current generic models and theories surrounding Player Development and their application to football is necessary. Achieving this success is largely dependent on the successful implementation of the Coach Education framework at South United as it provides direction to the coaches in terms of what is needed for the development of players.

During these harsh times, with COVID-19 affecting the whole world, coaches have to be kept motivated, and their educational growth is one of South United’s top priorities. At South United, coaches have been kept engaged to keep their learning process ongoing. The focus is on different blocks of work like Delivering Home Educational Football, Strength Work for Players, 10 Week Programmes, Futsal Planning, Football Tournaments, Best Practices to Make Football Safe, etc.The coaches at South United have a willingness to learn, to work hard, and to dedicate themselves to football – not just at regular training sessions, which are not taking place at the moment because of the virus, but also in their own time at home. At South United, the coaches are constantly challenged in their work to bring out the best in them and to help them understand and accept a range of responsibilities.

South United creates a positive learning environment within its coaching philosophy, which also provides coaches with the best chances of succeeding when working with players. Planning is central to the role of South United coaches as it provides a framework for the entire preparation process for them to achieve the best results. The key areas of the Coaching Process are: 

• Plan sessions and programmes according to the needs of the players
• Deliver the coaching session
• Evaluate the session within the programme

With a UNITED approach from all parties at South United, the aim is to create high-quality opportunities and pathways to cater to the needs, aspirations, and ability levels of all players and hence match the right programme to the right player.