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 …..
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 ..
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…
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