I thought it was time to introduce myself properly and share with you my journey so far into coaching and how its expanded across football. My Football journey hasn’t and isn’t solely coaching. My footballing journey to date has and I know will continue to be affected and impacted by multitude of individuals who some are family, friends, colleague and mentors. To whom, I am all very grateful to where I have got to today.
Throughout my childhood, I represented and played for the same team and same club throughout U8’s to U18’s through loyalty and love for the club. That had started coaching me on a Saturday Morning ‘soccer school’ session to go onto play over 218 times. Upon early realisation of not being able to pursue a career as a player and then having conversations with my dad. He advised me to think about the next best thing…Coaching! Just after my 13th birthday, my dad reached out to the individual who oversaw all community events, sessions and projects at the time to arrange a meeting with me to talk about volunteering and coaching. This led me to a summer and season of volunteering and working on holiday camps in the holiday periods and volunteering with the Saturday morning sessions with the U6/7’s which is where my football all started. I soon realised the enjoyment and passion I had for coaching and working with people to help them learn and develop. Through the next two seasons I was adding on team training sessions in the evenings, where I was supporting and assisting our volunteer managers and coaches with their sessions with occasional running of practices or warm ups.
In the February (Coach education week) of 2013, I with a few other young coaches enrolled and completed successful my FA Level 1. This for me was what felt like my first big milestone in coaching, I was now a holder of a recognised coaching qualification. The September of 2013, I continued to add more and more team training sessions on top of the season before. Where now I was coaching 6-8 hours a week whilst also training and playing myself.
2014, was a fantastic year for me both coaching qualifications but also coaching experiences. February, I completed my FA Level 2, November FA Level 2 GK Course, FA Youth Award Module 1 and Module 2. At the time, I had hunger to learn and speed through every and anything qualification wise that I could. I was learning and enjoying every moment of each course. Now I reflect, and realise that I never truly appreciated the content and relevance of the content on the course due to the complete of 3 qualifications across 6-8 weeks. This also all taking place meanwhile I had started my A levels at my secondary school’s sixth form, I had selected to take 4 A Levels at AS Level. Not only did I select ‘heavy’ subjects, I was coaching some weeks 12-16 hours a week in the evenings and weekends.
The summer of 2014 can be defined as a rollercoaster! Early during the summer months, I had been nominated and won Young Volunteer of the year within my county FA awards and also In the South eastern regional awards. This led me to being shortlisted for the FA’s National Young Volunteer of the year. Alongside winning and being shortlisted for these awards, I was on cloud 9 and felt very invincible and that I was only going forward and up at fast rate with no stopping. But this did all last too shortly, with the coming of AS results day…… D,D, F, U. My coaching successes had came to the detrimental of my education and therefore put in me a position where I could of been without an educational institute and not be moving forward with higher education! After a discussions with my head of sixth form and parents. We decided it was best to take a Btec National Sport Diploma whilst I continued with my History A Level and retake my AS History Exam. This meant the an extension of an another year within sixth form. This was something that I was unsure and uncomfortable about but didn’t want to leave school just yet and had aspirations to continue with coaching as much as I could.
This period included a sit down conversation with my mum who suggested and showed me the possibility and exploring of coaching at higher education at university. I had assumed and thought that this would not of been possible due to sport at university being stereotypically ‘sports science’. Yet I had assumed wrong, sports coaching and coaching studies was a relatively newly created degrees across a handful of universities up and down the UK. However, upon a google search of ‘football coaching degrees’ I had found straight away at the top of the list. The place I wanted to study at, and the place I could see myself fitting in. At an open day visit, with my parents in the pouring raining, we travelled across the M4, the Severn Bridge and found ourselves in South Wales. I immediately found a spark and connection to the course, staff, facilities and the university. This had motivated and pushed me to do my best at school to get the grades to get into this university. I had achieved Double Distinction * and C at History and I was off to university in September 2016.
This year 3 period during university saw me complete over 400 hours each year coaching, achieve a first class degree with honours, 6 months (2x 3 month periods) coaching in America across 4 states, working with U7-12 in a professional club development centre, FAW Girls Performance centres with internationally capped players, Working in step 4 Mens senior team, and Universities’ Mens 3rds team and obtaining my UEFA B licence in April 2019 to sign off my time in South Wales. My Studies included modules of : football coaching, business management, sports science, strength and conditioning, psychology, performance analysis and football development.
From September 2019- to present. I have been working as a Football Development Officer, Assistant club secretary, club Welfare officer full Time at my childhood grassroots club, Working within the foundation phase of a academy and working within a academy set up at my local step 2 club coaching the Under 18’s and being the physical performance lead. In this time, I have reflected and seen numerous personal and professional development which has occurred both endless opportunities and experiences and also formal/informal qualifications. Such as Masters Degree, Mental health First Aider, Udemy Courses, reading books and blogs. As someone who I work with closely recently said to me, it’s not experience but experiences that make you a better person and coach. I have certainly been grateful and appreciative of those experiences and qualifications that I have been able to obtain.
Who knows what’s next? However I do know that I will continue to enjoy and love my coaching with the outstanding people and players I work with. In collabaration with the support of great colleagues and mentors all for the development of people and players.
Sempre Avanti – Always Forward
Sempre Avanti Coach 