A number of coaches recently had the opportunity to shadow the Carlton Football Club assistant coaches during their community camp in Shepparton. Read two write ups from the lucky coaches here.
Tony Pellegrino – Under 14 Coach - Shepparton/Notre Junior Football Club.
This year the Carlton Football Club conducted their community camp in Shepparton, during this time I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to shadow an AFL coach, an opportunity made possible by the staff at AFL Goulburn Murray. AFL players often conduct clinics in the country passing on invaluable knowledge to country footballers but rarely are coaches in the country afforded the same luxury. AFL Goulburn Murray are to be commended for such an initiative.
The experience of spending an hour or so with the Carlton Coaches was priceless. To witness the coaches and players professionalism first hand was outstanding.
Here are a couple of ideas that I felt may be relevant to junior football.
David Buttifant is responsible for the fitness of the players, he made some interesting points in relation to the fitness of junior footballers. He felt that it was far better for juniors to obtain the majority of their fitness from the ball drills conducted at training rather than sending them on a ‘boring’ run. The ball drill needs to be conducted at high intensity for a sustained period, try to simulate what a player may do in a game. Time is precious with junior players, we may only have them for a couple of hours per week. By training like this we are improving not only their fitness but also their ball skills at the same time.
Matthew Capuano looks after the 1st to 3rd year players. Interestingly one of his major objectives is to get to know the players outside of football. Learn about their interests and hobbies, what makes them tick. He feels that this helps to form a trusting relationship with the player and ultimately results in the player having an increased level of confidence in the coach. This type of relationship often sees the player giving maximum effort, without question. Robert Wiley, assistant coach at Carlton, also holds the same belief. A few years ago he was coaching an Under 17 colts team in W.A., the first thing he did was interview each and every player in their own home.
Often as junior coaches we tend to expect training to be perfect. Robert Wiley has a different opinion. He feels that a player needs to be encouraged to extend themselves at training. It is inevitable that mistakes will be made but training is for learning. In his own words, “it’s okay for training to be messy”.
A common theme from all of the coaches at Carlton was to be well organised at training, be sure to plan your sessions in advance. If you happen to be unorganised players will pick up on this and it will most likely have an impact on the way they train.
I would like to thank the staff at AFL Goulburn Murray for the opportunity to take part in such a wonderful session and the Carlton coaches for taking the time to pass on some of their knowledge. As coaches we never stop learning and if you are ever presented with such an opportunity I suggest you take part, you will not be disappointed.
Bob Boyer - Tatura Junior Football Club
Drawing the short straw can never be a good thing, or so I thought until mine was the first number out of the hat to shadow a coach at CFC visit this month. Myself along with Tony Pellegrino Shepparton FC, Damien Cupido Rumbalara FC and a coach from Benalla all Blacks FC were lucky enough to get out on the ground on Mercury Drive as the Carlton players trained. The Carlton backline coach and rookie mentor, Matthew Capuano, guided us through many of the drills explaining the reason why they were doing them. Many of the things he said reaffirmed the points that had been made at other coaching development opportunities provided by GMCA, such as; developing game sense, getting as many touches of the ball at training as possible, kicking the ball in game simulated situations, coaches building relationships with players, giving opportunities for two way feedback, and players taking ownership of the training session.
I was amazed by the amount of information and data that is gathered and shared with the players. This included blood tests, urine sample analysis, game footage, training footage, weigh in and outs, diet & hydration monitoring, and GPS data to name just a few. The players use I-Pads to receive this information on so that is immediate and usable. The I-Pads are a great tool for communication between players and coaches and are used by the players for diary entries, rating their games, training and general wellbeing.
In my own coaching with the Tatura under16s, I have implemented several of the training strategies observed, in particular getting feedback from the players. This has proven to be a great way to get the players engaged and motivated at training. The Shadow the Coach experience is one that I would jump at if given the opportunity again and I would recommend it to all coaches out there.
Last Modified on 16/04/2015 11:35