The IFS football program is not just about training. Our environment enables us to educate our players; educate them about nutrition, the essentials of flexibility and core strength for elite performance and injury prevention, discipline and attitudes required to become an elite athlete, perseverance and focus being an integral part of their make up; the list goes on.
Recently we sent out some feedback to give parents and students a quick snapshot of how our players are travelling at this early stage. We chose the following criteria from the FFA handbook.
The criteria were easily observed or identifiable by the coaches.
Ability to focus/concentrate:
For example: Is the player listening intently to instructions or staring off into the distance, chatting with mates, juggling balls. Is the player able to complete drills as instructed or unable to do so due to lack of focus/concentration.
Willingness to learn:
This is somewhat related to the above in that if a player is not focused or concentrating, then it might be perceived that their willingness to learn is somewhat lacking. A willingness to learn can also be observed by the player asking questions, wanting to further practice particular skills, etc.
General attitude, discipline and conduct:
There are many aspects to this. Does the player arrive each day enthused or not caring? Are instructions adhered to or is there argument as to why they are being instructed to perform particular tasks. Are they helpful, with gear, with their teammates etc? Simple courtesies like responding to someone saying “good morning”. Do they arrive at training on time? Are they more concerned with what time training finishes than actually getting involved in training? Do they adhere to college injury policies or ignore them.
Perseverance/Eagerness:
For example: Does the player persevere in training; through the warm ups, learning new skills/concepts, at yoga classes, or only performs the tasks when the coach is watching. Do they sit out often when the drills are difficult or physically taxing? Are they eager to develop new skills and keep improving?
Passion/intrinsic motivation:
Although this is difficult to measure, taking into consideration the criteria above, it might be perceived that a player is lacking in this area if a number of the criteria are grouped together.
For example:
Player 1: arrives at training on time, fills out general health questionnaires each day, listens to coach’s instructions, completes drills according to instructions, volunteers to help if needed, wants to train and takes on board new skills/concepts.
Player 2: regularly late to training, fails to adhere to various policies despite being asked on numerous occasions, chats to mates or is otherwise distracted during training, wants to know what the time is and when the next drink break is.
There are many other, and varied reasons for players doing what they do, or don’t do. It could be they are overtraining, they are carrying injuries, something challenging is going on outside/inside college for them.
Procedures and policies are in place to allow us to identify possible issues.
Our concern is for the students and in helping them anyway we can.
It must also be appreciated that our coaches, having reached the highest levels in the game, have extremely high standards and expect nothing less from their players. The scores they give reflect this.
As I said in my speech at Open Day, it’s up to us to set the standard and we are not squandering the opportunity to do so. Captain of the Central Coast Mariners, John Hutchinson said in his speech to our students last week, don’t squander the opportunity you have now.
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