The coaches of football school and in general of the youth sports are called to perform different functions and diversified tasks. It’s evident, therefore , that they need knowledge and skills not only related to technical and tactical sport aspects but covering all the functions that they have to play .
The necessary skills can be divided into four categories :
- technical skills
- specific teaching skills
- psychological skills
- management skills
The coaches very often think that to play their role it’s enough to know how to play and to talk about football. This belief is often related by an attitude that any lack of progress of the little players comes from the athletes. This coaches’ attitude, to always put outside of them the issues related to the learning difficulties and the lack of motivation of their player, recalls the urgent need for coaches to improve their teaching, interpersonal and psychological skills.
The best way to understand the competences useful to the coaches in their job is to let the word to the coaches. In a study by John Salmela (1996), high level coaches have reported a list of skills considered necessary to lead athletes .
Here below the skills regarding those working with young athletes:
- Ability to develop critical thinking that helps to renew their interpersonal and teaching skills, especially when the athletes’ characteristics change significantly.
- Know how to train themselves constantly teaching better.
- Know how to evaluate and adapt their approach and the teaching strategies used.
- Build an environment and atmosphere really able to stimulate the learning processes.
- Ability to develop and enhance their personal style of teaching, being aware of it.
- Know how to help the athlete to set goals, at short and medium term, and to assess correctly their potential.
- Be integrate as much as possible in the psychological world of their athletes, offering them support.
(by Daniela Sepio)
