{"id":866,"date":"2020-04-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/reports\/10-considerations-for-your-coach-development-pathways\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:12:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:12:21","slug":"10-considerations-for-your-coach-development-pathways","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/10-considerations-for-your-coach-development-pathways\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Considerations For Your Coach Development Pathways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n Apr 07, 2020 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

10 Considerations For Your Coach Development Pathways<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Category<\/div>\n Coaching & Development<\/a> <\/div>\n
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Jamie Robinson of the FA introduces us to the association\u2019s systems, which favour an integrated approach that prioritises kinaesthetic learning.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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The Football Association may be the eldest in world football<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0but it has rarely enjoyed such levels of respect for its coach development and education pathways<\/span>\u00a0as it does today<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
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By John Portch<\/h6>\n

Central to this renaissance is Jamie Robinson<\/a>, the Head of Professional Game Coach Development at the FA, who has overseen the development of a programme that aims to produce numbers of qualified coaches, from grassroots all the way to international level, comparable with those in France, Germany and Spain – the three most recent nations to win the\u00a0<\/span>Fifa<\/span>\u00a0World Cup.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson, who has been at the FA for almost nine years, has a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that made him the ideal candidate to kick-off the recent Virtual Leaders Meet: Coach Development<\/a>, which replaced the physical event at the FA\u2019s national football centre at St George\u2019s Park <\/span>due to\u00a0<\/span>the coronavirus\u00a0<\/span>pandemic<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was a footballer in my teens and 20s, a coach in my 30s, and I\u2019m now a coach developer in my 40s,\u201d says Robinson as he recounts his own career pathway from the comfort of his home office in Shrewsbury.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to provide some personal insights into the culture of people development at the FA offer some thoughts about what the future may look like.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are ten considerations\u00a0<\/span>about<\/span>\u00a0coach development at your organisation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Understand your history and culture<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first meeting of the Football Association took place at the Freemasons\u2019 Tavern in London\u2019s Great Queen Street on the 26 October 1863. It is the world\u2019s oldest national\u00a0<\/span>federation<\/span>\u00a0and, under its auspices, England has produce a series of esteemed coaches in both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s game. It is quite a reputation to live up to. \u201cOur ambition,\u201d says Robinson, \u201cis to understand what the game means to people, means to society, and what it means to the nation.\u201d Often you will have rich seams of leadership, triumph and adversity to\u00a0<\/span>mine<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Consider your key influences<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson, as a Liverpool Football Club graduate of the late-1980s, speaks proudly of\u00a0<\/span>Anfield\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0fabled \u2018Boot Room\u2019, which saw Bill Shankly, the club\u2019s legendary manager between 1959 and 1974, succeeded by two of his assistants; first Bob Paisley, then Joe Fagan<\/span>, who was\u00a0<\/span>the last English coach to win the European Cup\/<\/span>Uefa<\/span>\u00a0Champions League. By the time Robinson was breaking through, the\u00a0<\/span>senior\u00a0<\/span>manger<\/span>\u00a0was Kenny Dalglish, another individual steeped in the values of the club. \u201cConsider the power of coach development and how you were developed as a coach over the last X number of years,\u201d he suggests. \u201cConsider who your key influencers were. Certainly, based on my background, it\u2019s the social interactions of family, friends, and learned colleagues. I also had the opportunity to be at Liverpool Football Club for the early part of my career and it\u2019s had a huge impact on how I think the game should be played and how people are with each other, and the standard required.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Develop an integrated strategy<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The FA is but one of the English game\u2019s stakeholders; Robinson mentions several others by name:\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0Premier League, the Eng<\/span>l<\/span>ish Football League [EFL], the Professional Footballers\u2019 Association [PFA], League Managers Association [LMA]. A coach education and development pathway must\u00a0<\/span>take into account<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>both\u00a0<\/span>their disparate and overlapping\u00a0<\/span>concern<\/span>s. Robinson suggests the need for, \u201ca collaborative purpose and a collective understanding of each other\u2019s roles and really trying to enhance our provision within the professional game. That provision is more streamlined, efficient and effective when we understand what each of us are doing and what our roles and responsibilities are. It helps to support the game that we all love.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Turn theory into practice<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The FA will provide game theory an<\/span>d<\/span>\u00a0CPD opportunities<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0but it is imperative that they are put into practice if they are to lead to genuine development. Robinson sums it up with a metaphor about the reels on a slot machine. \u201cThe three reels are the essence of what coach development and education is about,\u201d he begins. \u201cThink about the three reels as one is about the players, what are they doing; the second on is about the coaches, what they\u2019re doing, what they\u2019re seeing, what they\u2019re reflecting on; the third one is about the coach developer, what he or she sees or reacts to or reflects on or analyses. Those three reels are whizzing around all the time when practice is going on, when games are in play, and it\u2019s up to the players to make sense of what\u2019s going on first and foremost, that\u2019s the key thing. All we do is clearly wrap around the needs of the players. The coaches then work out practice design, practice programme design, integrated strategy, thinking about how they\u2019re going to interact with the players, thinking about how they\u2019re going to create peer groups, analyse work in units.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Most learning is done in-situ and the FA has its 70:20:10 ratio<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson says that 70% of its coaches\u2019 learning is done in the field; 20% stems from peer to peer conversations; and the final 10% comes from classroom-based work. Of the 70%: \u201cW<\/span>e want you to recognise what\u2019s going well, what\u2019s not going well, how is my work going with the staff, how am I being effective, how am I being impactful? People bring a lot more to the table than just the course or the activity; we try and tap into that experience. The second bit is when you get together with your peers and share your reflections on activities, in your work, we do in-situ, in-club support visits over the course of a year. It\u2019s a huge commitment getting in alongside people and you need a big staff to be able to do that effectively.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That leaves 10%, which Robinson insists cannot be dismissed but does require considered planning. \u201cThe 70:20:10 principle suggests that only 10% of your learning is grabbed from those days, those formal, structured activities,\u201d he explains. \u201cI flippantly say to the team the best bits of learning we do are in the bar, so why don\u2019t we just do the course in the bar? It doesn\u2019t quite work out like that but the essence is that you need people to be relaxed and comfortable with each other to be able to share their insights, experiences in a supportive environment so that you can get into the nuances of what they do.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Voice and choice<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Voice and choice\u2019, according to Robinson, refers to\u00a0<\/span>a coach<\/span>\u00a0or coach developer<\/span>\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>ability to adapt in\u00a0<\/span>their\u00a0<\/span>context. \u201cVoice and choice\u00a0<\/span>is<\/span>\u00a0absolutely fundamental to adult learning,\u201d he insists. \u201cThat\u2019s where people recognise what they\u2019re doing. It\u2019s not a selfish philosophy, it\u2019s about whenever you\u2019re going into a club [as a coach developer]: are you doing for yourself or are you doing for the benefit of the coaches and their players?\u201d The same goes for coaches: \u201cIf you\u2019re doing it for yourself more than you\u2019re doing it for your players and that beyond the focus on your task, then that leads to a fixed mindset and doesn\u2019t allow you any growth. Your task focus must be at the forefront, not your ego.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Self-awareness is critical to success<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the things said to staff members over the years,\u201d says Robinson in reflection. \u201c\u2018What do I need to do to pass?\u2019 It doesn\u2019t really matter what I think you need to be\u00a0<\/span>do<\/span>\u00a0to be able to pass; you need to recognise the elements you need to get better at and how you\u2019re going to continue your journey as a coach throughout your development. Autonomy is fundamental; a sense of ownership; but that\u2019s not at all costs. How does it link to a sense of belonging, something bigger than just\u00a0<\/span>ourselves<\/span>? Then how do you assess competence? It doesn\u2019t have to be\u00a0<\/span>comparative;<\/span>\u00a0it\u2019s about creating circumstances where players and coaches feel the one key element to becom<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0better is\u00a0<\/span>try<\/span>\u00a0to be the best you can be. It\u2019s got to be related to yourself and your own circumstances.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

8. Emotional intelligence comes from relationship building, not a module<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Your coach education and development should teach emotional intelligence, but do not fret if there isn\u2019t a clear syllabus. \u201cWe\u2019ll set up a lot of modules on a lot of things across the qualification landscape that we\u2019ve put together; but to say we\u2019ve got an off-the-shelf module that we\u2019ve put together – I couldn\u2019t tell you that today,\u201d admits Robinson. \u201cBut the more work you do with coaches in the field and see the circumstances in which they appear to get aerated, what annoys them; you can have that filmed,\u00a0<\/span>mic\u2019ed<\/span>\u00a0up and then allow them to reflect on that. That takes a series of relationship-building sessions<\/span>;<\/span>\u00a0they\u00a0<\/span>have to<\/span>\u00a0be able to feel really comfortable in your presence to get to that point. I really don\u2019t see that as a series of sessions apart from\u00a0<\/span>establishing\u00a0<\/span>what does the coach look like when he or she gets aerated in the work they are doing and why did they get emotionally hijacked; what are the reasons behind that and how can we help them with some of those elements?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

9. Prepare coaches for mental attrition<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Being a football coach is one of the most stress-inducing roles in elite\u00a0<\/span>sport<\/span>\u00a0but the ranting often witnessed on the touchline serves little\u00a0<\/span>purpose<\/span>, as athletes will tell you. Ideally, says Robinson, you would\u00a0<\/span>better\u00a0<\/span>prepare the coach for moments of the highest threat state<\/span>\u00a0and limit such displays<\/span>. \u201cIf you ask them what they\u2019re doing and why they\u2019re doing it and they don\u2019t know, it\u2019s the start to try and unpick why they\u2019re doing what they\u2019re doing in those circumstances,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou can talk to them about focus. You can ask them why they are there, what they are trying to do, what they\u2019re focused on, we can talk to them about recognising why they are there and what they\u2019re trying to do, their focus of the day and how they get drawn into conversations with the referees, or other coaches; they\u2019re not required and they\u2019re not focused on what they should be doing. It should be about observing the players, recognising good behaviour, recognising things at half time or during breaks in play that you might be able to help players with.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1o. Individual development plans<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Individual development plans, for coaches at all levels of the English pyramid, will be the ultimate culmination of the FA\u2019s good work in achieving the above. Robinson says: \u201cThe next era will hopefully see individually owned coach development plans, which coaches can really use to help them to continue to evolve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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What is it going to take to win in 2020?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That is the focus of our latest Performance Special Report. Download The High Performance Manual: Winning in 2020<\/em>, which features sports organisations as diverse as Red Bull<\/strong>, the Brisbane Lions<\/strong> and the Royal Military Academy<\/strong> discussing the pertinent topics across Leadership & Culture, Coaching & Development, Human Performance and Data & Innovation.<\/p>\n