Taking Note: Why Coaches Should Keep A Journal

One of the finest football books of recent years is Simon Hughes’ Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout.  It tells the story of Geoff Twentyman who was Liverpool’s Chief Scout between 1967 and 1985, an era that was marked by the club’s unprecedented success built largely on an exceptional ability to identify talent.

What marks this book out is how it was written.  Rather than being based on the recollections of Twentyman himself (sadly, he passed away way before work on this book had started) it uses the meticulous notes that he used to take during every one of his scouting trips.

This was an extension of the practise within Liverpool’s fabled boot room of noting down different aspects of their work from training, recovery and tactical approaches in varying situations.  These dossiers eventually became the reference point whenever the club was faced with similar situations allowing them the luxury to judge whether to take a similar approach or not.

Bill Shankly took over at Liverpool in 1959 and the boot room was established shortly afterwards.  It is testament of how visionary that group of people was that the practices that they adopted are still as effective today as they were more than fifty years back.  

Essentially: every coach should be journaling regularly, documenting decisions taken and the reasoning behind them.

Never Trust Your Memory
To appreciate why that is there is the need to move away from sport and into the realm of psychology.  People act in the manner that they do because over the years their behaviour has been shaped by their own experiences.  The problem, though, is that those experiences and memories might not include all the details; they might be inherently biased.  There will be occasions when a positive result influences one’s recall of a choice or vice-versa.

Imagine if someone were to ask you to think back to a time when you missed the train and describe your experience.  The odds are that you will recall a negative experience.  This will also contaminate any future thoughts that you have and, if that same person were to ask you to imagine how you would feel the next time you missed the train then the likelihood is that you would predict a bad reaction.

All this is not conjecture but precisely what Dr Carey Morewedge and his colleagues from Harvard University found in 2005.  During their study they asked a set of people to recall the last experience of missing the train, another to recall their worst experience and another to think back three past experience.

Their findings showed that those who had been given free reign to think of one experience made the most negative prediction.  Further studies strengthened this theory that people tend to make overly positive or negative predictions if they were to rely exclusively on their memory: they fall prey to their memory bias.

This, clearly, has a number of implications in a football environment.  Let’s say that your team was thinking of bringing over a new player who has a particular character trait that might cause issues in the harmony of your squad.  If you’ve just come from a good season then you might be swayed into thinking that this too will work out well and that you’ll manage to integrate that player.

That might well turn out to be the case but, regardless, that decision was not made on the right basis.  Awareness is key to overcome any bias.  In such a circumstance, if a manager has records of previous transfers and thoughts before they were completed then he might notice instances that might be similar to his current situation.  Reading them and thinking of how they turned out would probably allow them to make a better informed decision.

It makes it harder to justify a certain decision when you have a divergent piece of evidence in front of you.

Accurate And Honest Feedback
Michael J. Mauboussin is an unikely source to find inspiration for football coaches.  He has no history with the game (as far as is public knowledge at least); he is instead the managing director and head of Global Financial Strategies at Credit Suisse and an adjunct professor of finance at the Columbia Business School.  

He has, however, also authored a number of books that look into decision making.  And it is the research that he has put into the latter that is influential

In an interview with The Motley Fool, he said, “when you’ve got a decision-making journal, it gives you accurate and honest feedback of what you were thinking at that time. And so there can be situations, by the way, you buy a stock and it goes up, but it goes up for reasons very different than what you thought was going to happen. And having that feedback in a way to almost check yourself periodically is extremely valuable. So that’s, I think, a very inexpensive; it’s actually not super time consuming, but a very, very valuable way of giving yourself essential feedback because our minds won’t do it normally.”

There might not be many parallels between those investing in stock markets and people who work in football but both have one feature in common: there are strong emotions in play which might lead one to make terrible moves unless they are fully conscious and aware of what they’re doing.  That is why Mauboussin argues over the importance of noting decisions.

It is a philosophy based on a discussion with Daniel Kahneman, one of the most brilliant men of our lifetime and who gave birth to the new science of behavioural economics.  In particular, Kahneman’s work helped to bring to light a number of biases that influence people’s actions.

“Many years ago when I first met Danny Kahneman…when I pose him the question, what is a single thing an investor can do to improve his or her performance, he said almost without hesitation, go down to a local drugstore and buy a very cheap notebook and start keeping track of your decisions.”  Mauboussin said in that same interview.

“And the specific idea is whenever you’re making a consequential decision, something going in or out of the portfolio, just take a moment to think, write down what you expect to happen, why you expect it to happen and then actually, and this is optional, but probably a great idea, is write down how you feel about the situation, both physically and even emotionally. Just, how do you feel? I feel tired. I feel good, or this stock is really draining me. Whatever you think.”

“The key to doing this is that it prevents something called hindsight bias, which is no matter what happens in the world. We tend to look back on our decision-making process, and we tilt it in a way that looks more favourable to us, right? So we have a bias to explain what has happened.”

Do It Yourself
While football is a simple game, the decisions made by those who coach or run a club are often extremely complex.  Often managers’ reactions during games are quasi-instinctive and heavily influenced not by rational thought but by past actions.  Unraveling why a decision was taken can be just as complex.

Writing is a way of facilitating that process.  The simple act of forcing yourself to put thoughts into words actually helps in giving them clarity and shape.

The journal that a coach maintains does not have to be a work of art.  To all extent and purposes it can be illegible to anyone but the person who wrote it.  There is no need for any jargon or deep, insightful thoughts.  Don’t feel under pressure to write something that is great, just write you’re your thoughts.

What there should be a modicum of organisation (so that when you want to look back to a particular decision you can find it with ease) along with clear, direct writing that avoids any vague thoughts.

Initially it might feel like an unnatural act, it can feel like pretentious rubbish.  Push past that resistance and eventually, after a few weeks you will come to appreciate just how important a tool this can be for a coach.

After all, if it was good enough for the likes of Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley, it should be good enough for the rest of us.

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A Goalkeeper's Life: Influence, Anxiety & Normality

Most often what people remember of goalkeepers is their mistakes.  Of all the positions in the game of football it is undeniably the harshest because one error can overshadow all the good work that one might do through the rest of the ninety minutes.  

And yet, for those called to the role, there is nothing better.   “I wanted a better chance to influence whether my team won or lost,” says Justin Bryant a former professional goalkeeper, current goalkeeper coach and author of the book 'Small Time: A Life in the Football Wilderness.' 

”When I was a young player, I got tired of losing games because whoever had reluctantly gone in goal kept letting the ball dribble through his hands. After that happened two or three times, I volunteered, and never looked back.”

This interview talks about why he kept on going in goal, what he learned and his ideas on coaching for the role.

Blueprint for Football: When did you decide that this was something that you wanted to do for the rest of your career?
Justin Bryant: It didn’t take long. I immersed myself in goalkeeping almost immediately. I would say that by the time I was fourteen, it was my identity. I never considered anything else.

BfF: What level of coaching did you receive?
JB: None, at first. I grew up on an island on the east coast of Florida in the 1970s. Nobody in that area had any appreciable background in the game. When I got to the high school level, I was lucky enough to have an expat Englishman, John McGeough, as a coach. His goalkeeping background was limited, but he knew enough about the position to help me understand the basics. 

I got a lot from reading interviews with Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton in old ‘Shoot’ magazines, and from watching professional goalkeepers in the league we had in the States at that time, the NASL.

BfF: You've written a book about your experiences playing in a number of leagues.  What brought that about?
JB: I’m not really an ex-player who wrote a book; I’m more a writer who just so happened to have been a goalkeeper when he was young. By the time I wrote ‘Small Time,’ I’d already published a novel, had a dozen short stories and essays in journals, and earned a Masters in Creative Writing from New York University. So, as a writer with a footballing past, it only made sense to write about my experiences as a player. 

BfF: In the book you write in detail about the stress and anxiety.  Is that part and parcel of a goalkeeper's role more than other players?
JB: I think some element of stress and anxiety is unavoidable. The potential for catastrophic, humiliating mistakes is there. Just look at YouTube. I skewed to the more extreme end of the anxiety spectrum, although my problem wasn’t simply pre-match nerves. I had them, but so does everyone else. My problem was much bigger and more overriding. I put huge pressure on myself to succeed, because the only identity I could imagine for myself was professional goalkeeper, and anything short of that would be not just professional but also personal failure. That was a pretty heavy burden to live with every day, and long term, it took a toll.

Outfield players have to deal with pressure too, but they have more opportunities to make up for mistakes, as they’re generally more involved in the flow of the game. 

My anxiety is not gone. It’s much less severe now, and I know how to manage it far better, but it’s still there, even at age 50 and with the pressure of chasing a career in professional football decades in my past. So it’s not something I can blame on goalkeeping. Indeed, going in goal these days is an absolute joy. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to do it, so I treasure it now.

BfF: Going by your own experiences, what do you tell other goalkeepers today who struggle with anxiety?  How important is getting the mentality right and do you think you developed that aspect of the game?
JB: If someone gets to the level of anxiety I had, they really need the professional help that I didn’t get at the time. If it’s the more standard pre-match nerves, or fear of mistakes, my preference is to focus on the positives of nerves. That adrenalin coursing through your body can help you make saves you simply can’t make in training. Pressure also helps you narrow your focus. So I try to help them accept the nerves, and make them work for you, rather than against you.

Getting the mentality right is at least half the battle. If a goalkeeper has the ability but not the mentality, you are not going to see consistently good performances. More and more, I think of these things in a holistic way. If a goalkeeper is struggling mentally, I ask them what it is they want from the game, what they hope to achieve, why they play. Is it fun? Okay, then have fun. Is it an identity, a calling, like it was for me? That can drive you to higher levels, but almost inevitably comes at the price of peace of mind.

I think I did develop the proper mental approach to goalkeeping, but it took time. I didn’t have the right balance until the last year or two of my playing days. 

BfF: How does a goalkeeper deal with letting in a goal largely because of a mistake he made?  How do you recover?
JB: Well, there’s how a goalkeeper recovers, and how a goalkeeper should recover. Many goalkeepers - young ones, especially - will dwell on the mistake. This will either negatively affect their confidence, or force them into acts of crazed bravado, in an attempt to ‘make up for it.’

A far better reaction is to allow yourself a natural moment of disbelief, anguish, and regret, and then file it away to be dealt with later, getting on with the game in the meantime. It’s not easy. You might, after all, have ten or twenty minutes with little else to do following a mistake, so it’s natural to dwell. It’s not a bad idea to have some sort of ‘move on’ trigger, like saying “That’s it” aloud to yourself, to refocus.

BfF: What is harder a match where you are constantly in action against a superior team or a game where he rarely touches a ball but is then called into action?  And how does one prepare for both?
JB: For me, the latter was always much more difficult. The longer you go with nothing to do in a game, the further you get from the time when you were handling shots and making saves in the warm-up. That’s one reason I admired Ray Clemence. In his and Liverpool’s prime, he often had just one save to make in games, and he would usually make it.

BfF: What are the biggest misconceptions that pundits say or fans think about goalkeepers?
JB: For a start, there’s the myth that getting beat at the near post is somehow worse than getting beat anywhere else. In some cases, such as from very tight angles, it is, but commentators and pundits use this as a catch-all critique, and it is generally nonsense. 

Put it this way: if a keeper gets beat at his near post, by a shot just two steps to one side, it would be just as bad if he got beat to the far post by a shot just two steps to his side. The mistake isn’t that it was at the near post, but that it was a shot well within reach.

‘Goalkeepers are crazy’ is also largely a myth. I have personally known hundreds, perhaps close to a thousand, goalkeepers in my life. The overwhelming majority are perfectly normal men and women who just so happen to enjoy diving around trying to catch a ball.

A surprising number of pundits and commentators don’t seem to understand direct free kicks. If a goal is scored, they will question the goalkeeper’s positioning, even when it is perfectly orthodox.

I also cringe when I hear a pundit say that every ball inside the six-yard-box should be the keeper’s, taking no account of how many players may be obstructing or challenging the keeper, the pace and trajectory of the ball, etc. Along these same lines is ‘dominate the box.’ Who dominates the box these days? The game has changed. 

Some people use the phrase ‘good shot stopper’ in a pejorative way, with the implication being that shot stopping is not what really matters. This is ridiculous. Goalkeeping will always primarily be about making saves.

I could probably give you a very long list of answers to this question!

BfF: You're now a goalkeepers' coach.  First off, what does your day to day job entail?
JB: There is no typical day, really. Often, at UNC Wilmington, we have a morning team training session, followed by some time in the office with the rest of the coaching staff, sorting out administrative tasks. I get into the gym most days, and do session planning and coaching education stuff in the afternoons. While you can watch goalkeeper training sessions from all over the world on YouTube, I firmly believe a goalkeeper coach should come up with at least some of their own drills and activities. Otherwise, you’re using someone else’s drill without really knowing what the coaching moments are. So I spend some time every day on the white board, experimenting with new ideas. Two evenings a week, I train youth goalkeepers for a local club, Wilmington Hammerheads. The schedule is different on match days and the off season.

BfF: Why do goalkeepers need their own coaches?
JB: Goalkeepers need to be trained to perform specific tasks in a consistently repeatable way under match pressure, with almost no margin for error. This needs to be done by someone who understands the technique needed for these specialist tasks, and can train, coach, and correct as needed. That’s the dry, factual answer. But beyond that, most goalkeepers benefit from spending time with a coach who understands and can relate to the unique physical and psychological demands of goalkeeping. Put simply, goalkeeping can be a lonely pursuit. Most of us can use an ally.

BfF: Do the coaching needs of someone who is largely a reserve goalkeeper and the regular keeper change?
JB: I think so, yes. I think you prepare a reserve keeper to be able to represent their best form when needed, but you’re flying blind, to a degree, since, without games, you don’t really know what their current form actually is. You also often have to be a little more encouraging, since they aren’t getting the games most players thrive on. You have to guard against them feeling unloved or sorry for themselves, and thinking that putting in hard work isn’t worth it.

With the first-team goalkeeper, you can tailor training to what you’re seeing from them in games. I like to find ways for them to have success with aspects they may be struggling with, while reinforcing what they’re already doing well, to keep their confidence high.

It should go without saying, though, that every goalkeeper is different, and you have to train the individual in the manner that is most effective for them. I can put a goalkeeper I don’t know through a decent training session, but once I get to know them, their personality, and what motivates them, I can put them through a much better session. 

BfF: How does one go about ensuring that there is a good understanding between the goalkeeper and his defenders?
JB: They have to train together as a unit, under match-realistic pressure from attackers. Nothing else can replicate that. Ideally, you overload them a little - give the attackers a numerical advantage, award them free kicks in dangerous areas, etc - but not so much that the defensive unit has no chance of success in training. I know most people think defensive football is boring, but I love the sight of a goalkeeper and back four coordinated in their thinking and actions.

BfF: What skills are essential for a modern goalkeepers?  And how have things changed from the past?
JB: It’s mostly the same skill set as always: good handling, reflexes, agility, power, and explosiveness, along with the mental skills of judgment, decision making, and emotional control. The biggest change from the past is being comfortable receiving and passing the ball under pressure, and of course, dealing with back passes, which a goalkeeper could pick up when I started playing.

There are some more subtle differences, too, borne from changes in the game as a whole. Compared to decades past, the ball is lighter and moves more unpredictably in the air, the pitches are better (at least at the professional level), leading to less direct, more possession-oriented attacking play, and referees are inclined to protect goalkeepers a little bit more. All this has combined to see a gradual shift away from big, bulky goalkeepers who were relied upon to deal with aerial bombardment, to leaner, more athletic goalkeepers valued for shot-stopping ability.

BfF: Do you see any changes or evolution to the role in the coming years?
JB: A lot of people seem to think Manuel Neuer is revolutionizing goalkeeping, and that his ‘sweeper-keeper’ style, by virtue of being modern and different, is inherently the best way to keep goal. I don’t. This is nothing against Neuer, who is a fantastic goalkeeper. He plays in a way that suits his skills and his team’s needs, but it’s not for everyone. Thibault Courtois and David De Gea don’t spend much time playing passes outside their box, and they’re both quite a few years younger than Neuer. So I haven’t seen a trend towards it, at least from top pros. 

Perhaps the next generation will take it to a new level, but I think we are close to being at a point of diminished returns regarding the sweeper-keeper. The value a team gets from the goalkeeper making successful interventions outside the box is balanced by the risk of those interventions. It only gets riskier the further from goal the goalkeeper takes touches, and most managers are risk-averse to begin with. So I don’t think we’re going to see the sweeper-keeper role evolve much more than it already has.

If there’s further evolution coming, it may be in response to another big change in the laws of the game, like we saw with the back pass law in the early 90s. Whatever it is, it will be designed to increase scoring, so goalkeepers will need to change and adapt along with the game itself.

Special thanks to Justin Bryant for taking the time to answer Blueprint for Football's questions.  Enjoyed this? Want more?  Sign up to Blueprint for Football Extra and as a free bonus you'll get a copy of our exclusive e-book Blueprint According To...Volume 3 that features interviews with six football coaches on how they go about their building their knowledge.

How Economics Explains Why Clubs Don’t Give Young Players A Chance

Each year, clubs at the highest levels of the game spend millions on their academy or youth system.  Each year, promising players train in these academies.  And, each year, they fail to get an opportunity to show what they are capable of.

It is an anomalous and fairly ridiculous situation that in many respects could only happen in football.  No other business would invest that much money and then fail to use what came through.  At least no business acting rationally would act that way.

The thing is that football clubs (as does any normal business, for the matter) act irrationally.  There is rarely any grand strategy in place and this is evidenced by how quickly confidence in a manager can deteriorate after a run of bad results, regardless of what that manager had achieved in the past.

For the past forty years, economists have been looking at ways to explain such irrationality.  The foundation of behavioural economics, this new branch in the science, was laid by two Israeli professors - Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman – who set economics down the path of looking at what influences people’s behaviour to determine how they act and why they do so in such a manner (for more information on these two and their work, read Michael Lewis’ fantastic book The Undoing Project). 

In doing so they looked at a number of psychological factors that influence people’s decision and prevent them from acting in a rational or consistent manner.

It is such factors that have to be looked at in order to understand what stops clubs from trying to maximise the investment that they make in academies.  And there’s plenty worth looking into.

One in particular stands out.

Any project like a football academy has to be based on a long term vision.  That much is obvious.  Yet it contrasts with most managers’ focus on the present.  It is a vicious circle that clubs effectively bring on themselves by failing to stick to long term projects.

It is a behaviour that behavioural economists will be familiar with, having observed and documented it in what has become known as the present bias.   This is the tendency to over-value immediate rewards at the expense of long-term ambitions, regardless of the impact that it might have later on in life.

A classic example of this is when a person fails to save up any money, opting instead to spend it in order to fully live ‘the moment’.  Eventually a time will come when it is too late to start saving up and that individual has nothing on which to turn.

That is what clubs are doing with their academies.  The absence of a long term project forces everyone on the playing side to focus on the immediate outcome.  Managers, knowing that their job could be at risk with a series of bad results, will opt for his more experienced players on whom he can rely more heavily.

Young players are more likely to make mistakes.  Regardless of their talent they may not by physically ready or might be too slow to react; making critical mistakes in the process.  Those are the mistakes that in truth they need to make in order to develop and learn yet managers rarely have the luxury of allowing them that room to grow.  Managers need players who can deliver immediate results.

They are biased in favour of those players who can help them in the present.

This is costing clubs heavily.  It is a short term view for a number of reasons starting from the obvious that the performances of older players tend to decrease rapidly once they hit a particular age.  The outcome here is that the club would then have to look for another player to replace him, thus spending more money to do so.  

What’s worse is that such spend is the equivalent of throwing money away.  For while that older player might ensure immediate reliability, the value of such experienced players rarely appreciates.  Within a couple of years that player will have to be moved on and often only a fraction – if any – of the initial outlay is recovered.

This contrasts with the value of a young player that tends to appreciate notably as they gain experience, confidence and start to express their ability on a more consistent basis.  Financially, the development of a young player is easily more beneficial than going for established ones.

Still clubs opt not to do so.  Again this is hardly surprising for behavioural economists who have an explanation as to why this happens: they are falling prey to hyperbolic discounting.  Without going into the technicalities of what this term means, essentially it refers to the decision making process whereby the farther away a potential return is, the more it is discounted and less it is valued.

It is only when clubs get to a situation where they have nothing to lose by trying something different that they really start to shed such bias.  A typical case was that of Borussia Dortmund who, after going to the edge of bankruptcy in their bid to regain their status in German football, opted to put their faith in young players (and a young coach).  Their rewards were immediate and significant: two league titles and a Champions League final.

Judging by the players that they have bought over recent months, Borussia Dortmund have made sure not to fall in their old routine – or fall back on their bias – by signing promising young players.  It is a brave move but, if the rules of behavioural economics are anything to go by, it could also be the right one.

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Bursting the Specialisation Myth

There is something terribly saddening in the way fans tend to talk of young players at their clubs.  The finality with which verdicts are delivered, and their brutality, is often of an incredible harshness especially considering that it involves individuals who are still in their teens.  It leaves you in no doubt that even at this level most fans see that success as the only objective.  Anything else is rubbish.

What is even worse is that some clubs act in the same manner.  Education delivered to the players is minimal with little care being given to whether enough attention is being given.  There is little empathy when players are released or an attempt to help them sort their future.  All that matters is whether that player will make it at the club and, if not, whether he is good enough to be sold on to someone else.  That is what defines success for them.

Yet that shouldn’t be the case says Dr. Martin Toms, Senior Lecturer at the University of Birmingham.  “It is my firm belief that we should measure success not by the number of kids who make it to a high level from the club, but that it should be done on a basis of legacy and enthusiasm.”

“The best argument for success is around numbers of kids from all levels who want to be involved, have fun and play the game, so the best indication of success is that these kids are involved the next year.”

“Clubs (at whatever level) have a moral obligation to act as safe, nurturing environments for all levels, talent and participation.”

First of all can you explain what your area of expertise involves?
As a Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching in the world renowned School of Sport & Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham, I look at the development of talent from a socio-cultural perspective across many sports. For example, whilst we know that there are biological and psychological characteristics in sporting talent, we often forget that what underpins all of this is the social. Where you live, what sports you play as a youngster, what your family background is, what sports they play(ed) are all massively influential on both participation and also the development of talent. Getting a better understanding of this is crucial – as there are interventions we can use to help support talented young players. One of the greatest things we can do is look more at the number of sports young people play at various ages. We’ve just completed a study of 1,000 sports people and identified that the longer you play a number of sports (i.e. sample), the more chance you have of being successful at an older age. This suggests that specialising in one sport at a young age is actually detrimental to success – and this seems to go across all sports in the UK.

It’s an interesting dilemma with the Olympic legacy where they want children to be enthused and participate in a particular sport – whereas it could be argued that they would be better playing many sports!

What you're saying goes against the popular belief of the 10,000 hour rule. Is there any truth in this rule? And does that mean that one can take up any sport and excel in it even without long years of training?
I think the best thing to say about the 10,000 hour rule is that it is a popular ‘belief’ (as is Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy!). Yes, there is a lot of common sense in the notion that it takes a long time to gain the skills to become an elite performer, but the idea of it taking 10,000 hours is fundamentally flawed. At this juncture it is worth pointing out an excellent blog written about this issue - http://tinyurl.com/cpejwzh - and also highlighting that the main research behind the 10,000 hour rule is in music (difficult to argue that expertise in a repetitive skill is the same as that in a dynamic skill). It also ignores the biological, psychological and social aspects of development – can ANYONE who does 10,000 hours of work become elite? Quite clearly it is much more complicated than that! The problem we have with the 10,000 hour rule in sport is that some people have taken it far too literally – I just love the idea of the clock ticking on from 9,999 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds and then ‘bingo’....... I’m now an expert!! Now, in a closed skill (like juggling), then the more you practice the better you get, but in an open skill it is clearly very different.

On the second point, the answer to that is not that simple. Yes, it is possible (but not easy) to excel in a sport without 10,000 hours of training – but this very much depends upon what your sporting background is!  Take many of the people who are involved now in talent transfer (from one similar activity to another), have they actually worked at the second sport for 10,000 hours? Rebecca Romero is an interesting example, she went from an elite rower to an elite cyclist in less than 2 years, which begs the question what do we mean by the 10,000 hours of deliberate practice needed? More importantly, what do we mean by deliberate practice and how does that work in a dynamic and open skill like sport. Quite clearly, going from a zero to hero in sport depends much more on the individual and their bio-psycho-social background than anything, but it also depends upon the competition they come up against as well. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer here!

You've worked a lot with golf. Are there any lessons there that can be exported to other sports like football?
My background is actually in both cricket (my PhD is in socialisation of young people into club sport) and golf, and there are probably more lessons from cricket that can come in here because of the club environment and structured organisation/training that is so important as young people start playing the game. The biggest thing I would advocate (and a lesson I have learnt) is that we need to allow young people to focus upon sampling sports as much as we can. Regardless of that, the key lessons are actually now NOT to just play football, but to play lots of other sports as well (until at least 16-17).

Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to focus research on over 1,000 PGA golf Pros, and the biggest finding we have had is the commonality of certain other sports being played at certain ages which really seems to help future performance (I’ll not mention them here, but the evidence is over-whelming). On top of that, we know over half of those who have played at the highest level by the age of 18 were late specialisers in the game. (On a slight tangent and most remarkably, the data also suggests that to have the best chance of being a top player you need to be the youngest of at least 2 siblings – and have an older sister!). It is this social profiling that we need to do more in sport, as we now have the answer to what (we think) are the best sports for future golfers to do and at what age they should do them...........

What sort of responsibility do football clubs have to the community and the kids they train?  And does this change across the levels / divisions?
They have a huge responsibility to the community and the kids. Grass roots clubs should all act as they would a surrogate family – they offer opportunities for kids to socialise, learn emotional and social skills, interact with adults and are a ‘safe’ environment. The only danger is that the focus tend to be on the better players – and the old adage that “the skilful excel but the mediocre become disillusioned with the game” comes to the fore, and often these kids are the ones who are indirectly pushed away from sport. The most exciting clubs I have come upon are ones who are now doing multi-sports in one place, so the kids can have smooth transition to try other activities. One of the problems we have in the UK is often the fragmented structure of clubs, and the fact that they do not link across sports. As coaches, it can be too easy for us to forget that the key thing is the child not the sport. In a small town near me there are 5 entirely independent clubs (football, cricket, rugby, hockey and tennis) all vying for the same kids, and there are stories of them ‘stealing’ kids from each other – what an absolutely crazy situation!

So clubs (at whatever level) have a moral obligation to act as safe, nurturing environments for all levels, talent and participation – especially at grass roots. Even better, if they can ALSO provide links to other clubs (and/or offer other sports) then they will be massively successful. With the likely cuts to sports funding post 2012 then this is going to be important – and the idea of a “family club” becomes vital in every way.

It strikes me as odd that so called 'minor sports' do not work harder to attract youths who won't make it to the top in football.  Isn't this a waste of talent?
Absolutely! It is such a huge pity that very often people who do not make it to a high level drop out and live off their dreams. I’ve been lucky enough spending time talking to players who almost made it to a Pro contract, and once dropped from the system some never play again. Oddly, they almost refer to it as a bereavement (the loss of their dreams if you like), and give up. All that is needed (and this is beginning to happen more now) is careful counselling and the opportunity to ‘talent transfer’ to another sport.

The other crazy thing is that the odds on making it to a Pro level in soccer are so small (statistically less than 0.15%) then there are 99.85% of these fit, healthy young players who can make a huge difference in others sports.......... (which goes back to my earlier point about multi-sports). I will always remember a young player who was ‘released’ (an interesting word to use when you think about it – he referred to it as being a 19 year old “thrown on the scrap heap”) who was very bitter about the club/academy he played in. He said that he had been institutionalised in football with no opportunity to play other sports (because of the risk of injury) so felt he was 8 years behind his mates in sports like cricket, rugby and basketball. All this at the age of 19!

On a similar but slightly different point, has there been any study on the impact on players once they are released from a football club's academy or youth system?
Not yet (that I am aware of), and it is a problem with most research in sport. We only focus on those who did make it (because they are easy to find and access) rather than those who leave/are released. Yet these are the key people to understand what they can do beyond this. I’d love more clubs/academies to link up with other sports and offer ‘tasters’ in other activities. For those sports most of the hard work is done already – all they have to do is focus upon developing the technical and tactical of that sport in particular. The only issue here is that these young players may not have had the experience of that sport in the first place (which brings me back to my earlier point on multi-sports clubs!).

If you think about it, soccer clubs/academies put all of their effort into the (potential) 0.15% who will make it – rather than the 99.85% who will have a damn good try, but might be released and have a future in other sports.

Often, club's success is measured by the number of players they produce.  Should this be the case?
Absolutely not! I do worry quite what club’s are trying to do when they do this - is it advertise their ‘indirect’ success or use it as a marketing/money making tool. When you think about it, there are no doubt clubs who have excellent coaching and facilities who will produce good players – but is it that simple? If there is a good young player, and there is a club with a good coaching reputation nearby then they are more likely to go there – so it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. I doubt there is much difference here, apart from ‘luck’ playing a part (and luck can be mediated in your favour – better schools, coaching can be influenced, but genetics can’t!). It would be interesting to measure them more on the basis of the enjoyment and success of ALL of the players who went there, but sadly this is not feasible. One way of looking at it is that these clubs are “custodians of talent” as the good players go through them and to better things, but that is not the be all and end all.

Some people say that talented kids are lucky to be in good clubs – I say that good clubs are lucky to have talented kids. Measurement on success is difficult and participation at junior level does not link to participation at adult level. Take the England Under 17 UEFA football squads from 2002-2004, only 4 of the 54 have played at full International level, and only 9 played in the Premiership last season. So to actually base your success on the number of players you happen to produce (or who happen to have played through the club’s systems) is not necessarily the best measurement.

What is the most important metric by which clubs' development programs should be measured?
It “ought to be” measured through the number of those who go on to play the game at EVERY level once they have left the club, i.e. it should focus on the 99.85% as much as the 0.15% who make it. We’re currently working with the FA on beginning to look at this (as well as other projects) at Birmingham and my firm (and altruistic belief) is that we should measure success NOT by the number of kids who make it to a high level from the club, but that it should be done on a basis of legacy and enthusiasm. The best argument for success is around numbers of kids from all levels who want to be involved, have fun and play the game, so the best indication of success is that these kids are involved the next year.

Clubs, especially those at the higher level, are bringing foreign youths into their academies.  First of all, what kind of message does this send to the local community?
First up, this is a huge problem for developing our own ‘in house’ soccer talent, but it is a relatively cheap way for clubs to explore talent from elsewhere. Whilst I am more than happy for competition it does make it harder for very good British youths to get into the academy sides, and as we have seen before the correlation between age and ability vary greatly. I think the overall problem is that as youths grow and develop, their sporting ability changes, so many ‘good’ players at 16 are dropped because they are not as good as others at the same age, but may develop into far better players at 18 (by then they are on the scrap heap). The rules on the number of home player per squad are important, and in order to develop this we need top clubs to stick to it – unfortunately the top level clubs will currently not reflect this because of the pressures of top level competition and competitive success. We need a generation of young players to come through the ranks before we can make much difference here.

Secondly, what should clubs be doing to ensure that these players don't suffer from a culture shock?
I don’t think there is anything that can really be done about this, apart from some very clear advice and support structures for those coming to the UK from abroad. Education (formal, informal and advisory) is very important for these young players. In other words: formal education to help stretch them mentally and academically (more than just language lessons if they need them!); informal education to help with practical issues, and advice (such as mentoring and support) to help them professionally.  The best practice I have ever come across is to provide them with support by placing them in a supportive family environment/home where there is another young player. It’s never easy moving country or culture, so the best way to nurture these young players is carefully and through a number of different approaches – all based around the sport and sporting environment.

Thanks to Dr Martin Toms for his time in carrying out this interview.  Anyone who would like to discuss the items touched upon in this interview with him can get in touch on his Twitter page.

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Making Second Chances Work Better Than The First

Those of Paul McCallum, Quade Taylor and Michael Chambers might not be the most familiar of names apart from, perhaps, to the more avid among West Ham and Crystal Palace fans.  Simeon Jackson and George Elekobi might be more widely known but, even so, they're not exactly household names.

For the people at A.S.P.I.R.E. however, every one of those names signifies a success story; a player whose career they managed to kick-start.

A.S.P.I.R.E (Academic and Sporting Inspired Routes to Excellence) is a football and education programme for 16 -18 year old males which is based in London (and, as such, is not to be confused with the Qatar foundation that bears the same name). The programme was set up in July 2002 to enable young people to pursue their dream of playing professional football whilst also enjoying the advantages of furthering their education whether that is in a vocational or academic capacity.

"Ten years ago I felt that young players were being overlooked once they had gone past the age of sixteen and not in the professional academy system," Gavin Rose, a man behind a lot of what goes on at A.S.P.I.R.E., explains as he talk about what led to the academy's existemce.

Despite enjoying a very sucessfull schoolboy career, by his own admission he felt that he struggled with the physical strength to play at professional level.  So started a career at non-league level that saw him go among others to Gravesend and Northfleet (later renamed Ebbsfleet), Bromley, Dover and Dulwich Hamlet.

Meanwhile he had also started coaching, an activity that he found soothed the disappointment of not making it as a professional.  It was also at this time that he began feeling the need a for a way to get back into the game those players dropped by professional clubs.

"Well before we set up A.S.P.I.R.E  up it was proven that there are late developers who come into professional football and in that era Ian Wright and Les Ferdinand were the biggest ambassadors for this," he explains. "The feeling myself and Junior Kadi [co-founder at the academy along with Rob Mapp] had was if these young kids were given more time to work on their game understanding, technique, fitness there could be a lot more making the grade."

"From the outset, the area where we predominantly recruited players was from my local area in Peckham, where I had a group of players I had coached for six years who had all represented their district and county sides respectively."

"Along the way a few gained professional scholarships and, in Anton Ferdinand, eventually a  professional. But we still had a surplus of at least 14 quality players without clubs and not much direction of alternative vocation or career path, so those guys along with another 10 strong players in the surrounding area made up the first years intake. We now recruit all over London."

That recruitment process is a very focused and specialised one where the aim isn't necessarily to pick those who are the best players for the simple reason that such players often opt to go somewhere higher up the scale.

"We may see something in a player that others may not have picked up on," Gavin explains. "Some players have excellent ability, but maybe lack the personality to show it so we would see that as a worthwhile challenge. Enthusiasm at a young age is always something that we look for, as well as a will to listen and learn. Technique and movement on and off the ball are also key aspects to what we look for."

Often such players come from professional clubs; players who are cast aside from the system.  Some are disillusioned by how they've been treated and many come with shattered confidence.  Meaning that it can be hugely difficult to get them to a point where they can perform to the best of their abilities.

"When players have been released by bigger clubs the issue of our humble surroundings is the first thing the boys need to acclimatize to. It often helps when our former players such as George Elokobi come down and train with them in the summer to show them he is not to big to train with them."

"Confidence is a bigger problem, many clubs release players with terrible feedback about why they are not being taken on by the clubs. Boys are being left with the reality of not only them being released and out of the pro game but with the parting shots of "your not big enough" or " your too soft to become a footballer". So you can imagine these young lads are quite deflated by the time we get to work with them.  Whilst we empathise with their feeling of rejection, we don't endorse a "feel sorry for me" mentality. Instead we try to fire the boys up into reverse these negative comments into positive ones with hard work."

Having dealt with so many kids who have been 'burnt' by the academy system, one would expect Rose to be critical of it.  Yet this isn't the case.  "It's easy to criticise on the outside looking in, because you are not privy to the constraints or fortunes of each academy up and down the country."

"I've noticed there seems to become changes happening in terms of quality assurance and producing more top talent for the highest level of the game, so it will be interesting to see how that develops. I've noticed at academy level in the main coaches are encouraging young players to express themselves and pass the ball in tight areas and so on."

"The problem is the transition into the first team.  I don't feel young players are getting their chance and we lose a lot of promising talent to lower league football where, largely, the emphasis is not as much on the technical side of the game thus making it harder for these talents to make their mark."

Pleasingly, Rose states that his coaching philosophy "is to try to play attacking attractive football, with players who are comfortable taking the ball in tight areas and able to express themselves. I like players to back their ability and not to fear making mistakes. Of course this message is not easy to convey when trying to chase points in big games, but I believe if your players stick to their principles they stand more chance of being successful."

What makes the project a success, however, is the holistic view that it adopts, where the focus isn't exclusively on football.  "We try to build the young men as well rounded people on and off the field, and place a high level of importance on their academic progress via our partnering education provider."

"There are different levels of success for each young man who is apart of our academy.  Of course, to become a professional is the highest on the list for them all, but we try to make them aware of the different exit routes that can be achieved in and out of the game such as non league football, coaching, education (university). We try to fuel their ambition to be successful people."

There is also a practical aspect of such an approach.  "We have noticed the boys who have gone onto professional football from our academy were either very intelligent academically or very diligent academically. So we believe it's places great significance to young players development."

That desire to give their graduates as many opportunities as possible saw them look to partner with a senior club with the decision ultimately falling onto Dulwich Hamlet.

"The relationship first started 10 years ago when we first started the project," Rose explains.  "After 3 years we moved onto Fisher Athletic at a time we probably felt we needed more of a challenge in that I could manage the team there, even though I was only 28 at the time."

"I was offered the chance to manage Dulwich Hamlet three seasons ago and it was a perfect fit to re-establish our old partnership with the club."

Naturally, as the manager, Rose's main aim is to ensure the on pitch success of Dulwich Hamlet, something that he has done to a degree with two play-off final defeats in the Isthmian League Division One South.  "Honestly the Football Club have benefitted from our Academy in a big way because with such a tight budget, we are able to blood young promising players who don't come at a great expense and balance the budget quite nicely. Also we have managed to sell three of our academy products in the past 18 months from which both parties have benefitted financially. The partnership offers young players coming in at 15 with the clear vision of a pathway to some sort of achievement."

"If a young player continues to excel in the academy set up I believe they should be rewarded to keep them motivated to continue challenging themselves and how far they can go. I will introduce tho train with the senior team to see how they cope and take from there really. If you're good enough you're old enough."

All of this bears testament to the success of the A.S.P.I.R.E. system.  Yet despite that success, sadly it is still something of a struggle to ensure the academy's financial well-being.  "The academy was financed by Southwark Council for the first three years of its existence. Due to funding cuts, however, the council were unable to sustain its support."

"This coincided with an approach from then Ryman Premier League side Fisher Athletic for A.S.P.I.R.E to give the club an academy set up from 10 years old up to 18 year olds. This lasted for two years with many of the academy players going on to represent Fisher in the Conference South league."

"Unfortunately Fisher came into hard times and the whole club had to be folded, with the senior side relegated three leagues.  For the following years Rob Mapp, Junior Kadi and myself paid for the running costs out of our own pockets with no return."

"In recent times we have been funded by our education providers formerly London Nautical and our current partners Sedgehill school in Sydenhamcome."

"We have also come under the umbrella of the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, an initiative which is still in its infancy to help young children in inner city backgrounds  to access various Sports, Arts and Crafts, Music, Media and so on.  Having grown up with Rio we always discussed the issues we encountered as youths and how easy it would have been for us to turn to crime, as the wider opportunities to develop a career away from an academic background was somewhat non existent. The love and passion to chase a football career was enough to keep us at bay, but we were naturally gifted so there was no real input given to us."

At the moment, there are 46 players at the academy "as we just started an under 16 age group as well" Rose says.  The potential is there, however, to serve three times as many kids. "With the correct facility and funding we could easily look after 150 players from a wider range of age groups, as we have many promising coaches to call on who have come through the academy over the years and taken their badges."

Inevitably, expanding the academy's reach is one of Rose's main hopes.  "I would love the academy to be able to expand in numbers as I mentioned earlier, as well as having a permanent facility of which the boys can develop and hone their skills. I'm 100% certain that if we had these luxuries we would be producing a lot higher number of players performing in the premiership. Having said we feel scouts have missed out on some top talent worth developing over the 10 years we have existed."

"Personally I would like to challenge myself to working at the highest level in the game as my ability will take me, as manager and a coach. I place no limit to what can be achieved with hard work and continued personal development."

The Success Stories
A.S.P.I.R.E.do not necessarily measure success by the number of players  for whom they manage to get a professional playing contract, but even so, they're very good at it.  Here are some of the success stories:

George Elokobi
Elokobi joined  A.S.P.I.R.E.  after arriving in England from Cameroon in 2002, where he was a valued member of a successful youth team before stepping up to league football with Colchester United in 2004 after being spotted by scouts whilst representing us in a Kent Youth League fixture.  He eventually moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers making it to the Premier League.  The defender maintains regular contact with the staff at  A.S.P.I.R.E. and attends training sessions with the academy's young graduates.

Paul McCallum
McCallum was playing Sunday league football well into his teens before being given a chance at Dulwich Hamlet.  He scored eleven goals as Dulwich made it to the Third Round of the FA Youth Cup in the 2010-11 season which attracted a host of clubs, as did his scoring record in the Ryman League Division One.  Eventually he opted to move to West Ham for a figure of £40,000, disappointing the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal who were also interested.

Simeon Jackson
Born in Kingston, Jamaica but raised in Ontario, Jackson moved to England as a fifteen year old and immediately caught the attention of  A.S.P.I.R.E.  From there he was able to land a successful trial and Rushden and Diamonds before moving to Gillingham and, eventually, Norwich for who he has scored in the Premier League.

Michael Chambers
As with many players on  A.S.P.I.R.E. and Dulwich Hanmlet's roll call, Chambers was released by a league club - in his case Reading - and told he had no future in the game before he had even turned sixteen.  The staff at  A.S.P.I.R.E.  saw that he had talent, however, and nurtured it up to the point that eighteen months later the defender moved to Crystal Palace having even caught the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.

Quade Taylor
On Fulham's books from the age of eight, Taylor was realeased at fourteen and could have drifted out of football if he hadn't joined Dulwich Hamlet through  A.S.P.I.R.E. There he impressed with the ease with which he played either in defence and in midfield.  Both West Ham and Crystal Palace invited him for a trial and eventually he opted for the latter despite the late interest of Stoke City.

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