Experience of coaching courses

Leicester City academy coach, Ashvir Johal, looks back at his experience on coaching courses and provides advice to future learners.
The importance of connection A lot of content on coach education courses focuses on the tactical and technical side of the game, but I feel the coaches that help the players develop the most have got fantastic connections with the players. The FA Youth Award modules [now embedded in the core coaching pathway] were really important as they signposted me towards the social and psychological corners involved in player development.

I think having a connection with your players is one of the most important things because that is the starting point for everything else. The Youth Award modules helped me to understand the idea that people remember how you make them feel and not always what you say.

Reflection and practise Coaching courses signpost you towards new information and also give you a good framework to work within. During the course process it’s about reflecting on that and taking the bits that you need to take. However, the most important part is working on the grass, applying the information, and improving yourself as a coach to have an impact with your players. Try to get as many hours on the pitch as you can.

Application to your context Going from the FA Level 2 to the UEFA B course was a challenging time for me. The UEFA B gave me a taster of different formations, strategies, ways of pressing and ways of playing out from the back. I’d then go home to research all of those things and try to apply these ideas in every session. Filtering out what bits of information I needed to keep and finding out how to apply that information with a player playing in a senior men’s grassroots team or an 11 year old in a development centre was a challenge. That was one of the periods where I did a lot of reflection and thought about what went well, what could I change and then I applied that to my next session.

Stay resilientI knew the day after my Level 1 course that I wanted to have a career working with players in football, so I looked to improve myself as a coach every day. I think it’s important to stay true to yourself and to stay resilient, as sometimes there are days that won’t go as well as others, but it’s about getting back up, reflecting on it and thinking about what you can do to improve.