What does transition look like for young players?
- Pete Sturgess
- 29 January 2020
Pete Sturgess, FA technical lead for players aged 5-11, looks at what transition means for Foundation Phase players.
The England DNA, at one end of the spectrum, is a mechanism for communicating key messages and observations about the game. It's also an attempt to clarify The FA's thoughts around the development of future England players.At the other end, some may say it could be seen as simply words on a page, videos on a digital platform and slides in a PowerPoint. As such, information and content relating to the England DNA must be carefully crafted to engage coaches at all levels.
The Foundation Phase is the age group that is furthest from the England players of the future and the demands of international football at the highest level. However, it's recognised as a critical period of development not just for four-corner development but for life-long participation.
I've been leading a small group of coaches who have been working to develop the next pieces of the England DNA jigsaw in the Foundation Phase and we've tried to understand what the game looks like when our youngest players play.
On the one hand, we've seen static defenders who hold their position, regardless of where the ball is, and have been encouraged to do this by their coaches. It’s important to tell them not to do this.
We've also seen players encouraged to clear the ball, “boot it”, “get rid of it”, “send it long”. Again, please tell coaches to abandon this approach, as this kind of practice, however widespread, is not going to engage children fully in this great game.
To balance this off though, we’ve seen great dribbling, creative individual possession and coaches demanding that players “try things”, “take people on” and see “what is possible”.
This kind of coaching is what the children will always remember – regardless of the level they finally achieve. It's this kind of approach that supports the key messages of the England DNA, and I ask you to reflect on your current practice and look to embrace the curiosity, creativity and boundless enthusiasm of children in the Foundation Phase.
The game in the Foundation Phase has also thrown up some interesting aspects that link to the England DNA.
Transition has become an integral part of the modern game and is a weapon to be feared when well coached and executed at high speed. But what does transition look like in the Foundation Phase?
During our many observations it is clear that for our youngest players (7, 8 and 9 years) there are many changes in possession. The players are still developing a sound and robust technical base, so this is not surprising.
As young players try to improve their individual connection with the ball and refine their decision-making there will be numerous times when they’re caught in possession.
In the game played by older players these would present opportunities to counter attack, but for the Foundation Phase player it can result in situations where the ball is lost, won and then lost again with no apparent thought or desire to counter attack. What we must take into consideration, is that at this young age most players are drawn towards the ball so there’ll be frequent occasions when there are a lot of players around the ball and it will change hands often.
This is perfectly acceptable and, although frustrating for coaches and parents alike, it is the starting point for future development as it tells us exactly where the children are in their understanding of the game.
As coaches, we might see opportunities to counter and have many swirling movements ready to introduce to our U8 team in training. We must remember that we’re viewing the game from a completely different viewpoint based on greater game understanding and experience.
The effective coach at this young age looks at the game the Foundation Players are playing (not the one seen on Match of the Day the night before) and identifies the things each child needs in order to help them enjoy the game more and become more effective.
The temptation is to begin to artificially spread the players out by fixing them into positions with very little flexibility to follow and stay connected to the ebb and flow of the game. This might make the game look more like the adult version, but while this approach is being adopted the players are losing out on valuable practice at other things.
In order to be able to counter attack with precision and speed later on, there are things that we can develop now that are much more appropriate for this stage of development – running quickly with and without the ball will really help a team to transition
The Foundation Phase is perfect for this development through lots of:
- ball contact
- quick changes in direction (with and without the ball)
- passing and shooting when running at speed
- games where there is a specific target or challenge once the ball has been won (this is better in small number practices to start with), such as "run to that line", "shoot into that goal" and "dribble in that direction".
Coaches who introduce this kind of practice into their sessions and encourage the players to try these things out in matches will be putting some very strong foundations in place for the future.
We cannot expect our Foundation Phase players to be the finished article, but we must expect of ourselves that we understand the game and development at this young age for our players to be given the best and most appropriate start to their engagement in sport.
This article was first published in The Boot Room magazine in September 2016.
