In today’s guest post football/soccer coach Anthony Goss reflects upon how his past influences his coaching now.

My experience growing up and how it has influenced me as a coach

By Anthony Goss

I have never written a blog before. Here it goes. . .

Playing football when I young

I started late playing football, when I was 10/11 from what I remember. Most kids around me had started before me, therefore had couple or more years to develop the basic balance and co- ordination needed to play football.

This meant by the time I joined the local football club Totnes and Dartington (will be using T&D as short hand) I was behind. Looking back, I would say I was a late developer overall and this along with my late start in football meant I wasn’t very good compared to the other players in the team.

The manager/ coach was old fashioned. He only played the best players in their best positions. It was all about winning for him. This meant that I, along with several other players never got a chance to play in actual games for T&D against other teams. Even though I turned up every training session, in all weather conditions I wasn’t picked because I wasn’t considered good enough to play.

Now looking back, I didn’t think much of it at the time; I was happy just playing football and making new friends. I asked my Mum the other day what she thought of it though and she thought it was unfair how I always turned up but never played; she had a point.

When I did get my chance in the team (think it was the Under14s season and I would have been 13, nearly 14) I went along to the games but didn’t play that much, or at all. One time I was on the bench for an away game, travelled 14 miles to a pitch in the middle of nowhere on top of a hill and I didn’t even come on!! (We destroyed the other team and we knew we would but because we had 4 subs and at the time you could only use 3, I was the 4th sub)

I only started to improve when surprise, surprise I played started playing regularly (T&D created a ‘B Team’ for our age group). I was playing every week and looking back, this was the start of me becoming a better footballer. Don’t get me wrong I still wasn’t good but I was a lot better than when I started. This I’m sure was down to playing football against other teams.

Now as a coach

These events that happened when I was growing up have influenced the way I coach and manage my youth teams. The main I think about going into every game with my team (T&D Under13s) is how can I make it fair for my players?

I make sure that over the course of the season they all start on the bench equal amount of times.

During the game, they all spend time on the bench (rotate them around) (I think they are more crateful for this, this season as we have moved to 11 a side) and I make the time spent off the same for everybody.

I also rotate their positions around. This is mainly because the ‘defenders’ of the team have all said to me at one point “I don’t like playing in defence”. This is fair enough; I want to keep them happy so every now and then I play them in different positions.

This also gives me a chance to allow other players to experience playing in defensive. This hasn’t been easy though. Some players have not liked playing defence for the first time and I have had ‘strong discussions’ to convince them otherwise. I hope that when they look back they will truly understand why I have done what I have done.

Rotating players also allows players to learn about different positions. It will in the long term give them a better understanding, overall of playing football. This does make my job harder tactically but in the long run it will be worth it. They will hopefully be better players for it. I am very lucky as well that all the parents agree with what I am doing and are letting me get on with it.

I have managed my Under13s for nearly two years now and I like to think all the players have improved since I started. This would be down to the fact they have all played regularly and it’s been fairer for them then what it was me.

My motivation now

I sometimes wonder why I get so involved with T&D and local football. Currently I am coaching the Under8s (was their manager at the start of the season), coaching and managing the Under13s and helping with the Under15s. I could also at the time of writing this blog, about to start two after school clubs at local primary schools. Then the reason came to me. I get involved so much because I want to give the young players of today a better footballing upbringing than what I had. I feel that if I continue to learn and take ideas on board from other coaches (Twitter is brilliant for football coaching ideas) then I will improve and therefore, my coaching ability will improve.

About Anthony Goss

“My name is Anthony Goss. I am a 23 year old football coach from Totnes, Devon. I currently coach 3 age groups at my local club, Under8s, Under13s and Under15s. I manage the Under13s as well.”

Connect with Anthony via twitter: @AnthonyGoss23