After two serious injuries in consecutive seasons, non-League player Ben Franks turned to another area of the game he had always been interested in – coaching.

He chose university as the route of entry, doing an undergraduate degree in sport, coaching and physical education, a Masters by research in sport and health sciences, and is now studying for a PhD in perceptualmotor learning.

He is also a coach developer at Boing Kids, a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, and was recently announced as a first-team coach at Ebbsfleet United Women.

A key element of Ben’s research is ecological dynamics. SCW caught up with him to find out what that is in the context of soccer and how it helps in session design…