Steve Kirby has over 15 years experience working in academy football in England. Formerly Lead Youth Development Phase Coach at MK Dons, Steve is now the U18 Assistant Coach at Leicester City FC. In this interview, PDP Editor, Dave Wright sits down for an hour with Steve to discuss his own personal coaching journey, some of the key lessons he has learnt along the way and how he has applied them. Steve shares insights into the player development philosophy at Leicester City, advice on how coac...

Masterclass Discussion: Youth Development at Leicester City

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In this Q&A, PDP Co-founder, Dave Wright is joined by PDP Coaching Advisor, James Coutts to discuss some of the core skills that are critical for young players to develop, how we can support them and some practical ideas for you to implement.Don't forget you to head over to playerdevelopmentproject.com to find out more about our new online courses or to sign up for a monthly or annual membership to access all of our coaching content.

What Is the Value of Coaching Soccer Skills?

The Foundation Phase broadly covers the ages of 8-12 in youth soccer and is a crucial period of experimentation and skill acquisition for young players. So what game formats should we use in order to give them the best opportunities to learn, enjoy the sport, and develop? Below, we look at the range of formats available to coaches and consider how we can incorporate them into our training and games programs to give kids a variety of positive experiences playing soccer. Read more here.

Which Game Formats Should I Use in the Foundation Phase?

Leadership is an inherent part of coaching. In this Masterclass Discussion, PDP Co-founder, Dave Wright is joined by father and son coaches, Keith & David Mayer for an in depth discussion on the topic of authenticity and leadership.Keith and David Mayer have just released their second book, The Lone Wolf: A Story About Assumptions, Authenticity & Action.Some of the key concepts from the book underpin this conversation with Keith, David and Dave diving into the following areas:What is ...

Authentic Leadership: A Conversation with Keith and David Mayer

In this podcast, PDP Co-founder, Dave Wright sits down with Andrew Watt, Youth Development Phase Manager at Fulham FC, to discuss how the Premier League club supports players across the U9-U16 age groups.Andrew provides insights into the Fulham Academy’s principles, his views on talent identification, the different approaches to coaching children from U9s all the way through to U16s, and how to manage the transitions to different game formats.For the full video discussion head to playerdevelo...

Insights across the age groups at Fulham FC with Andrew Watt

The question this week comes from Gav through the PDP Slack Community:Gab asks, “How do you support players with self reflection?”Try PDP Free for 30 Days

Masterclass Discussion: Youth Development at Leicester City

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