On The Grass

In the latest episode of On The Grass I catch up with Wolverhampton Wanderers Foundation Phase coach Marc McLaren. Marc shares his experiences and insights into his coaching journey from schools to coaching abroad and how he has found football to be a useful tool when relating to students in the classroom. He also talks us through a couple of his favourite sessions and goes into brilliant detail of set up and information for the players. Lots to take away for coaches working at all levels of the game. I hope you enjoy.

In this episode i'm On The Grass with constraints based coaching advocate and Fulham FC Head of Academy Coaching Ben Bartlett. In this fascinating insight Ben goes into detail about the process of attaching constraints to practices in order to try to achieve particular outcomes, he discusses practical examples of constraints that have worked for him in the past and also emphasises the importance of understanding context when applying constraints. Ben was also one of my UEFA A Licence tutors and we discuss coach education and allowing coaches to develop in competitive environments. 

The latest episode of the podcast is On The Grass with Jamie Tompkins. Jamie has worked with Brentford FC in many different roles including Academy Coach within the Foundation Phase and most recently as Community Football Development Manager. Jamie is also the Head Coach at Ascot United FC where he hopes to achieve promotion to Step 4 of the football pyramid in the 20/21 season. In this episode we discuss Jamie's coaching philosophy, his time coaching academy football and how he would like to see his players 'manage the game'. I hope you enjoy.

This episode see's me On The Grass with Reading FC Academy Coach Jac Trenchard. We discuss Jac's time in academy coaching starting off with his role at Oxford United and progressing through to his current role at Reading. Jac describes the advantages of becoming an age group specialist, how he see's himself as a coach and reflects on the hard work and sacrifice it takes to break into academy football. It was great to catch up with Jac and there are lots of great hints and tips for coaching at all levels. I hope you enjoy the chat!

Next we're On The Grass with The Football Association's Technical Lead for the Foundation Phase Pete Sturgess. Pete is well known for his work with the England DNA for players aged 5-12 years old and today we discuss how sessions need to be fun and engaging for kids at that stage of their development. We look at Pete's time as the England Futsal Manager and we also unpick session content and give coaches an idea of how practices can be structured ready for the return of competitive football. I hope you enjoy. 

Today we're On The Grass with FA Affiliate Tutor Mitch Woodward. We'll discuss Mitch's background and his vast experience in grassroots football as a player and coach, how this has helped him in his roles at the FA as a Skills Coach and now as a Tutor and the qualities that he values most as a coach.

In Episode 1 we're On The Grass with Ebun Thomas, the Lead Foundation Phase Coach at Portsmouth FC. We discuss the academy program that Ebun runs for the Foundation Phase and how that provides the players and coaches with opportunities to take ownership of their own learning. We also talk about how the program can be adapted at grassroots football and we learn a bit more about Ebun's own personal journey.