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Mr Gardiner said that Ljubljana Open is more then a Football event, it is also a great Social and team-building exercise for clubs.
1. Dear Mr David Gardiner could you please explain your daily work?
On a daily
Basis I am responsible for the Co-Ordination and implementation of our Pre
Academy Coaching Programme and our Academy U9-U11 Coaching Programme along with
the co-ordination of the coaches. I work
closely with the head of Youth, head of Goal Keeping, Recruitment, Head of
coaching and Academy Manager.
- A week will consist of separate Staff meetings with Management, Coaching Staff, Medical and Fitness Staff and also our Scouting Department.
- Preparation and planning for Coaching sessions using our Electronic database takes place each day.
- Planning of Games, Festival, Tournaments
- Player Reports
- Match Reports
- Coaching Sessions
- Session Observations
- CPD
2. What is
your club philosophy, style of play?
Our Club
Philosophy is to develop a player’s technique and skill to play a passing game
from the back through the thirds of the field to create goal scoring
opportunities. We encourage players to develop their individual game
understanding and roles and responsibilities as they work through the coaching
phases.
3. How is
academy organized? How many teams are in?
We have academy
U9-U16 Teams. Supporting them is also a
Pre Academy in which around 120 boys train from the age of 5 – 8 Years old.
4.
We heard about your four stage model that the academy utilizes as players Progress
through each age group. Could you please explain stages?
This is the
fundamental stage for learning, where the children are extremely receptive to
skill acquisition. The players will work
to master the ball and be successful in 1v1 situations. At this stage the players will play in 7v7
games.
-
Training to train (U10 - U13)
During this
phase players will continue to enhance technical and tactical skills. Players are training to train. At the beginning of this stage the players
have moved away from their small sided games and are now participating in 9v9
making the transition to 11v11 at the beginning of their U12 year.
-
Training to compete (U14 - U16)
During this
phase players will continue to enhance their tactical and technical skills and
learning their individual roles and responsibilities within a team. This will be achieved with the inclusion of
functions, phases and units in possession and out of possession.
-
Competing to win (U16+)
During this phase players will enhance their tactical
and technical skills and individual roles and responsibilities in a team. Players will now train to win whilst
developing their winning mentality.
Players will work towards understanding all aspects of the game
including the importance of set plays.
5. How is
organized scouting process in academy? How the scouts are instructed?
The Scouts
have a meeting first thing on a Monday morning in which the previous week is
discussed and the week commencing.
Everything is planned and co-ordinated from this meeting.
6. What do you do for training your coaches, according to
Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP)?
All our Academy Coaches have to be registered with the FA
Licensing Club. Each coach has to be a minimum of UEFA B Licence and also
working towards completing their Youth Module 3 assessment. The more senior role you hold, the more
qualifications you have. We have a
continuous CPD programme in place which is provided by our In House Coaching
Programme along with CPD provided by the FA and also the Premier league. Each
coach is required to do a minimum number of hours CPD each year.
7. What is your opinion about Ljubljana Open tournament? What
good practice could you share with us?
The
Ljubljana Open is a Fantastic Tournament that we have participated in for the
past 2 summers. The tournament itself is excellently organized and from the
moment we arrive in Slovenia we are looked after with great hospitality. Not only from a football perspective it’s
also a great Social and team-building exercise for our Club.
The level of
competition is very high and the boys and coaching staff enjoy testing
themselves against teams and coaches from around the world. It provides many different challenges in
particular playing against different styles of play and implemented tactics. The tournament provides a good number of games
and playing time for each player.
The playing
and accommodation facilities are very good and the tournament is concluded In
style when each team gets to play in the National Stadium on the last day.
We look forward to returning in June 2014.