Fundamentally our goals are for the boys to have fun and develop as football players. With this in mind we will adopt a ‘total football’ approach popularised in the Netherlands in the 70’s. The fundamentals are simple: any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in the team. In order for the boys to develop their understanding of how to play each position we will rotate them each game (during individual games the boys will have a set position). We hope this will aid development and enjoyment.

We will keep a log of the position and amount of time each boy spends on the pitch to ensure that all boys have played each position (including GK) and spent the same amount of time on the field at the end of the season.

During games each boy will play a minimum of 1 half - we will make substitutions at half time meaning that some boys will play full games and others half games each week (this will vary based on our records of how much time each boy has spent on the field). We will do this to limit transitions as we feel it helps with team continuity each game.

While we recognise that the boys enjoy winning we will focus our praise and reinforcement on the effort they apply. At this stage of their development we hope that our emphasis on fun, enjoyment, and effort will be a positive model for them to observe.

We will also aim to keep our instruction during game time to a minimum. The reason for this is we want the boys to develop their own decision making and communication skills and not be reliant on adults telling them what to do. Areas for development that we observe will be passed onto the external coach so they can be supported.

And don't forget midweek training starts on Wednesday 12th September at Henbury Leisure Centre from 6pm - 7pm. Please could everyone try to get there for the first week by around 5:45 to meet our new midweek coach Andras so he can share his thoughts for the upcoming training with everyone.