At a recent academy induction evening, I set a task for parents, players and members of staff. It was, I thought, a simple question. "What does a player need?". It was set in the context of 'Player Care' and
30 young kids worked with their parents or guardians for 3 minutes and came up with the answers and I encouraged the members of staff to join in.
The word cloud above shows the results and, from that, I spent the rest of the evening developing more questions. Notably, Support was a clear winner, but what does support look like? Have we ever asked kids what they mean by support? Perhaps the word cloud gives us some answers. "Encouragement", "Positive", "Criticism", "Guidance" and "Advice" all ranked high. But again, questions could be asked of all of these. What is the right balance of criticism and positivity? Have we ever asked a child?
There were some tangible things too, "boots" rank high. One area that I find so disheartening in academies is when there is an insistence on players wearing black boots. What a signal to send to players about conformity then to expect them to go and express themselves. It is, I fear, the remains of a culture of control that sees boys who do not conform as trouble rather than potential. Players also need food and are aware of that. While clubs can do a lot to educate, this, along with sleep routines is perhaps the biggest difference a parent can make. However, this is also not without its questions. Too strict on a diet and you run the risk of impacting motivation, so how do you include treats in moderation?
Food for thought, indeed.
