We welcomed back the girls after the half term break and got straight back down to some serious futsal. We had over 50 girls play this week and the club is pretty much at bursting point, again, not quite sure where we go from here…more sessions, more coaches, another venue….help!

We had four new players come and try futsal for the first time – welcome Katie, Lily, Millie and Connie, we hope you had fun and we look forward to seeing you again very soon!

We started with a bit of fun, working in pairs, we saw how many times the players could tap each other on the back in a minute without getting tapped themselves! We reduced the area and saw what they did different in their movement and ideas. We then worked on some basic marking of players and what you did when they moved around the court. We moved this into a game were you could only tackle one player on the opposite team. This was the first session of introducing the players to the new topic of…..Ah….you see we can’t tell you as the players have to guess what the topic is!

Click here to see all the pictures from the session

Player of the week for the first hour was Raya S – One of the newer members of the club and each week she finds a bit more confidence and this week she really worked hard, tackling players much bigger than her. She is a delight to coach and we are so glad she joined us, keep working hard, Raya!

Player of the week for the second hour was Imogen B – This young lady has such an appetite for the game and just loves to show us what she can do. Once she gets the experience with futsal, she is going to be one cracking player, we just can’t wait! Fab session, Imogen!

Player of the week for the third hour was Erin E – When she puts her mind to playing, and concentrates on what she can do, she is unplayable. A player with an eye for goal and one of the few not afraid to use her physicality, we really believe she can go all the way and represent the ladies in a few years. Keep listening and improving, Erin!

Player of the week for the fourth hour was Ava G – A player with good touch before she joined us, she is now starting to show what she can do at futsal. She looks after the ball well, and when she learns when to pass and went to drive, one to definitely pencil in for the ladies in a couple of years, top job, Ava!

Final thoughts of a coach – whenever you start a new topic, you are always thinking what are the key messages the players need to understand and take ownership of. This forthcoming block will probably be one of the hardest for the girls to get, and that makes me think. I am going about it in a roundabout way, being very careful to avoid certain keywords that may lead to a lot of confusion. I can’t say what the topic is as we have asked the girls to work it out and let the coaches know…, so check back soon to see what we are doing…

Within the session today was a small section on the players having to work out a task for themselves. We talked about in a game, can the coach give you all the answers, or do a lot of the solutions come from the individuals and team together. OK it was a silly task, but the players showed lots of lateral thinking and came up with several solutions the coaches didn’t think of. I am a firm believer that players must take ownership of the sessions, they must be allowed to set the rules, challenge the coaches and feel free to question everything, as in the end we are running this for the players not for the coaches! Have a good week and we will see you all next Sunday. Coach Chris