After delays, injuries, missed bookings, courses and final football exams, we finally got the girls’ section of Pro Coaching Academy off and running.

On a cold night on the astro at Manor CE Academy eight girls were invited down to train. The theme for the night was receiving the ball with their backs to goal. The girls were shown how to create space, by going both forwards and backwards before receiving a pass. They were then challenged to hold the ball for 2 seconds before passing back. The final part of the drill was the final movement away from the defender to create an angle to receive a pass to create a goal scoring position.

We wanted to show the girls how their movement enabled them to have that extra second of time on the ball before the defender could make the tackle. It also highlighted how movement off the ball, especially when the attackers outnumber the defenders is crucial to creating good goal scoring positions. We also highlighted how pace in attack creates big problems for defenders.

We finished the session with a small sided game where extra goals were awarded to players who tried to implement the ideas from the night’s coaching.

Huge thank you to Chloe H, Chloe J, Alexia, Tia, Lucy, Amber, Denva and Erin for their fantastic effort on a not so warm evening!

Pro Coaching Academy coach Chris Collins was so pleased at finally getting the sessions started he forgot to press record on the video camera! Oh well, better luck next time, must be his old age kicking in!

Key message from the night was the movement either away from or towards the ball helps create the extra time to control, pass or travel with the ball before the defender has time to react.

Are you a year 7, 8 or 9 player and want some extra coaching? Get in touch and see what all the fuss is about. Get extra coaching from a Level 3 Youth Award coach and reach your true potential!