COACHING FEMALE FOOTBALLERS: Tips for coaches - SportsTG
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COACHING FEMALE
FOOTBALLERS:
Tips for coaches
Aasta O’Connor (V) takes the tap during the AFL
Women’s High Performance Academy game on the MCG
UNDERSTANDING FEMALE FOOTBALLERS There are few differences between coaching male and female footballers Coaches should stick to good coaching principles such as striving to meet individual needs in order for their footballers to achieve optimal enjoyment and performance Female footballers are generally tough, strong willed, determined, train hard, ferocious competitors, want to learn and thus absorb their coach’s advice readily - and talk a lot!
UNDERSTANDING FEMALE FOOTBALLERS
If you are coaching a female football team or have female players within a
mixed gender team, there are some key things you should know:
1) Why girls want to play AFL
2) Barriers to participation for female footballers
3) What they want from their AFL experience and their coach
4) Some unique issues that a coach of female footballers may face
5) What the female player pathway is and tips for coaching each age group
a) Auskick (5 – 9 years)
b) Junior Girls (10 – 12 years)
c) Youth Girls (13 - 17 years) If you would like further information about
coaching resources, courses, finding a coach
d) Women’s League (17 + years) mentor follow the link:
http://aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=6
Or for state specific information go to your
state’s coaching web site for further
information.
WHY GIRLS WANT TO PLAY AFL Boys and girls differ in why they want to play AFL. Coaches need to understand these gender differences and adjust what they expect of their players. Top reasons girls want to play AFL: • Socialise and have fun. Coaches should not underestimate this wish of female footballers! • Sense of belonging to a team • Love the physicality of AFL – tackling, bumps, shepherds etc • Learn new skills • Body image - get fit • Feel good and relieve their stress • Personal improvement – if they don’t feel like they’re improving they won’t stay (boys are more motivated by the result rather than merely participating).
WHY GIRLS WANT TO PLAY AFL:
Implications for Coaches
• Set individual and team goals
• Be aware of body image issues – players
should feel comfortable doing drills, being in the
changeroom and wearing the club’s apparel.
Girls can find it ‘uncool’ to sweat or work hard.
This can be especially true for girls from a
culturally and linguistically diverse background.
• Balance participation and personal
improvement with game results
• Coach the basics of kicking, handball and
marking in a football context eg why handball is
used to maintain possession
• Teach the skills of tackling, bumping, head
over the ball in a pack etc well.
• Educate players about the importance of core
strength for stability and injury prevention
•Provide opportunities for players to chat and
listen to their opinions
BARRIERS THAT PREVENT FEMALES PLAYING AFL
Currently there are several unique reasons why some potential female footballers cannot play AFL.
Coaches have an opportunity to help overcome any of the following barriers:
Implications for coaches:
• Gaps in the player pathway – no • If there is no next age group for players to go
competition/club/team close to home/school to in their area try and involve them in cross
• Lack of girls only groups/teams regional games
• Social stereotyping – fear of being labelled • Help them set up a team or be prepared to
‘butch’ because they play a predominantly male coach a small number, or set up an all girls zone
game within your boys team
• No one to coach them • Listen to the girls’ body image concerns and
• No quality coach – treats them like boys rather encourage them by promoting their athleticism
than understanding what they want from their • Have a succession plan if you no longer wish
AFL experience to coach eg mentor a female
• Reduced time to commit to football due to • Every player wants a coach who is
other commitments such as relationships, study, encouraging, fun and fair. No player wants a
work, other sports, home duties etc. Generally coach who swears, is rude, demeaning or who
girls drop out of sport in Australia around 14 years has favourites
of age. • Be flexible and allow for AFL to not be the #1
priority for your players
WHAT FEMALES WANT FROM THEIR AFL
EXPERIENCE
Through a number of surveys and focus groups seeking female footballers’ feedback conducted
across Australia the AFL has ascertained what it is female footballers want most from
participating in AFL.
Have FUN with their friends
Be competitive
Improve their fitness
A coach who talks respectively
to their players
Improve their skills and football knowledge
WHAT GIRLS WANT FROM THEIR AFL EXPERIENCE:
Implications for coaches
Provide fun training sessions. Include time for chats during training and
Use a variety of ways to deliver encourage club social events
your message eg use a
whyteboard to demonstrate set
plays, show correct kicking Impart football knowledge and language
technique with video replay, in context eg show what a “fat side” and
hand out a sheet describing “skinny side” looks like. Don’t assume the
what to do at stoppages etc players understand football terms.
Ensure you have a coaching philosophy
Use the players background in that balances what the footballers want
other sports to teach football with what you would like them to achieve
specific skills eg executing a
ruck tap using the footwork of
Listen to your players’ opinions – make
a basketball lay up
them feel included
Encourage your footballers –
sandwich one piece of Improve fitness through a variety of fun
constructive advice between 2 activities such as small games, setting
positive comments individual improvement goals
ISSUES A COACH OF FEMALE FOOTBALLERS MAY FACE
General coaching principles apply whether you are coaching male or female footballers. There
are however some issues unique to female football environments.
Implications for coaches:
• Girls in a mixed gender team may feel intimidated or
Mixed gender teams excluded from learning the game to the level they would
like. Implement ways to get the males to take some
responsibility for the females learning the game, set up
girls zones to ensure they get to play a variety of positions
(such as key corridor positions) and against each other.
•If you need to touch a player to help them learn a skill
Inappropriate handling of females ensure it is with the permission of the player. Use their
by male coaches parent if they are present.
• Male coaches need to develop changeroom protocols
eg give players 15 minutes to get ready before moving
into changerooms for prematch address
•Develop a Code of Conduct and expectations with the
Player/coach expectations players so there’s a balanced approach between what
they want and you hope to achieve in the season.
MORE ISSUES A COACH OF FEMALE FOOTBALLERS
MAY FACE
Implications for coaches:
Players lack of football knowledge • Use visual and verbal cues together to explain
and understanding football terms ‘why’ in a football context eg executing a set
play kicking out from a point, stoppages etc
• Where sexuality issues/club culture can put
Culture issues – culture of the
some girls off being involved implement a
club/team and/or cultural
Code of Conduct that players have developed.
background of players
• For players from a different cultural
background understand what issues may be
culturally sensitive for them. For some
Indigenous women it may be ‘shame’ for them
to play AFL. For CALD women AFL will be
foreign to them so explain unique football
terms in context.
• Open communication is valued by females. As
Socially “chatty” or opinionated long as they feel they have time to socialise or
female players the coach listens to their ideas/opinions they
will enjoy their football experience.FEMALE PLAYER PATHWAY
Coaches should be aware of the Female Player Pathway that is being developed across each
state so they understand their role in developing female footballers (see table below). By 2020
it is expected that in capital cities and larger rural towns that a female footballer will be able
to play football from Auskick to a Women’s League in single gender (female only) competitions.
Find out what your state provides for female footballers.
Auskick Junior Girls Schoolgirls Youth Girls Women’s League
25 % females across all • 10s, 12s available • Primary school • U16s and U18s • All capital cities have
centres in larger junior competitions club based consolidated, affiliated
clubs established competitions and expanding
available in all women’s league with
• U12s available in • 13/14s and U18s
capital cities minimum age of 18
less populated supported by all
years for State League
areas school sports • Some larger
associations cities/towns have • State leagues
established U18s established
with at least 12 a-
• Regional cities/larger
side
towns are establishing
or consolidating
leagues
• Representative teams
alignment model
establishedCOACHING GIRLS IN AUSKICK (up to 9 years of age) It is well documented that girls prefer to participate in female only groups when doing physical activities. In 2011 AFL Victoria conducted a survey amongst 350 Auskick girls and reported that the girls: • were intimidated by having to play football with males • often felt excluded by the boys and hence were unable to develop their skills to the level they wanted to • experienced teasing at not being able to pass the ball as well as the boys Implications for coaches: • Developmentally there should be no differences at Auskick age between coaching boys or girls • Male coaches will need to be aware of handling girls inappropriately or in a way that makes the girl feel uncomfortable. Generally Mums and Dads are present at Auskick centres so include them when teaching football skills. • Provide single gender/all girls teams and opportunities eg an all girls group within a mixed gender Auskick centre • If you are faced with having small numbers of girls within your mixed gender group ensure you provide some education to give the boys responsibility to help the girls improve their skills • Include the Mums in your training so they too can learn the basic football skills and pair up with their sons or daughters
COACHING JUNIOR GIRLS (10 – 12 years olds) Although the AFL Junior Policy allows for girls to participate with boys up to the age of 14 years, in capital cities and larger rural towns it is encouraged to provide single gender opportunities or at least female zones (so girls play on girls). Until the player pathway is complete in your area, girls may come to your team with a diverse range of football experience. Some girls may have come through Auskick and have good basic football skills whilst others may be new entry players. The latter is especially true for girls from a multicultural background and who may not have a command of English let alone football language! Implications for coaches: • Be well prepared for the large range of skill levels and football backgrounds in your team • Make sure you know what your players want from their AFL experience • If coaching a mixed gender team provide training drills where the girls can test themselves against each other not just against the boys • Make training sessions fun and if you have a mixed gender team or mixed cultural team, buddy players up to help the emerging ‘stars’
COACHING YOUTH GIRLS (13 – 17 years) Until the player pathway is complete in your area, girls may come to your team with a diverse football experience. Some girls may have come through Auskick and have good basic football skills whilst others may be new entry players. The latter is especially true for girls from a multicultural background and who may not have a command of English let alone football language! Girls this age are more concerned about playing than winning. However this does not make them any less competitive. They are fierce competitors in football but are more likely to strive for personal improvement rather than concern whether they win. The drop out rate in sport for Australian girls happens during the youth girls years. Coaches need to be aware that girls cite other commitments as one of the biggest barriers to their continuation of sport.
COACHING YOUTH GIRLS :
Pressures youth girls encounter to play AFL
Understanding the competing pressures adolescent girls face will help coaches understand the
role of sport and AFL in their lives. A coach who is flexible can provide an enjoyable experience
that encourages girls to stay involved in sport.
Body consciousness issues
Study
Peer group pressure
11 yrs 12 yrs 13 yrs 14 yrs 15 yrs 16 yrs 17+ yrs
Relationships/boyfriends
Part time work
Other sports/activitiesCOACHING YOUTH GIRLS:
Implications for Coaches
Implications for coaches:
• Make training sessions fun and allow times for the girls to ‘have a
chat’!
• Be flexible - allow for football to not be the main priority in an
adolescent girl’s life.
• Use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to recruit players
and convey game day information
• Be well prepared for each training session so you can cater for
the diverse skill levels and football backgrounds in your team.
• Teach the physicality skills well such as tackling, bumping, etc.
Girls generally love to execute the more physical skills of football
but if they are new entry players they will not know how to do them
safely and with technique. Ensure you teach these skills sequentially
and provide the games sense context.
• Educate players about the importance of core stability and
strength. Not only will this help them withstand the physical combat
but also assist injury prevention.
• Make sure you know what your players want from their AFL
experience
• Use vision of game and skill execution analysis frequently. Use
vision of correct execution rather than poor execution so player can
visualize what they should be doing.
• Explain why they are learning something – place in a football
contextCOACHING A WOMEN’S LEAGUE TEAM
(17 years +)
As the player pathway takes shape coaching a women’s
league team can be a tough yet thoroughly rewarding
experience. Players can vary in age from 17 through to
over 30 years of age! This means your team comes to
you with a:
• Huge diversity of maturation levels physically,
socially, and emotionally
• Variety of football backgrounds from having followed
the pathway from Auskick through to the Women’s
league, being the most talented player such as an All
Australian representative, being a first entry AFL player
at the age of 28, to being a talented player in another
sport but being a first time AFL player.
• Large range of goals they want to achieve from their
AFL involvement from being a social player, gaining a
bit of fitness, improving their skills to aspiring to be an
All Australian player
• Massive range of other commitments such as
relationships, family, work, study,©other sports
Australian etcLeague 2010
FootballCOACHING A WOMEN’S LEAGUE TEAM:
Implications for Coaches
Coaching a typical women’s league team is like coaching the basic skills of football to 14 year old
boys but you’re dealing with mature bodies and minds. You will find the women pick up the skills
quickly and are very willing to attempt to put into practice what you teach them. You should begin
with basic skill development before embarking on more complex Games Sense drills. Kicking and
the physicality skills in particular need to be part of every training session.
Implications for coaches:
• Communication is the key: knowing your players’ background and
football experience and understanding what they want from their AFL
experience are paramount in balancing the players’ expectations and
goals with those of the coach
• Be well prepared so you can cater for the skill diversity within the
group. Challenge the more skilled players whilst providing good basic
knowledge and skill development to the new players. Having a buddy
system for some drills (pairing a capable player with a beginner or an
older with a younger) also helps mix the friendship groups. Getting the
more skilled players to perform a drill with their non-preferred side can
challenge those players or get them to demonstrate a skill drill.COACHING A WOMEN’S LEAGUE TEAM:
Implications for Coaches
Implications for coaches:
• Make it fun. Vary your training drills and warm ups as well as how you
convey your messages. Provide visuals on whyteboards of what plays
you would like players to follow or use videos of correct technique
• Don’t expect football to be the number one pursuit of your players.
Be flexible and try and plan training around the player’s other interests
• Provide opportunities for socializing during training as well as special
club events
• Use vision of game and skill execution analysis frequently. Use vision
of correct execution rather than poor execution so player can visualize
what they should be doing.
• Explain WHY they are practising something – place in a football
context.
• Educate players about the importance of core stability and strength.
Not only will this help them withstand the physical combat but also
assist injury prevention
• Use quality staff such as runners, strength and conditioning coach
and others to provide further expert advice to both you and the
playersFURTHER READINGS Bradley, Michael; “The Female Athlete – Train for Success” http://www.ausport.gov.au/participating/coaches/education http://www.ausport.gov.au/participating/women http://www.coach.ca/canadian-journal-for-women-in-coaching-s12541 http://www.caaws.ca/e/gender_equity/ Lehmann, Eric (Wisconsin Track & Field Coach); “Coaching Female Athletes”
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