Interview With Derby County Academy Manager Kevin Thelwell
January 14, 2008
Coach Gary Littlefield caught up with Kevin Thelwell of Derby County last week to briefly discuss the academy and its assessment practices. Here’s what Kevin had to say.
Can you give the younger Ziga Zoga members an idea of what is expected of a player while on trial at the academy?
The first thing to recognize here is that there is quite a stringent process for trialing at the Academy. Trialists will either be within our development system of support or will have been identified through the scouting process. So they are usually of a good standard on arrival. With this being the case we ask them to do three things; Listen well / work hard / Make sure you enjoy it! And hopefully the rest will take care of itself.
Once accepted to the academy, how often and what forms of assessments are there?
The boys at all age groups are continually being assessed both informally and formally on a weekly basis. This can include; Fitness testing – Assessed in all components on a quarterly basis Technical / Tactical – Weekly review (Informal) / Parent meetings (Quarterly) with a Mental Weekly review document (Formal document). The review and evaluation process is very important to both the staff and the players to ensure that they are continually on the right road for progressive development. This element is taken very seriously especially at the older age groups.
The emphasis this week has been on self assessment, can you give an example where a player has assessed himself correctly and an example of the opposite?
All players between the Ages of 11 and 16 are issued at the beginning of the season with a self assessment handbook. This allows the players to make comment on specific areas of their game on a weekly basis. The coach will review these comments and add to it on a monthly basis. We feel this process provides players with the opportunity to think seriously about their game and develop their own perception of how they are doing with guidance from the coach on a regular basis. This handbook also allows the player and coach to communicate and discuss on a regular basis to ensure they become of the standards required at the Academy.
Last of all can you comment on individual goal setting?
Following on from the last question at the end of the month players identify with the coach where they feel they can improve and this is then taken forward through games and training for the next month. This process is really important as it helps players to strive for continual improvement with guidance and support through key individuals. Such goals are very simply; very relevant to the individual, realistic in terms of achievement, recorded (Through the Handbook – allowing progress to be traced) measurable.
So, what are your thoughts and how will you Get Stuck In?
A Footballers Self-Assessment Starter Exercise
January 7, 2008
Where to start? It’s a new year and it’s a great time to reflect on the past, the present and look forward to the future. As a footballer, one great way to begin the process of improvement is through personal reflection or self-assessment.
Going through such an internal process allows you to discern clearly what your strengths are and areas in which you feel you need to make improvements or manage weaknesses. The idea or culmination of this reflection is to come away with planned improvement actions that can be monitored for progress.
The key to any self-assessment process and action plan is executing and monitoring your progress. Thus, it’s important for your to personally reflect and measure your progress regularly. It is also important for you to have support and guidance from others like teammates and coaches who have a vested interest to see you succeed.
So, how do you get started you ask? Well, before you rack your brain thinking and reflecting it’s best to have some criteria in order to make a personal assessment. Many of the world class football systems use what is called benchmarking or best practices to assess players. Benchmarking is simply the process of evaluating performance of a particular task in comparison to a perfect performance of such a task or action.
Although evaluating the skill of a footballer is subjective and not exact. Generally, a comparison with the best footballers at the highest level is a great way to benchmark and assess one self. Ok, what do you look for you ask?
Let’s quickly look at what some of the common player attributes produced by a few of the best known football development systems like the Brazilians, the Dutch and the Germans. Brazilian players are famous for being very technically sound, highly creative, very tactical with positional play and are always fit and fast. Dutch players are also known for having very good technique, are very tactically sound and systematically structured in creating support. German players are known for their tactical play, strength, determination, fitness and precision.
In short, three of the top footballing nations produce common attributes among world class players: technical ability, tactical thinking and comprehensive fitness. Strong footballers must focus and continually assess their Game, Body and Mind to achieve world class technique, smart tactical play and excellent fitness.
Now, we need breakdown some specific components to your Game, Body & Mind which we will do in the next blog post. First, let us do a short assessment exercise. On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being highest or “World Class” rating, rate yourself in these core elements. Write it down and keep your personal rating in a safe place.
Your rating could look like this:
Game – 3
Body – 4
Mind – 2
Total Score = 9
World Class Player = 15 (Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer)
Next we will be break down several components of Game, Body & Mind to consider for a detailed self-assessment. What’s your score?
New Year Theme – Total Football!
January 6, 2008
Happy New Year Ziga-Zoga Nation! Are you ready to make 2008 the best year you
can?
We are and want to make sure you achieve the most you can
this year. We are in the process of
planning some exciting things. To start
the year off, Coach Gary Littlefield and ZZ have teamed up to lead the community
in a focused training initiative designed to make you the best you can be.
are going to dig into the Key Elements of a being Total Footballer. We are going to post articles, have interactive
discussions, cool podcasts and videos, opportunities to learn from expert
coaches and professionals, plus some really cool events and more.
Here is a snap shot of things that we will look at together:
- Personal Assessment – Knowing where you are.
- Your Strengths - Developing Your Strengths For Nearly Perfect Performance.
- Goals – setting them and achieving them.
- Vision – How well do you see the field of play?
- Technique – ways to develop and dominate.
- Explosive Speed – strategies for blowing by your opponent.
- Strength & Agility – get strong and flexible.
- Stamina – outlasting your competition.
- Mental Strength / Preparedness – building sharp minds.
- Marking / Defending – tactics to shut down your opponent.
- Attacking – scoring goals is the only way to win.
- Being Coachable – no one knows it all, keep an open mind.
- Nutrition - Taking care of you, knowing what to eat and how to stay sharp.
If Let’s
you have something specific you want covered let us know. You’ll want to keep an eye on the ZZ Blog
Feed, Forums, Game – Body – Mind Tabs, Videos and …. Heck you gotta get
involved to elevate your game. If you
think you’d like to contribute as a coach, player, referee or knowledgeable
support just let Gary and I know.
GET STUCK IN!
