The individual within the team

What should people focus on within team sports? The team or the individual? This a considerable generalisation – here is how I look at it. Firstly, what defines a team? Only for writing this, I checked what the dictionary definition is: -

noun

a group of players forming one side in a competitive game or sport.

verb

come together as a team to achieve a common goal.

Both descriptions fit in with how I see things. In my opinion, a team is a sum of all parts, each working together. Looking to the layer below that is the individual, now I am not going to dwell on the development vs winning debate; that can be for another time; for a team to achieve a set outcome, the individual must understand themselves and what is expected of them. If all 11 (from a football point of view) understand this, then, in my opinion, the result has more of a chance of ‘taking care of itself’.

What does understanding yourself mean? Obviously, for clarity, I mean to understand yourself as a player. This goes on throughout the whole age group spectrum. The players should experiment and develop a skills base within the Foundation phase stages (up to and including U12). The phrase that I have adopted is “filling the toolbox”. Within the Foundation ages, I want the players to make errors and see what works for them. By allowing players to experiment and express themselves, they learn by doing. The coach should then drop in questions to aid understanding and determine what the player has seen. A phrase that doesn’t sit well with me at any age is “make the right decision”, but what is the right decision? A positive outcome? Only what the coach has seen? What if the player has seen something the coach hasn’t, and it's more of a technical issue – you will only know that by asking a question.

For this phase, the team (again, in my opinion) isn’t about tactics; it’s about getting the players to understand traits and cues. Taking the moment of negative transition, for example, for the Foundation Phase, do they need to know the ins and out of it? – or would a simple reminder of ‘being closer to our goal than the ball is’ work just as well?

Moving into the Youth development phase, each player must understand what is expected of them regarding their role and responsibilities. It is also essential for the coach to understand the player; in doing so, this allows the coach to set achievable expectations for the U13 and U14 age groups and build on the layers that have been developed within the Foundation Phase. When entering the Youth Development Phase, building experiences via pitch references help the individuals understand their role within the team dynamic. Blending these and game moment principles provides the base of knowledge from which the player can work.

As we move through the U15 and U16s in the Youth Development Phase and enter the Professional Development Phase, using the team strategy as the overall picture we want to build. As in the other age groups having simple sayings, usable pitch references and clear principles for the players to work with.

Building a team is like a puzzle; you must know how the pieces fit together. The result will be a by-product of how they all do. It is also the coach's skill to relate what is expected from each player and make the information relatable to them.