http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_football.cfm?curpageid=657

This website will give you a look at how the coaching structure is here.

I see where you are coming from now maybe we just got off to a bad start, but it doesnt help putting people down on the forum because the great thing about this forum is that there are people willing to give advice where they can and despite myself being quite experienced i still feel that im gaining knwoledge from a lot of guys on here.

I havnt once lied. Our set up is very different compared to england. We get players and coachs from england who come up here to do there badges as what i believe to know is that our structure is more advanced. Im not aloud to do my Licence in England. Only Brussels im affraid but with working with SFA dont need to pay a penny which is alright. Just gotta hope i pass.

I never said you lied, i merely got frustrated at the fact you implied i didnt know what i was talking about although you put it a little stronger than that. But no harm done so back to square 1.

strass
However I have a feeling that you have self interest here and probably run courses for the FA .The courses are simply not good enough - level 1 is the most important course it sets the new coach on his "OFFICIAL COACHING PATHWAY", more IMPORTANTLY it should provide the starter ogramme for young players.
Instead we have no coaching practice and a series of unrelated fun games that have no carry over in to the real game there is minimal transference.Loads of theory about health and safety but no real insights in to coaching methodology.
Just as interesting is that there is no learning "spine" that progresses the coach from 1 through to the A licence .The small sided game should be part of level 1 because at junior coaching level it is the examination of the previous practices put on in the early part of the session.
When kids go down the park they don,t say "LETS PLAY the FA kick the ball in the opposite square and run back to the line and they kick it back game" (and by the way why would you have a practice that teaches kids to kick the ball away ) They put down jackets for goals and PLAY A GAME.In the old days that would have been in the street in a tight area which would naturally improve foot work ,balance and understanding of time and space.Our LEVEL 1 should recreate that learning experience

Strass
The stats say it all - only 20% of coaches taking level 1 go on to take level 2.
Are you saying that we are producing better players than Ronaldo,Henri,Van Persie,Fabregas,Torres,Raul.I could go on.We have Joe Cole maybe Rooney and then who else.Why do you think clubs are recruiting more and more young players from abroad for academies. Why are premier league clubs recruiting more managers and coaches from abroad.Our system doesn,t work.
On this post we were talkng about coaching and teaching the game and the only contribution from one young coach was "most coaches don,t know how to stretch properly"What has that got to with developing outstanding players.Its not his fault he,s a product of the system.

Let me assure you that i most definitely do not run courses for the FA. Infact i just paid for my apprentice to do his level 1 and i siad that i would be most disappointed if he did not pass due to the ease of it and also due to the experience he had allready gained from working with me. Also i asked him what topic he got and he said Through the gate and i thought what the hell is that. I then saw the pack that he got and i thought thats a good idea all nicely packaged, but on further inspection i discovered the contents to be nothing more than glorified warm up drills. I agree that level 1 is probably too easy. Im not defending the FA at all but there has to be a starting point and as ive previously stated there are so many people that are very keen to run junior teams and such like but just really dont have a clue about where to start when it comes to coaching and i feel that while the actual coaching side of level 1 is easy it gives those people a platform from which to start.

Something else to ponder is that in level 3 the practices and terminology used is way above the comprehension of many a senior player and whereas the coach becomes very knowledgeable he will only ever use a fraction of that on the majority of teams he or she coaches and consequently to begin using such things at level 1 stage would just be pointless. I fully understand what you are saying and agree with quite a lot of it. Sometimes when im at a match some coaches and managers and players feel threatend by my presence. What they fail to realise is that probably 90% of what i say to them hasnt been learned on a coaching course its just pure and simple common sense that if applied correctly will produce results. Coaching badges do not produce good coaches there is so much more to it than that. What you gain as you progress along the path is knowledge. How you apply that knowledge to a given situation is what will ultimately define you as a coach. Please view the following link.
http://forum.football.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=34423&highlight=

Mr Bell we both know that statistics can be manipulted in a number of ways to ephasize points we try to make. only 20% of coaches went on to take their level 2. Considering i saw an article which said that 17,000 coaches had attended the level 1 course in the last 12 months that would mean that 3400 coaches progressed to doing their level 2 just from that number. Thats hardly a number to be sniffed at. Also lets not forget that there has been a national drive for coaches especially since we found out that we were getting the olympics. Lets add the fact that a lot of coaches took the level 1 because funds were made available for them to do so from various sources allowing them to achieve a governing body basic qualification and these funds do not stretch to level 2 in most cases. I could go on but i wont.

strass
Call me Colin.sorry if I was a bit too forceful I admire your passion and commitment.However you know if the candidates were excited and enthused by what they learnt on level1 then they would want to go onto the next level.The Fa should make the price more accessible becuase we want more coaches.
With your coaching schools i,m sure the kids when they enjoy the first sessions will want to come back and learn more its the same with coaches

I believe its a Quantity vs Quality argument; what do we want?

More Coaches or Better Coaches?

Hi colin

What youre saying is true. If you start to piece together what you have said and others around the forum have said then a clearer picture is emerging. Firstly that the level 1 is too easy for the more serious coach, but remember you do not have to start at the level 1. Secondly to progress to the A' licence is nigh on impossible if you are not involved or have been involved in the professional game and also joe average is priced well out of it.

With regards to my courses. Sure the kids come back as they enjoy it but that doesnt mean they want to be footballers. Many dont want to pursue it any further than playing in a structured enviroment with their pals even regardless of ability or potential.

I agree totally Strass.

Can you please reply to the private message I sent you .

Thanks

I have replied to your pm

west brom
Why does it have to be a quality versus quantity issue. With our population and love for the game we should be able to get a large amount of quality coaches.
As an analogy wouldn,t we ask serious questions if only 20 percent of students finishing their first year at University came back for the second year!!!!!

By the way Strass the 20% were the figures given by the FA!!

The figure of 17,000 was also provided by the FA on their own website.

Hi colin

I dont think your analogy with University Students is very fair either. Uni students generally enrol on courses (degree) that are usually 3-4 years in duration therefore to stand a chance of gaining that qualification they would have to complete that course.

If it was a requirement to do all your badges 1 after the other to be given coach status then you could compare. Also 40% of people now go to uni so maybe you should look at how many of those obtain a first class or 2-1 or 2-2 etc to enable more accurate comparisons if indeed that is possible.

Lets not forget that if someone chooses only to do their level 1 then that could be for a whole host of reasons such as thats all they want to get out of it, or they feel thats their level.

I have seen many people who could probably obtain badges upto level 3 but having it would not make them a better coach at all because they really wouldnt know how to apply what they know.

Are you saying that we are producing better players than Ronaldo,Henri,Van Persie,Fabregas,Torres,Raul.I could go on.We have Joe Cole maybe Rooney and then who else

With Raul nearing 30(I think) I can list several English players in the same league as your list. Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham, Neville, Ferdinand, Scholes, Owen, Terry. Just young uns? - Rooney, Richards, Lescott, Taylor......

perhaps not better, but certainly on a par.

ian
how is it Ian we can,t even beat Croatia then.Scholes maybe but Lampard ,Lescott ,Neville,Owen!! Come on!!

Ive told you before it doesnt matter how great your individuals are if the team cant function as one. The national teams of the players listed have hardly been burdend with success. Must admit colin im with you on questioning some of the names mentioned.