You are viewing 1 of your 2 free articles
Former Doncaster Rovers manager Dave Penney has spoken of an eye-opening experience after spending a week training local coaches in South Africa on behalf of the charity coaching for Hope.
The League Managers’ Association is backing the charity’s programme to support and develop community football coaches in order for them to engage more effectively with the most disadvantaged young people in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
Penney, 48, delivered a week-long residential course, which was made possible by The LMA’s Community Fund and UK Sport’s ICES programme, at the Marsh Memorial Children’s Home in Cape Town.
“It was excellent,” said Dave, who trained 20 female and 16 male coaches. “Coaching for Hope teaches you football skills, but they teach you life skills as well. Hopefully the coaches will take that back into their communities.
“We coached from 9am until 5pm and then from 6.30pm until 8.30pm kids would get coaching on life skills, social skills, HIV awareness etc. It’s been a really useful experience to show how soccer coaching can help build knowledge and life skills outside of the game. We got involved and we listened and got an idea of the situation these people are working in. We were obviously delivering the football skills, but life skills were as important in the areas that they were going back to.”
Dave added: “It was really eye-opening for us. Sometimes you sit back and you think ‘Wow, how lucky are we?’ Everyone moans about what they have or haven’t got but when you look at their situation it’s a bit of a reality check.”
The ability to plan, deliver and assess coaching sessions was at the heart of the training delivered by Dave, who was assisted by Michael Richardson from Hull City’s Tiger Trust. The coaches also learned how to manage and progress skills-based sessions as well as ensuring they are age appropriate.
The coaches work with nine organisations that use football to reach disadvantaged groups. The organisations work with boys and girls from townships and street children living and working on the streets of the Central Business Districts of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
Dave added: “They are using football as a means to get the message across, but the real lesson is about the life skills - helping the kids they coach to know about right from wrong and saying ‘no’ to things that can sidetrack them from getting on in life.”
He believes The LMA’s support for projects like Coaching for Hope is hugely important.
“It’s about giving something back,” he said. “Footballers, and to a certain extent managers, often get a bad rap. People don’t realise the work that many footballers do in giving back to society, whether in this country or abroad.
“Managers are the same. If you’re not working at a particular time and you can get involved in projects like this, then people are willing to do it. People in football are good people generally and they want to help people if and when they can.
“I’d like to go back to South Africa again and get involved with Coaching for Hope. I’ve said to them that any time that I’m available and they feel that I can be of help, then I’d look forward to going back.”
In a recent survey 92% of subscribers said Elite Soccer makes them more confident, 89% said it makes them a more effective coach and 91% said it makes them more inspired.
Get Monthly Inspiration
All the latest techniques and approaches
Since 2010 Elite Soccer has given subscribers exclusive insight into the training ground practices of the world’s best coaches. Published in partnership with the League Managers Association we have unparalleled access to the leading lights in the English leagues, as well as a host of international managers.
Elite Soccer exclusively features sessions written by the coaches themselves. There are no observed sessions and no sessions “in the style of”, just first-hand advice delivered direct to you from the coach.