Holistic development

It was also a chance for young players to learn how to live away from home – excellent preparation for the life of a professional footballer who is likely to have to move abroad to play. 

But it also encouraged the young women to develop holistically, which is something Leah thinks is crucial.

“I’m certainly learning, throughout my career and journey, the importance of players having something else outside of football as well, whether it’s school education, different social circles that sit outside your football friends - I think even for our top professionals now. I work with some of those players and we look at, ‘Okay, but what else are you doing as well as your career?’ The way sport is progressing, we want to develop more holistically sound athletes, who have other things in life as well.

“When players do retire, they might not necessarily want to stay in football either. I retired as a player and went into coaching. I have team-mates who don’t want to be anywhere near the football field at the moment, and have other successful careers because they went a different road. So I think it’s important that we open up new players’ worlds to what else there is outside of football because it’s certainly not forever.”

But of course, the Future Matildas’ staff were dedicated to developing individuals as players.

“You study them, you watch them in their club environments, you watch them in your training environment and you can develop an individual player plan for that player. What is it they need to add to their locker? They’re already good players, they’re already national team-identified professionals. What is it that they need to take that next step into top professional environments overseas and what is the best next step for them?

“That guidance and that intimate knowledge of the players is what made us extremely successful during that period and during my time with the Future Matildas program - and also the aspect of understanding what makes them tick. How do you get the best out of a certain player at any time? That became an extremely important piece of it.”

Players transitioning into professional football and joining clubs in the top leagues globally, and of course achieving senior international caps for Australia, are what Leah and her colleagues would pride themselves on – but she warns that progress is non-linear. Experienced coaches can make an educated prediction to bring together a squad of 15-year-olds they think will make it to the top – but it’s no guarantee.

“You can have a good idea. You can provide the opportunity and, a great environment. but there’s certainly going to be ups and downs in a player’s career. You can see so many youth players who at the age of 13 or 14 are quite strong, but maybe due to injury, maybe they lose a love for the game, whatever their circumstances, aren’t in the game at 20 - whereas others at 21, 22, just get it together, but the penny might drop for whatever reason, and end up professionals as well.

“The ones that do make it all have resilience and mental toughness in common.”

Planning sessions

Leah has always been focused on detail when it comes to designing training sessions, but again she maintains that focus on the individual in parallel with the team.

“I’ll go into a training session and I’m aware of every single player, their strengths, what the needs are that day for that player. Getting to know your playing group is huge. The easy part actually becomes the session design and the topic. The hard part is how do you get the best out of who you are working with? And I think that’s really important. It’s those Xs and Os in coaching that help set you apart.

“How has somebody’s day been, to be standing in front of you? How do you motivate them? How do you get the best out of them? I think that’s extremely important, and then understanding that balance of when do you need to bring the energy?

“It’s that understanding of what your group need at any given moment in the session. If something isn’t working for a player, how do you keep them laser focused?”

Leah is a fan of using video prior to a training session, ensuring that players know before stepping on the grass what they will be working on – and why.

“The why is so important, because if you understand why you’re doing something, then you’re likely to get more buy-in as well from a playing group.

“If you just [allude] to what some of that detail might be in the learning process, then when you’re able to step on the pitch, things can happen quicker because the players have already seen what it is they’re potentially working on and might have a greater understanding of that ‘why’.”

And Leah says the head coach also needs to think about the roles played by the rest of the staff when it comes to delivering sessions and developing players.

“What’s your assistant’s role in the training session? What’s your S&C’s role? What’s your physio’s role? I think that’s super important that we bring everybody on that journey. I have a habit as a head coach, I like all my staff in the room to see the pre-training meeting as an example, because I want them to feel a part of that journey. Now, everybody’s different. Somebody might say, no, that makes the room too crowded, and it’s up to you as an individual, but my preference is that in the delivery of those topics or whatever we’re doing in training, everyone feels a part of it. It’s important that you focus on your playing group, but also the people around you as well that are going to help you execute that training session.”

She adds: “That also carries on to your individual player meetings as well, and other processes you might have in your environment. You have to have enough value yourself to understand that maybe you are not the best person to deliver a message or a topic at a different time, so being able to delegate that to an assistant coach, or another technical staff member in your team, is extremely powerful.”

Commitment and discipline

Leah is currently assistant to head coach Nils Nielsen, the first foreign coaches to be involved with the women’s national team in Japan, and in their first tournament with the side they won the SheBelieves Cup.

Japanese players, she says, have a commitment to daily improvement.

“It’s just that day-to-day commitment to just getting that little bit better and focusing on those individual techniques and that level of discipline where they show up and they’re ready to train and they have an absolute commitment to that football environment,” she says.

Leah knew Japan as a set-up well from having played and coached against them previously, so that transition wasn’t a shock. What was a challenge was the language, which has meant she’s had to reflect on her coaching and ensure the detail she likes to convey does not become lost in translation.

“The why is so important, because if you understand why you’re doing something, then you’re likely to get more buy-in as well from a playing group”

“We’re doing very well with it. We have translators in the environment. A lot of the Japanese players have a strong level of English because they’re playing abroad and they learned it in high school in Japan. Definitely those sort of challenges we’re navigating through.”

Leah now spends a lot of time in England watching players eligible for the Japanese team – she was spotted by the television cameras sitting with Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman at Leigh Sports Village watching Hinata Miyazawa play for Manchester United versus Chelsea - and training camps for the squad have been split this year between Japan and Europe.

“That’s what’s been a bit of a change: for Japan to have that foreign influence - which hopefully brings success and trophies to the program.”