Dave Lee

Don't need a freebie to share @coachdavidbaird.bsky.social and his great work, but it helps!

My daughter told me the other day that Taylor Swift sang that nostalgia is a construct. It wasn't better in the old days!
Yes, the 80s were violent and racist, and there was Jimmy Saville and Rolf Harris, but you could have a good snowball fight instead of going to school. Them were the days!

Level 1, A, B, C...I find coaching badges to coaches can sometimes be like youth, wasted on the young.
But you're generally right; these are good qualifications in the right hands. They should be more accessible.

The Level 1 has killed that in my view. It is worse than useless.

I did my Level 1 badges years ago (outfield, futsal, goalkeeping), with professional, experienced coaches. You could feel your world view changing as the weeks went by. A side-effect was a thirst for more. New experiences, CPD, reading watching, personal development.

Classic description of the Level 1. I laughed out loud! The worst part of that qualification though is that it provides a cloak of invincibility to the unlearned, who then rampage obliviously through grassroots football brandishing their ignorance like a club!

But...coach education here does nothing to advance and develop coaching at home or abroad. Not enough places, extortionate costs create a kind of class system, where potential talent is excluded and the opportunity to nurture and create a healthy coaching culture is lost.

Am I the only coach who hasn't written a book? 😂 Hi David! 👋🏻

... there's physical literacy, footballing ability, age and maturity (girls playing over 2 age groups), some live for football, some have almost no interest in it, other than the hour they train and Sunday's match.
It's stressful, joyful, all-consuming, challenging and fun!

I'm a relative newcomer then Tony! 10 years in, but I've never coached boys, so I've nothing to compare it with. Be genuinely interested to know why you're loving it? What are the differences?

For me, the challenge is managing difference. The girls are wildly different in lots of ways...

Yes Tony. Not as illustrious a coach as yourself, but dedicated to the grassroots, girls' game, in between building stuff for a living! Good to see you on here.