In this post we speak to Tony Page, Volunteer Football Coach for Beckwithshaw Saints Junior Football Club. For the past 3 years Tony has coached the under 13 boys team, which Human Kinetics now proudly sponsor.
We wanted to catch up with Tony to find out more about his experiences and insights as a volunteer football coach.
How did you get into coaching?
My son, Oli, began playing for Beckwithshaw Saints. At training most parents stood politely in the parent zone. However I couldn’t stand still and used to prowl around the pitches intent on learning and inwardly critiquing what was going on!
It was clear there was an unofficial A team and a B team. Oli was in the B team due to his late start into football and this team received much less attention from the pre-existing coaches.
I took a keen interest from the side-lines, and whilst I didn’t for one minute assume I could do better, I felt sympathy for the B team, who were missing out on matches, and missing the focus of the myriad of coaches. The head coach at the time approached me, and asked if I would be prepared to help coach the B team. How could I turn that down!? It was a challenge I felt helpless to refuse.
My mission from that point on was to take the underdogs and turn them into a team that could both enjoy their football and get the attention they deserved.
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