Louisa’s transition from parent to coach
Most coaches in grassroots football are parents who step up to take responsibility for the team their child gets involved with, often with little or no prior coaching experience, but plenty of their own skills and ideas. It may be daunting at first, but there is loads of support from the club, as well as other organisations.
Louisa went through the transition after watching her son from the sidelines at under 7s, to taking on the coaches role from under 8s and is now coaching the same team at under 9s, and enjoying the experience.
Like all new coaches, Louisa got straight into her FA Level 1 course qualification, which gives a great insight into the theory as well as practical guidance on the England DNA and four corners of youth football development.
As well as support from Hythe & Dibden, our various coach development sessions and our online coaching resources, Louisa reached out to the Saints Foundation to see how they could assist her on her coaching journey. They assigned her a mentor who attended training with her and gave some great guidance on training methods and ideas.
“You have to be brave, but just do it. There are so many resources out there, but the main thing is to ask for help. Doing it on your own can be so challenging, so make use of that. Don’t try and tough it out on your own.”
A big thanks to the Saints Foundation for supporting Louisa our Under 9 hornets, great to have the backing of Southampton football club.
You can read more about the Saints Foundation’s supporting role here.
