A return to Coaching Conversations, this one with Akin Lord who joined Basingstoke Town as an Academy coach in July 2016. Akin is a UEFA B Licensed coach and BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching graduate, completing his undergraduate degree at Leeds Metropolitan University. Akin is currently studying a part-time masters in Athletic Development and Peak Performance at Southampton Solent University. At 24, Akin is an ambitious young coach and has spent the past 3 years working within the highly regarded Coerver Coaching programme. Akin also enjoyed spells working at Chesterfield FC, Farnborough FC and The FA Skills. Akin enjoyed relative success in his playing career, playing for a number of professional and semi-professional football clubs including: Kidderminster Harriers FC, AFC Wimbledon, Staines Town FC, Kingstonians FC, Fulham FC, Wimbledon FC. He also played and coached at Leeds Metropolitan University, where the football programme is ranked 2nd in the British Universities and College Sports standings.


When you transitioned from playing to coaching what was the biggest adjustment you had to make? 
Identifying that the standard of players I am coaching are not the same standard of players I played with. I.e. Certain drills/session ideas I participated in as a player were not appropriate for the players I was coaching. I recognised that I come from a playing performance background where the result meant something. The players I initially coached were playing for fun and participation alongside still learning the game
 
How would you describe your coaching?
Holistic - a multidisciplinary approach
 
What experiences have most contributed to you coaching the way that you do?
Informal - Experiences and reflection, imitation and apprenticeship
Formal - Time bound, facilitated, assessed, institutional
Non - Formal - CPD, Workshops, seminars, clinics, conversations, observation

What areas of your coaching would you prioritise to continue working on and improving in the coming years?
Communication - Had a stutter since childhood
Observation - Would like to continually observe other coaches/leaders from other sports, business etc.
Develop a greater tactical understanding of the game and how to develop situational practices rather than drills to help improve player performance on match day.
 
How did you find your BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching and are there any elements that still impact your day-to-day coaching life?

• Developed a greater understanding of self and academic theory based problem solving
• Developed a greater understanding of coaching pedagogy. Acknowledgement of academic theory and practice of education
• Developed understanding of technical and tactical skills in sport for children and young people
• Developed understanding of coaching process and practice in applied contexts
• Developed understanding of the bio-psycho-social needs of children and young people in sport

The Who, What, How Principle (Abraham et al ., 2009)
Who - ‘Who’ am I coaching? Understanding of learner (Needs and Wants)
What - ‘ What’ am I coaching? Understanding of curriculum (Skill and knowledge of the role)
How - ‘How’ am I coaching? Understanding of learning environment (Activity structure and coaching behaviour)
 
What are your thoughts on the formal coach ed available to coaches within football (FA, UEFA license etc)?
The current FA formal coach education format has been recently reviewed and I believe they have improved for the better. The removal of final assessment and instead the coach educators support coaches within their own environment.
My UEFA B experience highlights that. I saw some very good coaches fail on the day of assessment because they didn’t meet the criteria of the coach educator (Even though the participants were us coaches and we had to participate in 27 other 45 minute assessments). Some coaches choked on assessment day and failed, where I have seen them before on summative assessments and perform extremely well. I missed the assessment due to have a knee operation two weeks before the assessment day however when I recovered from my operation, I received support in my own environment and developed as a coach by getting support how to develop my players at my own club.
Also some coaches on the course coached U14’s,15’s etc and they were expected to coach men, where some may have had no experience in doing so. Whilst completing my UEFA B License, my coach educator videoed my session and watching myself back on DVD was a powerful education tool.

You work within a football Academy and the amount of players who make it to football's professional ranks is notoriously small - how does that impact on your coaching and treatment of players, if at all?
My coaching environment is slightly different as my club is semi-professional, so the players already have a slight realization they’re not going to turn professional.
The first aim for the majority of my players is getting a first team contract (The 1st team are full time). This impacts my coaching and treatment of the players with regular reminders of their behaviours and actions - I.e. Would they do the same thing if they were with the first team?

In 2015 I did a Coaching Conversation with Miguel Rios who commented that "too often football academies are run on fear - the fear of being released". Have you found this to be accurate in your experience and, if so, does it inhibit the learning and development of some players?
My previous experience within a professional academy there was more a “fear” from the parents than the players. This inhibited the learning and development of the players as their focus was elsewhere. Education to the parents is important so this “fear” doesn’t relay to the players and effect training/match day performance

Are there certain elements (coaching or club/environment) that you think are crucial in developing young players? 

• Freedom
• Opportunity
• Flexibility

 
I know some people who have worked within professional football and have heard that as a sport it can be quite resistant to change or new ideas at times - is this something you have found to be true?
Yes, the old notion of “we’ve always done it this way” and coaches/players aren't always receptive to new methods/ideas. However, they need educating as always doing a certain task one way will only produce a certain type of result. Allowing/adapting to a change will allow the scope for different successes/failures.
Football is open to new ideas regarding sports science/performance analysis etc as this field is still growing and developing. However, training methods/periodisation, coaches and players are still resistant to change.

No foul mouths on this field, on NYtimes
- Jimmy Graham on Carroll's Seahawks = "here, they feel like you guys are already men and we're going to treat you like men. It's literally all positive reinforcement."
- Gervais' psych and emotional input possible as Carroll built a team that valued keeping an open mind.
- Carroll and his staff are "supportive and nurturing"

How to increase mental toughness: 4 secrets of Olympians and Navy SEALS, on Bakadesuyo.com
1. Talk positively to yourself.
- Optimists have the view that bad things are temporary, bad things have a specific cause and aren't universal, it's not their fault.
2. Set goals
3. Practice visualization. Don't seek perfection, try to see problems you may encounter and how to solve them
4. Use simulations

Billy Bean on making better decisions... , on farnamstreetblog
- When he hired he looked out of sport to someone who didn't have his biases - Paul dePodesta was a Harvard Econ major.
- Remove the emotion from decision making - your own experiences are tied to an emotion. Take blind eye and look at things fresh. Don't make assumptions.
- Always analyze your process, make sure you weren't correct through serendipity but because the process is good and you are doing things properly.
- "I think, if anything, we certainly didn't fear failure, because we felt like going a traditional path was certainly the surest of failure based on revenues and the payroll we were on"
- Always analyze your foundation as culture and tradition are ingrained quickly. If you wrongly assume you are correct, it can really go awry.

Importance of friendship groups in sport, on SCUK
- understand young people's motivations for coming
- take time to understand friendship groups
- Encourage more/bigger/new friendship groups
- Allow time for social (media) breaks

The Rocky Road of Excellence, on changingthegameproject.org
- You must risk being uncomfortable to achieve something worthwhile
- Alan Stein = "Do the habits you have today match the dreams you have for tomorrow?"
- As coach, give players and team accountability. Hold to high standards. Make it tough, then be there after to debrief and understand outcome.

Greetings from Cub Med, on si.com
- Joe Maddon's Cubs Spring Training they seek to go about work with a collegiate confidence, a rapport in which the joy of playing together is greater than the burden of having to meet expectations individually.
- "Embrace the target". They welcome expectations.
- Joe Guru stressed Individuality and Authenticity. Spring Training isn't about reps but to think properly.
- 1st week Maddon has meetings with all players and he gives players the freedom to be most relaxed self.

Jameis Winston: What I learned, on MMQB
- A lot of what we did was just developing good habits

Drills. Why not? on rightbackonthebench
- Games based training works due to amount of touches, "players practicing everything the need to improve at football - practicing assessing the football situation, making a decision based on that assessment and then executing that decision all at the same time"

Is your feedback process false and failing?, on Coach Logic
By Allistair McCaw.
- A lot of coaches not consistent enough in providing honest feedback - regardless if nice or not.
- Many talk of 5:1 ratio in favour of positive comments, AM is more like 3:1 as need to be honest and realistic
- Eastern Euro coaches brutal honesty compared to US or UK
- Not 'criticize' but 'information'.
- Feedback centres around
1. Timing of it
2. Feedback based on facts, with proof
3. Feedback that is honest
- Lying to athlete and self if not giving the info they need
- "You don't improve with criticism, rather you improve with the right information"
- Effective communication 80% how delivered and 20% what.

Old Trafford kids buying into my philosophy, on DailyMail
- Louis Van Gaal - "I think being a teacher is part of my function as manager"

In May 2015 I was on a much needed post-season break to the South Coast when I finally opened a Christmas present - Michael Calvin's "The Nowhere Men". The book charts the life of scouts within football as they travel from stadium to stadium keeping an eye out for the next big thing. It was Chapter 4 that really caught my attention, with Michael documenting his time spent with Miguel Rios who was then the Brentford FC Head of Academy Recruitment. Much of what Miguel said rang true with my own experiences of coaching and youth development including the inhibitory approaches of coaches who are 'wedded to winning'. Furthermore, he addressed the importance of physical literacy, the aim to create an environment that was pressure-free for players and more. On a wave of enthusiasm from my previous #CoachingConversations with Paul Holmes, Jamie Taylor, Daniel Pyke and Peter Jeffrey, I got in touch with Miguel and was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to head down the road from home to Brentford to meet him.

In your role as Head of Recruitment, and with a background in coaching, what is it that you are looking for within young players?
It depends on the age really. At the younger end of the spectrum I am primarily looking at the physical characteristics over tactical or technical. At 6, 7, 8 years old I want to see if they have the ABCs that will set them up well going forward, technique can come in time. It's also important to get an idea of how they respond to the coach - can they learn? 


It has always amazed me somewhat that football clubs take players at such a young age. Although a very different sport and structure, the NFL Draft featured high numbers of players who were multi-sport athletes up until (and including) college. Football is very much focused on early specialization, getting the kids in at 6 years old. What is your view on this and how does it affect your role?
I think I see this differently to many - I've not got too many issues with early specialization, it certainly hasn't done Xavi and Iniesta any damage to be playing football regularly since a young age. My opinion is that the focus should be on the coaching itself - hopefully through good coaches we can bring out a variety of skills and put our players into a variety of environments to ensure they have a rounded development that maximises their potential to make it as professional footballers. In terms of my role in recruitment, the age of the player links to their strengths and position - a midfielder needs to have a high technical ability for example. It also depends on the club itself and what level they are playing at. In each of the professional leagues the game is slightly different and requires players with different skills and strengths. Clubs in the Premier League may want to recruit and develop players in a different way to those in League 1 or League 2. 


So for your role, in an Academy that is highly regarded, are you recruiting for players with Premier League potential and skillset despite being in the Championship?
I believe that should be the aim, yes. Having that ambition to recruit players suitable for the top level of football.


In 'The Nowhere Men', you mentioned how the development of some young players is inhibited because their coaches are wedded to winning. Is that still an issue you encounter and how do you break that?
Firstly, I want to say that I have no issue with winning as a concept - I think it is important to have competition where teams win and lose. However, it is the winning-at-all-costs mentality that can be harmful and the connection that winning has for the young players is the important thing. It should be part of the game but not the over-riding factor, especially for young players who are still learning and developing. Some parents and coaches see it differently, and that's hard to combat. But the nature of winning and losing, I think, is a good lesson - players need to experience hardship at times as it helps them to grow and it shows a lot about their character. At the end of the day, we are operating at the top end of elite sport and players need to be able to roll with hardship and keep going.


I also read that it is important for you to remove the pressure from your players, why is that crucial for you and how do you do it? Pulling on a Brentford FC shirt must inherently bring an element of pressure with it?
You're right, it does - but we want to create an environment where the pressure is off and the fear factor is removed. I'm not saying it needs to be a relaxed environment, but one where they are able to take risks and develop as a result. When players take risks they can learn, they can show themselves for who they really are. Too often, Academies are run on fear - the fear of being released and not making it. That inhibits players and encourages them to play it safe.


A number of Academies have very strong reputations, if you were to set-up your own club how would you build the Academy to produce good players?
Many Academies get a lot of praise, however I think the key things come down to good coaches at a given time as opposed to it being something inherent within the club itself; that is they have good people in place who coincide with a number of talented youngsters. I'd build my club around high level recruitment, high level coaching and plenty of playing football - that is how young players develop.


You used to coach, and you interact with coaches daily - what is your view on the current coach education provision? I myself have some reservations about the coach education within rugby, certainly.
I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of The FA coaching courses even though I have had to do them myself. It is all about the qualification itself rather than the learning aspect. It's like a driving test, you pass an assessment and there is no real measure of quality or improvement as a coach after you have been certified.
Box-ticking...
Yeah, in many cases and how do you know what you've learnt? How does the FA know? There are many coaches in the system just aren't at the level because they can pass a course but might not be developing themselves as a coach, or be able to communicate effectively with players..
A lot of doors in rugby are closed by ex-pros moving into coaching. I'm sure many are very good, but I've seen plenty who aren't too...
The same in football. I see it all the time and I think it'll continue to get worse. I'm currently working on an a course with The FA on Talent ID which is based on ongoing learning stretching my abilities over 18 months, hopefully a similar approach will come over to the coaching side too. Another problem is academic inflation - so many coaches are having to shell out huge sums of money to be more qualified than the next coach, but everyone is having to do it and it kills young coaches, how can they afford it?
I know a number of S&C coaches who feel the same way about their own industry, I've heard the phrase "S&C is one of the only industries where a Masters might get you an internship." What would your advice be, therefore, for young coaches?
Get experience and be themselves. Experience is key, and much of that will have to come from volunteering.


Is there anything that many Academies aren't doing that maybe you should be improving?
Certainly recruitment, who they bring in and why. Most Academies are just wanting to develop that one player, one star. However every team needs 11 players! My key philosophy is to give everyone a chance. If you recruit for the right reasons, and have the right coaches in place then give everyone the chance to earn that professional contract. Some clubs just don't have a player in a certain position in an age group, so will recruit a young player because it will do for the next couple of years. I don't think that is good enough. But, football is results-driven and staff turnover is high - it's hard to develop that environment.


Football is renowned for how few players actually make it to the top, and that many of those released at 18 have limited education and prospects. In rugby, Saracens put a huge emphasis on their culture and as part of this they insist on all players taking part in higher education or the workplace. Could this work in football if a club wanted to try a similar approach?
I think in football there is just too much choice. If we put the money into an education programme then maybe we can't pay them as much. If they can earn more down the road at another club then they can just sign for them - it's that simple. Culture as a concept is hugely important, I'm just not sure the education side would work in a football Academy set-up.

Wayne Harrison first came to my attention on twitter a few months ago (I think through The Whitehouse Address) - he seemed passionate about coaching and was constantly engaged with a wide range of coaches across the United States and beyond. A little bit of research was quick to show his extensive CV and experience both as a player and a coach in various countries. Wayne has also contributed to the coaching community with various books and articles that have been published - a full run down of these can be found here. His passion for youth development, as well as willingness to 'be different' and innovative made it clear to me that he'd be a good person to contact for #coachingconversations. 

You founded Soccer Awareness in 1996, what is the overall philosophy and aim?
To provide a focus in training on the development of the mind with exercises designed to teach and test it. 

It is clear that you put a big emphasis on the thinking player and training the mind - what led you to prioritise this aspect?
I played professionally but would have been a better player if I was more mentally attuned to the game in terms of assessing my options before receiving the ball. The game was fast even then and to have been a faster decision maker would have meant I would have been a better player. So I always wanted to help others with it and it became my focus on teaching. I call it teaching a "half a touch mentality" to produce different actions based on it. 

Decision making is crucial in all sports - as a rugby coach in the UK I have often come across players who run certain moves because they are told to and occasionally have success, but the actual understanding of why they are doing it or who they are manipulating is absent. The landscape is starting to change now, how important do you think it is to put this focus on decision making and understanding at a young age?
It is THE most important focus in the game in my opinion. Funny it's becoming fashionable now to talk about decision making and the mind and faster thinking when I've focused on it for almost 20 years. The younger you start the better. I teach patterns of play, I present ways to do things, then I have the players make their own decisions and find different ways to do things within my pattern play framework. 

How would your athletes describe you as a coach? What is the coaching identity you seek to put out there?
Positive, encouraging, warm, excitable, fun, educational, very down to earth, and occasionally very demanding when needed. I seek to make sure we are all at the same level no matter what age I teach and everyone's view is as important as the next. They must never call me coach either, it's Wayne, because I want us mentally attuned at the same level. 

Soccer is now pretty established in the states, gaining increased media coverage to go alongside the youth participation numbers which have been high for a while. How has the soccer landscape/environment changed whilst you've been in the U.S. and how has this impacted, if at all, on your coaching?
It's generational. Current parents, many have played the game so understand it better and hence the demand to see the game has grown. No impact on my coaching to be honest I'm just happy the game is growing. 

Recently you had somewhat of a Twitter rant, which was great, about the approach to youth sports in the U.S. and the focus on winning rather than development. I read recently that Miguel Rios of Brentford FC described youth coaching in the UK, outside the academies, as sometimes being hindered by being wedded to winning. It is so ingrained in the American psyche to win - have you had huge pushback to your long-term developmental approach or do some people 'get it'?
People say they agree then show they really think the opposite. It's fashionable to say development over winning but it's still about winning - perhaps parents push and believe in the win so much as they are vicariously living through their kids and to be a winner in the USA is in the psyche. It's made USA what it is today, with this desire for success in all walks of life, but in Soccer's case I think it's still not understood fully that we must teach the right principles of how to play the game correctly first before the obsession with winning. So not obvious push back, but developing clubs and making money and winning all go hand in hand unfortunately. It won't change my attitude and I love to win but I always believe it's HOW you win not winning for the sake of it. 

What do you think are the most important aspects in general for youth development?
Technical development, skill development (which in my book is decision making and links to the mind and totally different to technique) and tactical development and understanding of movement off the ball. We have the ball ourselves 4 to 5 minutes a game so 86 minutes it's movement off the ball - more training focus on this aspect is vital. 

I noticed that as well as your football career you played England U16 Rugby and Cumbria Cricket U18 - do you think that experience, and participation in other sports, made you a better overall sportsman rather than if you had specialised early on football?
I believe so but I think it's more difficult to be good at many sports now and specialization comes earlier. And the demands of clubs and coaches mean that little time is allowed for other sports. 

You have no doubt been a great help and influence for many coaches with your various videos, books, talks etc. How do you continue to improve and learn yourself?
I buy books, I watch games every day on TV, I read about head coaches and how they work, I see other peoples' work and incorporate it or more often change it to suit my way of teaching. I like to experiment with different systems of play, I have another book coming out soon on "how to teach the 3-1-3-3 system of play" which is a very radical way to play. I'm always looking for the new angle on the game and to try to do something unique. 

It was with great excitement that I headed down the M4 to meet up with a community football coach who works in elite centres for professional clubs. He is, like me, a graduate of the elite coaching course at the University of Bath (though, regretfully, a considerably more recent graduate than I!). Having contacted him through Twitter it was evident that he is a young coach who puts a lot of thought into both his work and how he can best create a positive environment to aid the development of those he coaches. Coaching is so much more than just the Mourinhos (Chelsea FC coach), Carrolls (Seattle Seahawks) and Lancasters (England Rugby) so I was really keen to converse with a young coach who is still comparatively early in his journey.

You did the same degree that I did - formerly the Coach Education BA at the University of Bath. Did you take a lot from the degree and have you found it to be beneficial?
It's hard to think of specifics actually. Clearly the majority of jobs nowadays require applicants to have a degree of some sort, however it has surprised me a bit so far that within the Elite environment my degree hasn't proven to be quite as important to potential employers as I might have expected. They place a much bigger emphasis on experience so hopefully I can build that up to go alongside the strengths of having completed that degree at Bath.

Looking back, I feel I could/should have made more of my experience at Bath - being in that high performance environment, having access to the lecturers and coaches that are everywhere on campus...
I agree, I think I could have made more of it too. The general environment was a good place to learn and build important contacts. I think if I had started the degree a couple of years later, knowing exactly what I wanted to do, then I would have been more eager to pick the brains of so many of the excellent staff at the university.

So, you have the degree from Bath but of course the 'industry' coaching awards are important too. What has been your experience of the coach development courses within football?
Don't get me started. I did my Level 2 a few years ago, but it is tough for young coaches to progress beyond that in terms of being accepted on to the Level 3 etc. They often provide feedback to people that you haven't got the experience (in both time and at a certain level) to do the course, which may be valid but I want the course to be a learning experience, to improve me as a coach - that is why I am applying. So I need experience of coaching a certain level yet I can't get that experience without having completed the course! The other side of it is financial. My Level 2 was £400 when I did it which can be a lot of money to some people. The UEFA B is even more expensive, but also has very few places available: only a small number per year can pass which is such a small pool. 

I'm not convinced by the coach development courses within rugby either. I can see why Level 1 is useful for parent coaches but the courses in general have an element of box-ticking to them...
I agree. The content can be hard to translate to actual coaching and the box ticking element means most people need to do the course, rather than actually want to for their own development. The FA has introduced Youth Modules which are better as they aren't based on passing and failing, rather the generation of ideas to aid your development.

From some of the courses I have attended it can sometimes be tough to highlight a real, golden point that I learnt and affected my coaching in a real way. I increasingly feel I learn more through actual real experience of coaching and interaction with other coaches...
Talking, working, watching. I've learnt loads from simple car conversations with other coaches on our way to sessions. The courses also focus on the session and the content, but not necessarily how to communicate it - how to motivate and work with people and players to effect their behaviour and aid their development. The big thing for young coaches is access - access to elite level coaches for conversations or to watch the sessions and try to learn, but it can be very tough to attain.

Something prevalent within all sports is the quick elevation of former professionals into high profile coaching roles. No doubt many make the transition well, but it can be frustrating. Do you feel your lack of an elite playing level background may hinder you?
I think not having played to a really high level may harm me in the future. But there is certainly a big difference between a good player and a good coach. I've worked with many former professionals who have the knowledge of the professional environment and have an idea of the sort of things to do during a session, however lack an understanding of the purpose behind that session and struggle to create their own ideas. It is certainly frustrating in terms of coach development - the pro player UEFA license course is considerably shorter compared to nine months for others. This implies they don't have much to learn, which is something I'd disagree with.

I have some issues with the term 'coaching philosophy', however what are the key tenants that you feel are important within your coaching?
I think I'm very enthusiastic and able to establish good relationships with players. I try to be creative in establishing a fun environment for players to learn and the important thing for me is context - training should prepare players for the demands of competition. I strongly believe in players learning within chaos, learning from the imperfections. Whether it is changing the boundaries of the game (physically and metaphorically), not using bibs or having 'silent' small sided games, my sessions can probably look a little messy from the outside, but I feel I can justify it.

It sounds like plenty of gameplay plays an important part?
Absolutely. Within many elite centres that I encounter we often just let them play. By virtue of the fact they are with different players, all of whom are of a good ability, they learn a lot from playing alongside each other.

There is plenty of discussion and research about early specialisation in terms of young players learning different sports etc. Football seems the obvious one that wants children to specialise as early as possible, they take kids into the Academies as young as 6...
Yeah it is an interesting and tough topic. There is an argument for a situation where kids might have more time to play locally, however in the current system they are allowed to still play for school/clubs whilst attending elite sessions. Clubs are just so competitive for young talent, it would need to be a whole structural change to ruling in terms of age for anything to change. They start to play fixtures against other elite centres at a young age, but the rules and environment are different to encourage development and with a view to lifting the pressure to win...

But kids almost always want to win naturally, so is it right to put them in an environment so competitive so young?
I know what you mean, but we really try to remove that pressure. Having said that, right or wrong the context is that they are wanting to progress within an elite environment in a professional sport which can be unforgiving at times. Winning remains part of their development too.

I contacted you through Twitter. I've found it an interesting source for good articles and ideas that can help with my learning as a coach...
With something like twitter you have to take the good with the bad. It has some great aspects and many coaches share their session ideas which can give coaches a huge portfolio of ideas to utilise. One thing I have found useful is looking beyond football and I have taken a lot from people like Ross Williams who is a South African rugby coach. 

That's funny, Ross recently said to me that he learnt a huge amount from football when he was in the UK last year...
Yeah it's good to interact with people from different sports. The technical details may be different, but concepts can translate across.