Whitley Bay Sporting Club

Club Philosophy

The club philosophy encompasses a number of areas. It outlines our aims on the pitch, our coachingmethods and also the standards we expect from all associated with the club – be that parents,players or coaches. These standards are summarised immediately below and outlined throughoutthe document.

PLAYERS COACHES SPECTATORS

HONESTRESPECTFUL

HARD-WORKINGCOMMITTED

PRIDE

COMMITTEDPLAYER-CENTRED

EMPOWERINGRESPECTFUL

PROFESSIONAL

RESPECTFULSUPPORTIVE

ENCOURAGING

Players’ Values

We ask players to display four key attributes above anything else. We ask that players arecommitted, to football, their teammates and the club. We ask that they work hard, in training and inmatches, but also away from the football pitch. We ask that they are always respectful, of theirteammates, coaches, referees and opposition – something that we would expect coaches toreinforce. We expect players to be honest in every sense of the word, not only showing this in theirgeneral conduct, but through sportsmanship on the pitch also. Lastly, we also hope that players areproud to play for the club and to represent them both on and off of the football pitch.

Playing Philosophy

The club believes in playing ‘good’ football. We want our teams to pass the ball along the floor and play out from the back. We do also expect our teams to be flexible, however. The reality of grassroots football is that pitches do not always enable us to play this style of football, but it is always our preferred option.

The club also considers winning to be a bonus rather than a necessity. The primary aim in matches isto see individual improvements and the transfer of learning from the training environment intocompetitive games. As such, the club is also an advocate of equal playing time (within reason) and of giving players experience in multiple positions. Both points are especially true in the FoundationPhase (U6-U12).

Once a team reaches 11-a-side, the club beieves that football revolves around four keyphases of play:

1. We are in possession of the ball2. We do not have possession of the ball3. We have just won possession and are organising to attack (transition 1)4. We have just lost possession and are organising to defend (transition 2)

The club also believes that each transition phase has two accompanying questions:

Transition 1 – Defence to attackCan we counter attack at pace? If yes, we must do so. If this is not possible, can we retain possession and build an attack?

Transition 2 – Attack to defenceCan we press high up the pitch and successfully regain possession of the ball? If yes, we mustdo so. If not, can we delay our pressing of the ball to retreat and re-organise into a new line ofdefence to win back the ball?

Our coaches have a responsibility to prepare players in line with this philosophy and our playershave a responsibility to transfer this to the pitch. All players have a responsibility to participate in allfour key phases.

Coaching Philosophy

Just as with players, there are a number of traits we expect our coaches to strive towards.

In addition to what we expect of our players, we also have further standards that we demand from our coaches.

When delivering for WBSC, coaches should be player-centred. This means that, for a coach, he/she is “their coach” rather than the boys/girls being “my players.”

Coaches are there to facilitate player development. As previously stated, WBSC is not a ‘win at all costs’ club. This is not to say that there is no value in winning, but rather that with high quality coaching, the winning will take care of itself. That means that coaches need to foster individual excellence before making a winning team – especially within the Foundation Phase. As a part of this, it may be that players fluctuate between squads at an age group, as is appropriate for their current stage of development.

We also ask that coaches empower their players. Be that they pick the teams in training or leadthe warm-ups. We also believe that coaches making good use of questioning within their sessionssupports this empowerment approach, as well as having been found to enhance long-term skillacquisition. Crucial to this player empowerment is that coaches do not take decisions for players.Telling players what to do on the pitch is not appropriate. They must be allowed to make their owndecisions, rather than instructing a player to do something, coaches are asked to challenge a playerto do something – i.e. ‘can you try and work the ball to the far post?’ rather than ‘put the cross farpost!’

Coaching is a process by which players are guided along a journey to a certain outcome, ratherthan told how to get there.

Parental & Spectator Values

First and foremost, we ask parents and spectators to remember that they are not coaches.

Whilst we understand that some parents may have played to a high level previously, or have been involved as coaches themselves, we ask them to remember that instructions they give to their child may be in direct contradiction to that of their coaches.

Please encourage and support your son/daughter and encourage them to reflect on their performance and set goals, but try and do this in a manner when it comes from them. Carefully worded questions can provide a learning experience of far greater value than direct comments, whilst actually covering the same points.

As we ask of our coaches, can you try and empower your child in their footballing journey?

We also ask that our parents help to create a positive matchday environment. A large part of thiscan come from approaching your child’s participation as in the above paragraph, but we also askthat you support good play from both teams. Win or lose, the most important thing is that your childenjoys their footballing experience and to play in a supportive environment, rather than a hostile,aggressive and pressuring matchday environment.

Summary

Ultimately, this document outlines the ways in which we will seek to meet our key aims statedbelow:

1. To provide children of all ages and abilities a safe, friendly environment in which to play football2. To support long-term player development with age-appropriate coaching3. To encourage players to give their best and discover their potential4. To put players in an environment that challenges them and will see them make mistakes,

but mistakes they can learn from without pressure and anxiety, thanks to the support of the environment they are in

5. To promote good behaviour, respect for others and a hard-working attitude

This document should be considered in tandem with club’s Code of Conduct.