The first gathering in 2011 of the Army Football Coaches Association took place on 24th March at Fox Lines in Aldershot. Nearly 35 Army and civilian coaches lined up in the cinema at the School of PT.
Kicking off the programme was Billy Thomson, the Army FA Secretary who gave a fascinating insight into the new Army FA developments. He talked about the Festival of Football, the plan for a show case fixture and the opportunity to raise the profile of Army football.
The second lecture of the day involved WO2 Chris Oakes for gave an informative talk on sports nutrition, based on understanding blood groups. It certainly got everyone thinking and pre-match meals will never be the same again.
After coffee, the Army Head Coach, Joey Collins gave an interesting talk on the approach adopted by the Army team during the inter-service build up. He spoke about elite performance and squad ethos as key to doing well. Positive thinking was order of the day.
The morning was finished with a very good interactive session with Danny McDermid, our Football League (Championship) Army referee. Danny deliberately provoked conversation and the coaches were very quick to come back to him with some alternative views on refereeing! In truth, it was a revealing exchange and perhaps emphasised that refs and coaches do need to talk to one another more often.
After lunch, the Army FA tutor, Steve Stone ran a practical session on the role of the ‘lone striker’. Ideas and drills were exchanged as the REME football squad were put through their paces.
The weather was glorious and the Vice Chairman, Brig Mitch Mitchell, paid a visit to the coaching session.
Major Dave Manners now takes the reins of organising future coaching days. Certainly there are many pro coaches who have offered lots of their time.
Regards and happy coaching,
Army FA Coach Coordinator, afacoachcoord@gmail.com