OLDBURY PARK TIGERS FC

Working with Children

“In 1973 I signed a contract to work on a project of football workshops for children.  I decided to try it out for a year and it turned out to be one of the best things I ever got involved with.  After the first year was done, I signed for another five.”

Pele, The Autobiography, Simon and Schuster, published 2006, page 205

“One important rule was that if you didn’t turn up for training in the week, then you didn’t play at the weekend.  I always made sure I was their and there on time.  I loved the training anyway, we always went about things the right way.  I think in the long run, rules were why so many of us went on to make a success of ourselves.  We learnt about commitment and dedication, right from the start.”

David Beckham, My Side, Collins Willow, published 2003, page 26

The Beautiful Game

“People say there was a lot of art to what I did on the football pitch. What their certainly was, was musicality. Without a doubt, the way Brazilians play football is intimately connected with rhythm melody and beat. “

Pele, The Autobiography, Simon and Schuster, published 2006, pp 244/245

“The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning.  It is nothing of the kind.  It is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish”

Danny Blanchflower, quoted in the Observer 13.07.08 p20

Fair Play

“I have always had the highest admiration for those players who conduct themselves well on a football field: the former England striker Gary Lineker, who went through his whole distinguished career without once getting even a yellow card, is a good example not just to professional footballers but to children around the world.”

Pele, The Autobiography, Simon and Schuster, published 2006, page 238

Coaching

“I listened to our coaches, particularly when they referred to attitude.  Their credo was simple yet true: take the field with the wrong attitude and no matter how much ability you possess, you’ll lose.  I believed them. I still do.”

Keane, The Autobiography, Michael Joseph, published 2002, page 5

“I was used to the well planned, always interesting routines and relevant routines put on by Brian Kidd.  One of the keys to a proper training session is not to have players hanging around.  Organisational skills are required.”

Keane, The Autobiography, Michael Joseph, published 2002, page 119

“We worked really hard in training, but you never noticed it with Brian Kidd. Because he made sure every session was different.  It stopped us ever getting bored and the new routines kept players fresh.”

David Beckham, My Side, Collins Willow, published 2003, page 107

Children’s Football Teams

“I’m really grateful - and proud - that I was part of that first Ridgeway Rovers Team.  And the man who set up the team had a lot to do with me making a future for myself in the game.  The Manager was honest with you.  But he wasn’t one of those Dads who stood on the touchline at kids’ games, bawling and screaming… We had this fantastic team spirit… Other fathers got involved too,…they were honest people wanting to make the team as good as they could.”

David Beckham, My Side, Collins Willow, published 2003, pages 24/25

“It was all about the team, ‘Robert’ was a perfect example.  To be honest he didn’t have a great ability to start with but because he worked so hard at his game, he made himself into a good team player.  That was credit to him, but it was credit to the manager and the rest of us too.  We never thought to ourselves: he’s not good enough to be playing.”

David Beckham, My Side, Collins Willow, published 2003, page 25/26

Ridgeway Rovers was a great time for all of us, not just the players.  Our families got involved, whether it was washing kit, driving us about, coming on trips or raising funds.

David Beckham, My Side, Collins Willow, published 2003, page 27

School

Most of the time I kept my head down and did my homework.  The important thing was that I never missed a day’s school unless I was ill.

David Beckham, My Side, Collins Willow, published 2003, page 30

Practice

“I’ve always tried to have a professional attitude towards training. I love it almost as much as I love playing.”

David Beckham, My Side, Collins Willow, published 2003, pages 128

“Watching Eric (Cantona) was a football education, especially in the way he used to practice.  Every day, after training, he would be out there working on his own.  He’d be doing his turns and little tricks, just as you might expect.  But most of the time he’d be practising the simplest things.  Eric was one of the best players in Europe and he was doing the same stuff I’d done when I was seven years old.”

David Beckham, My Side, Collins Willow, published 2003, page 80

“I understood that control was the most important skill of all.  It didn’t matter what else you learnt, a good first touch was the key.  Which was why Eric (Cantona), an established international, always made sure he found time to work on that.  If your comfortable receiving the ball, it gives you the room in your game to see what to do next.”

David Beckham, My Side, Collins Willow, published 2003, page 80

Parents

As I’ve got more experienced – and especially since I’ve been a captain – I’ve come to understand how important it is to communicate on the pitch.  Obviously you have to let a team mate know if someone’s coming to close him down but, if someone can’t see a pass for himself, then by the time you’ve told him, the moments probably gone anyway.”

David Beckham, My Side, Collins Willow, published 2003, page 60

“What I have found, because my kids play local football and I have witnessed it first hand, is that pushy parents are trying to live out their own lives through their kids.  They never made it as players themselves so what a lot of them do is shout at the kids and tell them what to do.  All the kids want to do is enjoy the game.  When you have got parents saying one thing and the manager or coach saying another you are going to confuse the kids.  When you do that, then they are not going to play to the best of their ability.”

“Parents have just got to stay behind the line and not say anything.  Those who do scream and shout are very misguided, the kids get nervous because of the shouting and it’s wrong.  It’s up to the Manager to give the kids confidence and mixed messages will just confuse them.  At the end of the day it is only a game, and of course people want to be competitive and win, but it is only a game.”

“When you are a kid you remember everything and the last thing you want is for them to look back on their football in later life as an experience they didn’t enjoy.  You want kids to enjoy sport, boys and girls, and that’s why you should just let them go out there and develop and enjoy.”

Ian Rush, Total Youth Football Magazine, July 2008, page 21

“There’s nothing wrong with competitiveness.  All kids want to win and have to learn how to lose, but these days too many parents put too much pressure on little lads who should be enjoying every second on the football pitch…I’ve never seen so many up-and-coming Alf Ramseys in my life – parents on the touchline thinking they were coaching their kids…shouting their heads off…and they hadn’t a clue what they were shouting about.  They’d heard some self styled expert trotting out the same phrase on the telly.”

Brian Clough, Cloughie, walking on Water, My Life, Headline, published 2002, pp44/45

The Children’s point of view

“On Wednesdays we have the football team.  Last week we lost4-0.  We’ve been winning the past weeks, so it didn’t bother me that much:  I feel happy when I win, and if someone else wins I feel happy for them.”

Isaac, 11, ‘Seen and Heard’ Section, Guardian weekend magazine 21^st March 2009 p61,