15 year old Yannick Martinoli from Auckland, New Zealand is the latest Coerver® Coaching graduate to sign for a professional club when he penned a contract with one of Switzerland’s top professional teams, Grasshopper-Zurich FC, last week (see below image).



While playing for the Maori Football NZ Select Team, Yannick was identified as a emerging talent by Coerver® Coaching staff and invited into the Coerver® Performance Academy where he settled in quickly. Intensive work was done to polish off Yannick's raw ability in time for his trials overseas where he has excelled. 


Yannick's great grandfather, Robert Ballaman was the Captain of Grasshoppers FC in Switzerland for 10 years during the 1940-50's. Robert during this period of his career gained 50 caps for Switzerland and was the Swiss top goal scorer during the 1954 FIFA World Cup™. Robert, at the age of 85, recently passed away and was honored with a headline article in the National Swiss sports newspapers.

All of us at Coerver® Coaching wish Yannick the same success as his great grandfather!.

Coerver® Coaching UK have agreed a new partnership with French motoring giant Citroen to supply vehicles to their franchise network and existing customer base.

The deal will involve existing and new franchisee’s being provided with the latest, Coerver® branded, Citroen Berlingo Enterprise van as part of their franchise package (see below image, Scott Wright, UK Director Coerver® Coaching with Steve Hayden Grant, Citroen business manager). Citroen will also provide a lease/purchase scheme for Coerver® Coaching UK staff and members of the Performance Academy and Partner Club programmes.



Scott Wright, UK Director Coerver® Coaching said of the partnership “We are delighted to have agreed a new deal with Citroen to provide our franchise network and customer base with high quality vehicles. Citroen are a perfect partner for us in the UK and have a long history of involvement in sport through their highly successful rally teams and long term partnerships with a number of football clubs including Arsenal FC. Everybody connected with our business, whether it be franchisee’s, staff members, parents, players or clubs that we work with, will be able to access the benefits that this partnership will provide. We are looking to align ourselves with high quality partners in every area of our business and Citroen certainly come into that category.”

In addition to the new partnership, Coerver® Coaching UK and Citroen have worked together previously at the Grassroots Football Show at the NEC in Birmingham (see below image). The innovative DS3 model went on to win the “Small Car” and “Car of The Year” awards. Look out for Coerver® Coaching UK and Citroen at the 2012 Grassroots Football Show, that runs 25th – 27th May 2012.



To view the latest range of Citroen vehicles, log-on to www.citroen.co.uk

Coerver® Coaching, widely regarded as the world’s number one soccer skills teaching method, and legendary U.S player Kristine Lilly launched a long term partnership aiming to improve women's football. The partnership was launched at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, National Convention in Kansas in early January 2012.

Coerver® Coaching co-founder and Chelsea F.C. great Charlie Cooke said, “we really look forward to working closely with Kristine to help develop the next generation of skillful female players & coaches globally. Kristine’s playing career is second to none in world soccer & her insights and life lessons are sure to help future players and coaches”.

Kristine Lilly said “I have been using the Coerver method since I was a really young player. It certainly helped me in my career and I strongly believe it’s the best way to coach players. I believe our partnership will help players of all abilities realize their potential both on and off the field”.

About Kristine Lilly



Kristine was a member of the United States women's national soccer team for 24 years. She is the most capped men's or women's soccer player in the history of the sport, gaining her 352nd and final cap against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier in November 2010. Kristine played in 5 FIFA World Cup™ Finals, winning two World Cups. She also played in 3 Olympic Games, winning the gold medal twice. She is a Herman trophy recipient & won 4 NCAA National Championships at the University of North Carolina.

To listen to the podcast with Kristine & Charlie go now to http://tiny.cc/05wlr

Interview by Shinji Ishibashi CEO Coerver Coaching Asia Pacific with Norio Sasaki Head Coach Japan Women’s World Cup Champion



Shinji Ishibashi (SI): Once again, congratulations for winning the World Cup.

Norio Sasaki (NS): Thank you very much.

SI: I already told you this but thank you very much once again for giving Japan smiles and energy, which have been lacking since the great earthquake. We asked for your time today because all of the Coerver Coaches around the world, who I meet and contact from time to time, want to know how you managed to win the World Cup and how you organized the World Cup winning team. Again, we want to hear your opinion on the method of how to increase the number of girls playing in Japan since only 2% of the 17,000 students that attend the Coerver School in Japan every week are girls. For you information, about 50% of Coerver students in the USA and about 40% in Australia, New Zealand, and Northern Europe are girls. We want to hear your professional opinion on this.

NS: Alright, please feel free to ask anything. First of all, 2% means that there is still potential for the growth of the girl population. In the past, people figured it was strange for girls to play soccer, but ever since Nadeshiko Japan won the World Cup, people are impressed when girls play soccer. We can observe that Japan’s feeling towards Women’s Soccer is changing.

SI: This is great news. Alright, I will ask you a couple questions. 10 years ago China and USA dominated Women's Soccer, what are the main reasons Japan has now become a leader?.

NS: In short, good technical skills. Out of the 16 participants of the World Cup, Nadeshiko Japan’s average height and weight were the lowest. Therefore I decided that challenging opponents with power and speed is unfavorable, so we focused on organized defense and offense, frequently using passes and dribbling with individual technical skills as a foundation. Qualitatively speaking, it was similar to the Men’s Soccer. There are several technical players in China and USA, but they somewhat pushed forward using power and speed, and were still able to make it to the top 4 playing this sort of soccer. The main reason Japan won was because we fought using good technical skills instead of power and speed. However, the Western countries figured out the importance of technical skills and accuracy for Women’s Soccer and the reason why Nadeshiko Japan won, so they will adjust accordingly from now on. From that perspective, the Coerver Coaching Method is already highly valued, but I believe it will be valued even more now not only in Japan but also globally.

SI: Former USA national star player Kristine Lilly, who won the World Cup twice and holds the world record of being the most capped soccer player, attended Coerver Coaching in her youth days and recently became the global ambassador of Coerver. She will arrive in Japan in 2012, so we plan to ask her to support our Coerver Girls Project. It will be nice if the JFA and Nadeshiko Japan could collaborate with her during her stay in Japan.

NS: That is interesting to know, and Lilly is a famous player so I know about her. It will be nice if we can do something together.

SI: The World Cup win was probably the greatest soccer event so far in Japanese soccer history. What can this do for Women’s Soccer in Japan? Again, how can we encourage more girls to play soccer in Japan?.

NS: Currently, there are only 37,000 women players that are enrolled in the JFA. We must work hard to increase the number of women players by carrying out various programs, and I believe the World Cup win affected the impression and attitude towards Women’s Soccer, so we must continue to take various approaches to maintain the positive impression and attitude. When Nadeshiko Japan was 4th in the Beijing Olympic, we regretted not being able to do better, so this time we want the Coerver Coaching Schools all over Japan to help popularize Women’s Soccer. Unfortunately, the environment for the middle school generation to play soccer is poor, so I believe the JFA must construct an environment where women can continue to play soccer. This will take time, but we must move forward step by step. Anyhow, we must create an environment where girls can start playing soccer and increase their interaction with soccer.

SI: Coerver will be glad to cooperate, so let us, along with the Women’s Section of the JFA, discuss this matter separately next time.

NS: Yes we should.



SI: Previously, you attended the JFA course presented by Alfred Galustian, co-founder of Coerver Coaching. What was your impression of that?.

NS: I remember it clearly. There were a lot of rich content and it was wonderful. Even now, I use what I learned from Alfred sometimes.

SI: Alfred signed contracts with the English Premier League and the Australian FA to coach technical skills. Similar to what we did in the past, we plan to host a course for the JFA Coaching Staff after next spring, so if this happens, please participate. Again, it will be wonderful if the Nadeshiko Japan players can help instruct.

NS: That is a great idea. If it happens, please contact me with the details.

SI: What are the strongest Women’s Teams in the world, and what qualities do you admire in them?

NS: I believe it is the USA. They not only have power and speed, but have the technical skills now to pass the ball around well, and the depth of the squad particularly is the strongest feature. In Japan’s case, if the current Nadeshiko Japan players move on, the strength of the squad will decrease. But in USA’s case, the development of young players is remarkable that if someone gets injured, the depth of the squad is great that there are still several high quality players that can replace them. France is the next strongest. In addition to high individual qualities, they have solid tactics which make them a fearful team. Similarly, I believe England and Sweden are excellent teams as well.

SI: How is coaching women different from coaching men?.

NS: I communicate with players naturally, and gender does not matter to me when I coach. Generally speaking, when men coach women, men dislike and get tired of acting superior to women, so being conscious about gender is taboo. Even when a situation arises when both parties do not understand each other, the problem can be solved if you talk it out. I am repeating myself, but I communicate with players naturally without being conscious of gender.

SI: Your smile when forming a circle with the players before the World Cup Final penalty shoot-out was impressive. That natural smile probably occurred because of your natural approach to the players, and that smile reassured me that you managed an excellent team.

NS: Thank you very much.

SI: In Coerver Coaching, technique is the foundation that we build all other parts of the game on. Is this a good way of thinking? Again, what do you like about the Coerver Coaching Curriculum and what benefits does it have for players?.

NS: I think it is brilliant to focus on individual skills development. Without good skills, you cannot create a good team. Even though you have an image, without skills you cannot turn it into reality. I endorse the Coerver Coaching Curriculum and philosophy, and I believe is important.

SI: Sawa san was your captain. What are the qualities a captain should have?.

NS: Good skill and strong mentality. There are many characteristics a captain should have, but in Sawa san’s case, she had all of these characteristics and was the symbol of Japanese Women’s Soccer. I appointed her captain since she was one of the few players that can lead other players. She was already a wonderful player, but when I appointed her captain, she got even better.

SI: Congratulations on your wonderful contribution not only on Japanese Soccer, but uplifting the Japanese people in a very difficult year. I would also like to convey the congratulation messages from the Coerver Coaches around the world. Good luck in the London Olympics and thank you very much for your precious time.

NS: Thank you very much and I will do my best in London. Please give my kind regards to all of the Coerver Coaches around the world.

SI: Lastly, I recall Mr. Shunichiro Okano, former JFA president, saying that he never forgot adidas’s support during the expedition to Europe when the JFA and Japanese National Team were weak in the past. We, Coerver Coaching, also had the support of adidas from the real beginning when we were still a small company and our grassroots program still not prominent. I would like to take this time to give my appreciation to adidas.

NS: I also feel the same way as a member of the JFA.

The History of Coerver Coaching in Japan and Asia Pacific by Shinji Ishibashi, CEO & President of Coerver Coaching Japan and Asia Pacific.





Background

Coerver Coaching was first established in Japan in 1993 by Kuniyuki Matsuo, chairman of Coerver Coaching Japan and Asia Pacific. Mr. Matsuo’s foundation owned and operated the Coerver Coaching License for the Asia Pacific Region as a Licensee until the year 2000. He then became the outright owner of the Coerver Coaching rights in Asia Pacific.

Coerver Coaching in the early years focused on summer camps, but over the years we shifted the emphasis to Football
Schools (coaching young players after school).

I joined the Company in 2002. At that time we had 21 schools nationally, and out of the 21 schools, 15 were directly operated by us and 6 were operated by licensees. Today we have expanded to 99 schools, teaching more than 17,000 young players every week. We want to thank adidas, our official partner, for this wonderful accomplishment. Our strong relationship was formed since the opening of the first soccer school and without adidas’s support, we could have not made it this far.



My background had been as a professional football player, but I also had many years of experience working as a senior management executive with global brands. My experience helped me in my decision to further focus and expand the Coerver Coaching school business.

It was a huge challenge, but I believed it was possible to offer coaches full-time jobs in a strong football business set up, which could provide them security and career prospects. I also had confidence that young players would attend our schools because of our strong reputation.

 

 


The Importance of Training our Staff

I had been Head of Human Resources at the leading Japanese airline & hotel group, ANA for several years, and appreciated that success depends on the quality and training of staff. Certainly for Coerver Coaching a lot of our business depends on producing well trained coaches. The expertise and quality of our Coerver Coaches sets us apart from our competitors. To ensure our staff get the very best in Training, we established a Coerver Coaching Teaching Academy 13 years ago. It is currently based in Urawa, just outside of Tokyo. All of our staff have been trained at our Academy.

To graduate as an Official Coerver Coach, it takes intensive study and time. This is a requirement even if you have been a former Japanese National Team player or a professional player. It is not an easy task to coach children. There are many competing companies and individuals in the football business, but I believe the quality and content our coaches education at our Academy cannot be matched by any of our competitors. Coerver Coaching is widely regarded as the World’s Number One Soccer Skills Teaching System, so back in 1993 Mr. Matsuo felt that we needed the Co-founder of Coerver Coaching, Alfred Galustian, to be the teacher of our coaches at the Academy. Alfred has been coming each year to Japan since 1993, and has been responsible for teaching nearly every Coach we have here and in Asia Pacific over the last 18 years.

Alfred and our other Coerver Coaching co-founder, Charlie Cooke (former Scotland National Team player and Chelsea great), devise our coaching curriculum and teaching system based on the Global Coerver Coaching Curriculums and Training Methods.

At the Coerver Coaching Academy, our staff also learn a wide range of important topics including child psychology and safety, injury prevention, football business, and Global and Japanese history. These are taught by specialist Japanese instructors. A Japanese person has constantly chaired the Academy General Manager’s role. The current headmaster is Eiji Nakagawa.

We have also been very lucky that some of the world's top professional coaches have visited our academy. Including the current U.S men's national team coach & German great, Juergen Klinsmann.



Coerver Coaching's great influence on Japanese football

Currently we are proud that we teach over 17,000 young Japanese players every week in over 99 locations all over Japan. We are also proud about the number of Coerver Graduates who have gone to professional and National Team levels, including Nadeshiko (Japanese Women National Team). To me this proves that the Coerver Coaching System works.

Since Coerver Coaching Asia was established 18 years ago, I am proud to say that most people would agree that Coerver has had a positive and important influence on Japanese football, and that we have helped contribute to the improvement of Japanese football. In addition, I am very proud of the fact that we currently employ over 500 people in our Asia Pacific operations.



Plans for the Future

Currently, we operate 99 schools in Japan. Our plans project that we will have 150 schools by 2015. Globally, Coerver Coaching have expanded to 25 countries throughout the world. I am responsible for the Asia Pacific region, along with the excellent contribution of our Asia Pacific Vice President Jason Lancsar, former futsal Australian National team player.

Currently in Asia Pacific, we have programs and activities in China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, India, and Thailand, and expect to grow these operations considerably by 2015.

One new initiative in Japan and the Asia Pacific Region is our increased focus in Women’s Football, especially following the historic World Cup Victory by Japan recently. This is probably the biggest victory in Japanese football history and will definitely power the popularity of girls’ football in the future.

We have started our girls program with clinics and events for girls, including sessions for student’s mother and sisters. In addition, we will plan activities with the Japanese Football Association's (JFA) Women's Department. We are very proud to also announce our new association with Kristine Lilly who is a double World Cup Champion for the USA as well as holding the record for the most times representing a National Team (Man or woman). Kristine will become the global Ambassador of Coerver Coaching’s Women’s Programs and visit Japan in 2012.

We also plan to extend and make our long relationship with the JFA stronger in the area of Coach Education. Our Co-founder, Alfred Galustian, has the reputation of being one of the World’s Top Technical Coaches with experience at the top professional clubs (including a period as skills teacher for the English Premier League) and many Federations around the World. We will provide Alfred’s unique experience to the JFA in any way they feel this can contribute to Japanese Football.

Finally, we plan more educational products such as DVDs, books, and other materials exclusively designed for us by co-founders, Alfred and Charlie. We expect these products to be very popular with coaches, players and teachers, and provide further resources to all those wanting to raise the quality of Football in Japan and Asia Pacific.

Coerver®  Coaching Co-Founder Alf Galustian, recently conducted a highly successful 2-day professional development clinic for coaches which was hosted by Bundesliga club,  FC Nuremberg in Germany.

Alf conducted a private session for coaches from the FC Nuremberg academy, followed by a 1-day Coerver® Coaching Session Planner Course that attracted over 100 coaches from the region and from Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Hungary and Russia (see below image).  The course included a special session on “Teaching the Skills of Messi.”



FC Nuremberg’s Head of Youth, Rainer Zietsc said of the clinic “We at FC Nuremberg are convinced that Coerver Coaching supports our youth players perfectly in their individual development. For that reason we have integrated the Coerver method as a part of our U8-U23 club coach education programme which is delivered by a Coerver Coach.”

Alf Galustian’s next Youth Diploma Course is scheduled for Milan, 17^th - 19^th February, 2012.

To visit the FC Nuremberg website, log-on to http://www.fcn.de

Coerver® Coaching Co-Founders, Alf Galustian and Charlie Cooke (see below image), have taken time out of their busy schedules to talk to a number of leading radio stations  regarding the launch of the NEW Coerver® Coaching “Play Like The Stars” DVD and all things Coerver®.



Interviews were given to a host of leading stations including talksport, Ref FM, BBC Merseyside, BBC Scotland, BBC London and Sky News radio.

To listen to these interviews click the below links:

MP3: Cooke and Galustian - Talksport
MP3: Cooke and Galustian - Sky News Radio
MP3: Cooke and Galustian - BBC Radio Merseyside
MP3: Cooke and Galustian - Red FM
MP3: Cooke and Galustian - BBC Radio Scotland

"Play Like The Stars" is only £9.99, to purchase your copy, log-on to the Coerver® Coaching store: http://www.coerver.co.uk/store.html

Coerver® Coaching Co-Founder Alf Galustian (see below image) has shared his views on youth development with US based football website Beyond The Pitch (BTP) which is a new site dedicated to discussing the latest hot topics in the game around the world.



Alf talks about the results of the emerging world powers, how defenders have been left behind and the concept of what excellence will look like in the future for players, using Lionel Messi as a case study.

To listen to the Podcast, log-on to http://bit.ly/vzD0kE

Coerver® Coaching Co-founder Charlie Cooke launched the NEW “Play Like the Stars” DVD on Tuesday 8th November 2011 on The Andy Gray & Richard Key's Talksport show. Over 3 million listeners tuned in to hear Charlie talk about all things Coerver® and his illustrious career at Chelsea FC.

To listen to the interview, click http://bit.ly/sjhC5m and select the show time starting at 12:30 p.m.

Play Like the Stars will help young and motivated players to improve their game and includes:

- More than 50 super skills
- Suitable for boys and girls of all ages, from beginners to advanced players
- Teaches the amazing skills of the legends of the game
- Guaranteed to improve all players
- It's easy to pick up and fun too!



"All young players will improve by following this programme, I have seen many different methods of coaching skills and Coerver Coaching beats them all."
England, Liverpool FC and Newcastle Utd Legend Peter Beardsley

"Play Like The Stars" is only £9.99, to purchase your copy, log-on to the Coerver® Coaching store: http://www.coerver.co.uk/store.html

During the last three years, 21 players have been signed to professional football clubs from the Coerver® Coaching Performance Academy based in Coventry.

Last month, U12 player Matthew H from Nuneaton became the latest player to benefit from the Coerver® Coaching programme. Matthew has progressed into the professional academy system when he signed for Aston Villa FC having been selected from over 60 players in his age group that had trials with the club.

Matthew visited the Performance Academy centre in Coventry to say farewell and thanks to the Coerver ® coaches that have helped him realise his dream. The thing that is most remarkable about Matthew’s story is that he only started to play football 2 years ago and has spent the last 20 months in the Coerver® Coaching Performance Academy.



Matthew H with Coerver® Coaching UK Director Scott Wright at Performance Academy in Coventry

Scott Wright, UK Director Coerver® Coaching said “The concept behind Performance Academy is to give players a professional level of support both on and off the pitch. We have different levels of ability within the programme which are all catered for, the big requirement for us is that the players need to want to learn and work hard while they are with us but also while they are at home.

We have had enormous success in terms of players progressing to professional clubs from our programme in the UK over the years and particular this centre in Coventry which is testament to the fantastic work that the staff here have done and continue to do and of course the application of the players and the commitment of the parents, it really is a team effort!!. Our long term aim in the UK is to emulate our programme in Japan where over 300 young players have gone on to play professionally in the J-League. After 17 years they are starting to see real progression through to national team level. During the Under 17 World Cup in Mexico in June, there were five Coerver players in the Japan squad which is a remarkable achievement.”



Japan Striker and Coerver Coaching graduate, Takumi Minamino, at the FIFA™ U17 World Cup in Mexico

Matthew’s Mum Jenny has been thrilled by the progress that her son has made during his time with Coerver® Coaching Performance Academy and said “We first brought Matthew to the Coventry site at the end of January 2010 and after the first training session he said he loved it and wanted to train.

Matthew initially attended once a week and then this increased to twice a week and we immediately noticed a difference in his game. Although we always knew Matthew was at a disadvantage amongst his peers as he had started playing football quite late, we saw him flourish in the environment at Coerver and this gave him a lot of confidence.

As Matthew progressed we noticed his understanding of the game improved, his decision making, his technical skills and he wanted to try his new skills whenever he played.

Matthew played in a cup final for his junior team and it was during this game that Matthew was spotted by a scout from Aston Villa and was invited into the club for a trial. Matthew was told that he had to be better than the players they already had at the club. This meant he had to work hard and was required to train 3 times per week and play matches against the likes of Chelsea FC & Tottenham Hotspur FC which proved to be a great experience.

Matthew stepped up to the challenge and worked extremely hard trying on every occasion to put into practice everything he was learning. While on trial at Aston Villa, Matthew made a decision when asked that he would try playing in defence. This showed a level of maturity as all boys seemingly want to score goals. However, Matthew saw the opportunity and grabbed it and for him it paid off.

At the end of the trial period, Matthew was told by the club that they wanted to sign him. Matthew as you can imagine was over the moon and the hard work had paid off. Coerver as part of the whole program gives players an insight into all positions. I cannot thank Coerver enough and it was definitely money well spent and I would always recommend the programme".

Scott Wright said of Matthew “Matthew is a prime example of a young player who has worked extremely hard and has benefitted immensely from the environment that we provide here at Performance Academy.

It is great from our point of view that Matthew has been able to make the step up to academy football even though he has only being playing football a short time. This shows, in Matthews case, that in a short period of time, our training programme has not only given him a solid technical foundation to build upon but also the understanding of transferring his skills into game situations which is the basis of the modern day Coerver Coaching programme.

We wish Matthew luck in the next part of his football education with Aston Villa FC and I’m sure if he continues to apply himself in the way he has with us over the last 18 months, he will do well”.

To find out more information on Coerver® Coaching Performance Academy and to book your FREE trial session, log-on to www.coerver.co.uk/performanceacademy

Coerver® Coaching Performance Academy players from across the UK descended on Warwick University during the recent school holidays to take part in a 2-day residential PRO coaching clinic in association with media partner, Match Of The Day Magazine (see below image).



The concept behind Coerver® PRO clinics is to give players that are not in the academy system an insight into all areas of development at Elite level. Scott Wright, UK Director Coerver® Coaching said of the PRO clinic “Our PRO residential clinic provides players within our Performance Academy programme across the UK with the opportunity to live and train like a pro player over 2-days hosted at one of the best facilities in the country at Warwick University. We have brought in some great people from the pro game to work with the players who will pass on valuable experience and advice that will help the players to develop both on and off the pitch.”

Day 1 of the PRO clinic was opened up by Scott Wright, UK Director Coerver® Coaching who delivered a presentation on the delivery of Coerver® Coaching at Elite Youth level. Gavin Taylor, Performance Coach at Fulham FC then gave a fascinating presentation based on the life of a young professional at Fulham FC from U9 through to U18 from their technical & physical development through to injury prevention and nutrition.

Players were then provided with a nutritious lunch and then participated during the afternoon in practical sessions based on the topics delivered in the morning’s presentations (see below image). Following a hard day’s training, the players were able to use the fantastic leisure facilities on offer at Warwick University, that had hosted the Premier League™ Cup only days earlier which saw teams including Ajax, Everton, Sporting Lisbon, Tottenham Hotspur and Atletico Madrid battling to win the prestigious U15 tournament that is held each year at the facility.



Day 2 of the PRO clinic was opened up by Matt Newbury, recruitment officer at Birmingham City FC who delivered a presentation on the recruitment criteria that the club look for when signing young players (see below image). This proved to be an excellent insight for players wanting to make the step up to academy football.



Following another nutritious lunch, attending players were put through their paces during practical sessions with Coerver® Coaching UK Director, Scott Wright (see below image) & Stoke City FC academy coach and former professional player, Rich Walker.



During Rich’s 12 year professional career as a central defender, playing nearly 200 league games, he came up against some of the best strikers in the game including Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, Nicholas Anelka and Jermaine Defoe but to name a few.

Rich was on hand to talk to the players (see below image) about his experiences and said of the Coerver® PRO clinic “The Coerver PRO coaching clinic at Warwick University gives participating players the opportunity to experience a professional football environment, with the residential course catering for all 4 corners of development. Coerver has an unrivalled reputation for delivering sessions that provide players with the skill foundation needed to tackle all the demands of the modern game which makes this residential course and the Performance Academy programme a must for any young player looking to progress”.



Coerver® Coaching UK have plans to take the PRO clinic on the road across the UK regional network which will see some of the leading experts across of a variety of fields in professional football work exclusively with players who are registered with Performance Academy.

To find out more information on Coerver® Coaching Performance Academy and to book your FREE trial session, log-on to www.coerver.co.uk/performanceacademy

The Coerver® PRO clinic residential will be back in August 2012, check the website for latest details.

October 17th -19th 2011, Brad Douglass, Technical Director Coerver® EMEA, conducted a highly successful 3-day Introduction to Coerver® training course for 25 coaches from Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda.

The course, hosted by the Mathare Youth Sport Association, was held at the superb new Football for Hope Centre in Nairobi. The course was part of the adidas Exchange program, coordinated by streetfootballworld.



The Coerver® training was designed to provide much needed professional development for coaches working in the field of football for human and social development, and to increase motivation and retention of players. Besides the Coerver® training, representatives from participating programs met to develop strategic planning with a focus on the theme of female empowerment.

The next Coerver®/adidas Exchange program will be in Capetown, November 30th -December 1st 2011.

To find out more information on FIFA™ Football For Hope log-on to: www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/socialresponsibility/footballforhope/index.html

Coerver® Coaching Co-Founder, Charlie Cooke, and Merril Winpenny, Director of Coerver® Coaching Mexico, recently completed a highly successful 3-Day course for football for social development programs in Colombia. The course was a part of Coerver® Coaching support for FIFA’s Football for Hope movement. Coerver® Coaching involvement is sponsored by the adidas® Exchange program, and coordinated by streetfootballworld.

The coach development program involved coaches from 8 social development programs and was hosted by Fundacion Colombianitos, who use football to support children who have experienced violence or extreme poverty. Operations Director, Ana Aziabaleta, summarized the reaction to the course:

“We had talked to all organizations that participated in the program and they have all expressed how good the training was and how they believe it would definitely make a change to their daily operations.

Thank you again!” (www.colombianitos.org)

Coerver® Coaching are scheduled for further football for social development programs in 2011 in Kenya and South Africa.

Due to popular demand one more Coerver Coaching Scotland Diploma added in 2011. The course takes place at Livingston FC's Stadium THIS WEEKEND on 8-9 October 2011. For full information email joe.jones@coerver.co.uk or call 0844 8080 442

Skills coaching guru Alf Galustian is adamant that there is no reason we cannot train our own version of the little genius

by Jonathan Northcroft, Football Correspondent, The Sunday Times

Published: 5 June 2011        

What if Lionel Messi was from Rotherham and not Rosario? Most might think that a hopeless fantasy. Alf Galustian thinks: why not? “There are one-offs in this world, Picassos and Mozarts,” he says. “Messi is a one-off. But I’m certain everything he does can be taught.

“He’s not simply ‘blessed by God’. Messi has developed his skills. Break down his incredible performance at Wembley and you find a sequence of techniques and movements you can show eight-year-olds on a training pitch. My dream is a Messi produced right here in England — and I’m convinced it’s possible.”

Galustian, a former Wimbledon trainee, is a lost pioneer of skills coaching. He has spent most of his 30-year career working abroad, earning international repute and admirers such as Arsène Wenger and Jurgen Klinsmann, and is at last in demand in his own country. The Premier League is employing him as its Skills Adviser; the FA has him as a consultant. He has just had invitations from two diverse managers. Tony Pulis; yes, Tony Pulis, wants to bring skills coaching to Stoke.

Who wouldn’t want to develop a more technique-rich football, the sort Barcelona and Messi showcased in the Champions League final? Because it was played at Wembley, the game might influence England more than any other country. The magic of Real Madrid 7 Eintracht Frankfurt 3 at Hampden Park in 1960 inspired a generation of Scottish coaches, including Jock Stein and Sir Alex Ferguson. Could Barcelona’s artistic annihilation of Manchester United spur new thinking in England?

The climate is there. Suddenly there has emerged a coalition of the willing who want to take the development of English players on a different route. Gareth Southgate, the FA’s head of elite development, has unveiled plans to remodel grassroots football that involve preventing children playing 11-a-side until under-13 level, putting England in line with Spain, France and Italy, and refocusing development on small-sided games and skill.

The FA’s thinking chimes with the Premier League’s Elite Players Performance Plan (EPPP), on which clubs vote this week. It seeks to raise academy standards, the standing of youth coaches and — to a radical degree — the hours clubs spend working with talents. Ferguson, who says emulating Barça “is a wonderful challenge” his club must meet, is the EPPP’s most ardent supporter .

Joining the FA and Premier League are coaches themselves, the most important coalition members. They have never been more open to new ideas; hence the interest in Galustian. With the former Chelsea hero Charlie Cooke, Galustian evolved a coaching programme based on the ideas of Wiel Coerver, a Dutch guru who led Feyenoord to Uefa Cup victory in 1974 and devised a method of teaching youngsters based on mimicking the tricks and movements of great players. Galustian spent 18 years propagating the Coerver Method in Japan, and 312 players trained at Coerver schools there progressed to the J-League, including five of the current national squad.

“Messi is the maestro and I think coaches can use this wonderful icon to excite young players to do long and consistent practice that is essential to acquire such super-skills,” Galustian says. “Messi does it naturally but he is our teacher, we can break down and teach his movements through repetition. His genius is knowing not only how to make his wonderful actions but when and where — yet this knowledge will come as young players play more small-sided games, encouraged not to fear failure.

“It begins with ball mastery, showing kids from six to 12, the key skill acquisition age, how to manipulate the ball with both feet. What we saw from Barcelona was a team with total mastery of the ball in nearly every position. There are English players with good mastery, like Wayne Rooney, but how many?”

The first ever Coerver® Coaching UK Youth Diploma road show has finally come to an end and has provided over 400 coaches from across the world with the opportunity to increase their knowledge and understanding of the Coerver® Coaching programme.

This was the first time in Coerver® Coaching’s 27 year history that an authorised Coach Education course has been made available to external coaches.

The Youth Diploma road show started in Stirling & Birmingham in May, stopping at Bristol in June, London in July with Manchester & finally Dublin hosting events in August.

The purpose of the Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma is to give attendees from all levels of the game a greater understanding of how to plan & deliver more effective coaching sessions. The focus of the course is the Coerver® Coaching Session Planner which provides a quick & easy solution for coaches who would like to construct weekly, monthly or even season long programmes using proven, high quality drills & games developed over 27 years by Coerver® Coaching.

Alf Galustian, Co-founder of Coerver® Coaching said of the course "We've never had an authorized Coerver® pathway for Coaches, and we've been around 27 years, and we're in 23 countries. Our new Diploma course is designed for Coaches who work with young players from 8-15 years old. We designed the diploma asking the question, how can we help coaches construct sessions for the week or the whole season?. The new Coerver® DVD's and books Charlie Cooke and myself have devised, which is called the Coerver® Coaching Session Planner; is a formula that any coach can use to construct their season's sessions, we have built the diploma course around this new material".

To find more out about the new Coerver® Coaching Session Planner DVD, click the below link:
http://www.coerver.co.uk/store.html

Please read below for a full review of the 2011 Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma road show:

Scotland - Stirling (May 2011)

First Stop was Scotland in May, the first ever Scottish Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma was held at Sterling Albion F.C. with presenter and Coerver® Coaching co-founder Charlie Cooke, guest John Collins and Coerver® Coaching Scotland Director Gordon Craig (See below image).

Over 50 coaches from across Scotland attended the course including former Rangers FC player Allan Johnstone. The Scottish Diploma was delivered in partnership with the Professional Footballers Association, with representation from players and coaches from Rangers FC, Hearts FC, Sunderland FC, Queen of the South FC, Falkirk FC, Livingston FC, Partick Thistle FC and the Scottish Football Association.



England - Birmingham (May 2011)

Next stop was Birmingham; also in May hosted by Birmingham City F.C. which was attended by over 80 coaches from all levels of the game, including The Premier League™, Real Madrid CF, Derby County FC, Birmingham City FC & Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.

There was also an international flavour to the course in Birmingham with coaches travelling from countries such as Spain, Poland & Colombia.

During the 2-day course, Alf Galustian delivered a series of theory presentations and practical sessions. Attending coaches were also able to see Birmingham City FC under 12’s being put through their paces by Brad Douglass, Coerver® Nordic director.

Coerver® Coaching have been working closely with Birmingham City FC academy throughout the season and this showed in the practical demonstration with the under 12’s performing excellently in front of the attending coaches.



First Team Coach of Real Madrid CF, Jose Morais (in the below picture with Coerver® Coaching Co-Founder Alf Galustian & Director Scott Wright ), travelled specifically for the course saying, “These last two days certainly made me a better coach. I have been a fan of Coerver for many years”.



Also in attendance was Birmingham City FC Reserve Team Manager Richard Beale who said ,
“I thoroughly enjoyed the Coerver Coaching Youth Diploma course, and would recommend that all coaches working with young players should attend”.

Carl Lander, assistant Head Teacher at St Aubyns school in Essex said of the course in Birmingham
“The foundations of great teaching have always been championed by Coerver who have taken football and created a system by which any child, through hard work and good teaching can master the basic ball skills, that then lead onto their application in skilful play.

We are passionate about our football and the belief that we must develop our players to be the best they can be. The Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma Course has just made this whole job so much easier.”

Mark Williams, a local grassroots coach said of the course in Birmingham, "I thought it was excellent, Coerver is the building block on which all football should be taught. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and it has really encouraged me to want to become a better coach.

To read about Alf Galustian’s visit to Real Madrid and interview with Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma attendee and Real Madrid CF first team coach, Jose Morais, click the below link: http://www.coerver.co.uk/blog/2011/08/19/coaching-lessons-from-real-madrid/

England - Bristol (June 2011)

In June the Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma landed in the west of England with Bristol Academy of Sport hosting the event that attracted over 50 coaches from grassroots level through to coaches from Southampton FC, Portsmouth FC and Bristol City FC.

The international flavour continued in Bristol with coaches also attending from Holland, Poland and Greece. Also in attendance was Southampton FC & Republic of Ireland International Striker David Connolly (Pictured below with Alf Galustian) who said of the course “I enjoyed the Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma course immensely and I felt that it was worth the very long trip to get to the venue!!. I feel the course did show me some variations on familiar themes and I enjoyed how both Alf and Scott presented the course”.



During the 2-day course, Alf Galutstian provided attendees with expert advice and Coerver® Coaching England & Wales director Scott Wright delivered practical sessions with a group of Under 12 players from the Coerver® Coaching Somerset Performance Academy. This provided a great insight into the grassroots player development programme that is delivered across the UK by Coerver® Coaching.

Steve Butcher who attended on behalf of Dorset County F.A. said of the course in Bristol, "I would just like to say that the weekend at Bristol was excellent, I believe this is how young players should be developed. The resource material is excellent and I will be using it a lot, keep up the good work".

Paul Hughes, a grassroots coach from Hereford, also said of the course "I would just like to say how superb I thought the Youth Diploma Course was in Bristol. The course was everything I hoped it to be and more!. Especially seeing the Coerver method first hand, the Session Planner Matrix, the drills/ activities and gaining all the little tips.

I am a skills and technique Coach at Hereford Futsal Club for the Juniors there. I am a massive fan of the Coerver method and i have used Coerver drills/ activities in many sessions before, however the course has really benefited me in seeing how the drills/ activities all link together, how to establish a set structure for each session covering the different specified areas and how long should be spent on each area during a session to create a flowing session that covers a lot.

I have used the Coerver Session Planner Matrix for recent sessions and have seen how effective it is in producing excellent sessions for the players!. I will continue to use it for each session and develop a Technical Program for the Futsal Club. The Coerver method is going to be a massive help and resource for this".



For more information on the Coerver® Coaching Performance Academy, click the below link:
http://www.coerver.co.uk/performance-academy.html

England - London (July 2011)

The Diploma Course came to London and was hosted by Fulham F.C in July. Over 100 coaches were in attendance from across the UK and from as far afield as Italy, Holland and Poland .

Following some challenging weather on the first day the course was a great success and attended by many people from within the game including Newcastle United Academy manager, Joe Joyce, former Fulham player Rufus Brevett , Times journalist Duncan Castle and staff from both Fulham FC and The F.A. Tesco Skills programme.



Alf Galustian again provided expert tips (See above image) for the attending coaches and Scott Wright delivered a practical session to finish the course off with Fulham U12’s (See below image).

Martin Jones, England U18 School Boys Assistant Coach said of the course "Thank you for an excellent weekend and some inspiring demonstrations, the DVD's are excellent!".

Dr Peter Bain, local grassroots coach and neuroscientist at Imperial College London said of the course, "First, I want to thank you for the really inspiring course that Alf and Scott gave us at Fulham’s academy. I coached my U14 squad and used your session planner matrix and some of the material from the course book and CD. The lads really enjoyed it, in fact so much that we had to put on an extra coaching session yesterday afternoon, for fun!. What I like about the Coever approach is that it puts the player (and thus the heart) back into the centre of football coaching and it works!".



The London Youth Diploma course was covered by David Clarke, Head Coach of BetterFootballCoaching.co.uk and writer for the Soccer blog. To read David’s review of the course, click this link http://bit.ly/p50Fhs

England - Manchester (August 2011)

The final English leg of the Youth Diploma course was held at Leigh Sports Village in Manchester in August and was attended by over 50 coaches, again in attendance from numerous parts of the UK , Europe and the Middle East.

All levels of the game were represented from volunteers to coaches working at clubs such as Bolton Wanderers, Sheffield Wednesday and Hartlepool FC.

Alf Galustian was on hand to expertly deliver the 2-day course which culminated in a practical session by Coerver® England & Wales director Scott Wright, working with Bolton FC U12’s.



Steve Haslam, First Team player for Hartlepool United and Sheffield Wednesday Academy U8 coach said of the course in Manchester "I thoroughly enjoyed the course and thought the content and Coerver philosophy was excellent, I have already started using the content with my U8 players at Sheffield Wednesday".

Local grassroots coach Kevin Bestwick also said of the course "Firstly I would like to thank Alf and Scott on the way they both presented the youth diploma course in Manchester, their passion and knowledge was superb and i was totally engaged for the full day. Coerver coaching is something i have wanted get involed in for a few years now and I certainly will start to use the coerver coaching methods in my coaching sessions".

Ireland - Dublin (August 2011)

The first Coerver® Coaching course of its kind in Ireland was hosted at the North Dublin Schoolboy League HQ in Coolock Dublin with over 100 coaches attending from 24 of the 32 counties in Ireland.

Coaches attending ranged from amateur to professional with both male and female coaches, including Shamrock Rovers assistant Manager Trevor Croly and former English Premier League™ player with Middlesbrough, Keith O’Halloran. Following the course, many of the coaches have invited Coerver® Coaching into their club to assist in the development of both players and coaches.



Mitch Whitty, Director of coaching of the Dublin Schoolboy League said of the course “Excellent content and very knowledgeable staff from Coerver, would highly recommend this to any coach at any level”.

Trevor Croly from Shamrock Rovers FC said "“Great weekend, learnt a lot, and will use the practices at my club.”

Former Middlesbrough, Swindon and St Johnstone player Keith O'Halloran said “Having played in the English and Scottish Premier Leagues, this type of technical coaching is so badly needed, especially in Ireland. Superb course and I would highly recommend Coerver to everyone.”

Jimmy Moulds from The Football Association of Ireland said "Content was excellent and session planning was a superb feature and would help any coach here in Ireland “.

Following the success of the Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma course in Ireland, there has been a lot of interest in future coach education courses which will be delivered over the next 12 months in Belfast, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Dublin. Anyone who would like information please contact Coerver® Coaching Ireland Director, Austin Speight for more details austin.speight@coerver.ie

Youth Diploma Course 2011 - Summary

Scott Wright, Coerver® Coaching England & Wales director said of the Youth Diploma roadshow “The youth diploma course has been an unbelievable success for us and something that I am proud to have been a part of. The feedback we have received has been excellent and the numbers that we have attracted proves there is great demand for our methodology across all levels of the game both at home and abroad.

I don’t imagine there are many if any coach education courses out there where you have a volunteer with no formal qualifications or experience learning alongside Pro licence coaches working at Champions League level. This is one of the key strengths of the Coerver® Coaching method in that, with appropriate modifications, we have something to offer coaches working at all levels of the game.

This is just the start of our journey in the UK & Ireland to try to positively change the coaching and playing culture we currently see at Grassroots level and to try to enhance the work that is currently being delivered in professional academies.

To read about Coerver® Coaching’s new Elite development partnership with Premier League™ high flyers Stoke City, click the below link: http://www.coerver.co.uk/blog/2011/07/21/coerver-coaching-launch-elite-development-partnership-with-stoke-city-fc-2/

So that rounds up the 2011 Youth Diploma course road show in the UK & Ireland.

The Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma and NEW Advanced Youth Diploma Course will available during Summer 2012, to find out more information and to register your interest, please click this link http://www.coerver.co.uk/youthdiploma

Coerver® Coaching would also like to thank:

Our official partner adidas® http://www.adidas.com/football/uk/
Youth Diploma media partner FourFourTwo Performance http://performance.fourfourtwo.com/
Youth Diploma software provider UEFA TACTX http://en.tactx.uefa.com/

We would like to thank Stirling Albion FC, Birmingham City FC, Bristol Academy of Sport, Fulham FC, Leigh Sports Village, North Dublin School Boy League and the Professional Footballer's associations of England & Scotland.

Coerver Coaching have recently completed the first block of the new Youth Diploma Courses in the UK & Ireland. The purpose of the Coerver Coaching Youth Diploma is to give attendees a greater understanding of how to plan and deliver more effective coaching sessions.

Along with providing coaches with the NEW Coerver Coaching Session Planner system, the Youth Diploma course also focussed on the importance of communication within coaching. This was really helped by using the UEFA coaching software, TactX.

Alfred Gaulstian, Coerver Coaching co-founder and Course Leader, said “Using TactX, the 24 Core Youth Diploma drills were created as 3D animations and made available for our coaches to view. These drills are an important part of the course and offer a clear visual of the drills, as well as providing a great resource for coaches at the end of the two day course". For an example of one of these drills go now to http://en.tactx.uefa.com/video.php?cid=24

Integrating TactX promotes a deeper understanding of the core drills and ideas demonstrated during the course. The 3D animation, with 360 ̊views, allows for clearer communication of the drills and reduces the possibility of misinterpretation.

TactX provides great crouching resources for Premiership teams such as Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa, aswell as grass roots coaches.

For more information about how TactX can help you, go now to www.uefa.com/trainingground/tactx

Interview with Jose Morais First Team Coach Real Madrid, formerly with Inter Milan and Benfica.

Real Madrid First Team Coach, Jose Morias with Coerver co-founder Alf Galustian

AG: Firstly the training facilities at Real Madrid are fantastic. Both for the First Team and the Academy. My first question is the summers and beginning of the season is extremely hot, when do the players train?

JM: In the season the first Team normally train at 10.30; as you can also see we have several fields, including the Goalkeepers area. The Academy Players normally would train after 5pm and in the hot months after 7pm. We are also very proud of the facilities including our medical centre and recovery/rehab areas, which I would imagine, are examples of the leading centres in the world.
AG: In your office today you showed me books and diagrams on drills and games. How much time do you put into planning the sessions?

JM: I have always spent at least an hour looking through drills and games of any session I do. Jose Mourinho normally conducts First Team Sessions, and is assisted by us. Mourinho is an inspirational coach and always has new ways of looking at drills/games.

AG: One question a lot of youth coaches ask is should they take their field session notes on the field?

JM: I think that's a good idea, especially if things don't work or you think of a new idea. Then you can make changes on the field to improve the dill or game for the next time you use it.

AG: You have great technical players at the club Ronaldo, Di Maria, Ozil etc; do these players continue to work on their technique, even if they are world class?

JM: Yes, all top players in my opinion work hard, technically, tactically and physically. I don't think there is an age where you say enough. Great players want to improve all the time.

AG: You came on the Coerver Diploma in May in Birmingham. When did you first hear of Coerver Coaching?

JM: When I was a youth coach at Benfica many years ago. I bought your Videos and immediately wanted to learn more.

AG: What did you like about the Coerver Program?

JM: Firstly the philosophy that at the early ages the foundation of teaching should focus on Technique. I had always believed that, but Coerver was the first time I had been exposed to a curriculum, which focused on this philosophy.

AG: You saw the updated Coerver Program at the Diploma course in Birmingham, how has it evolved since your first impressions.

JM: This is what really impressed me, you have added so much to the curriculum since the early years. When I first got your videos, the curriculum focused on isolated skill drills. Of course I understand the value of repetition, but when I came to your course, in May, what struck me is you have added game related and full game pressures to all of these Skills. That was perfect for me. I also like your way of analyzing technical problems and then offering solutions.

AG: Do you think Coerver Coaching is only for young players?

JM: No I don't. I think it can be used for all levels and ages. One reason I came to your Diploma Course was that I feel the Coerver Program can be adapted to even work with top First Team players. In fact I would like your advice on which of the drills and games you feel can be adapted. I have my own ideas but would also love your insight.

AG: I would agree with you, one way Coerver has evolved over these 28 years is that Charlie (Cooke) and I have tried to make sure all the drills and games in our program have variations that cover Mastery (Thru repetition) then increasing difficulty (especially when working with advanced players) and of course game application of the Skills in full game pressure. One new direction we are working in is devising a program to work on Position Specific training; for example Strikers in creating more goal chances individually; what do you think about this direction.

JM:I think that this is a very important step. For instance we can use this to work with a few players at the end of some sessions. I would be very interested in this work.

AG: That's great, in 2012 our Advanced Coerver Diploma will focus on this theme, we hope to see you there.

JM: Thanks Alfred, yes I certainly hope to be there and meanwhile we hope to see you back at Real Madrid in the near future.

Scottish Football Association (S.F.A) Central Region Coach Development Day 2011 with Coerver Coaching.

S.F.A invited Gordon Craig, Coerver Coaching Scotland Director, to deliver at the Annual regional coach in service day at Broadwood Stadium. Over 100 coaches attended including top managers and coaches from the Scottish Premier League. Gordon Joined Celtic and Ireland Legend Pat Bonner as a key presenter. For more information on the course go now to;  http://bit.ly/quyo9x

PDW13 tweeted, “Was at the Scottish FAs Central Region Coach Development Day with Packie Bonner and Gordon Craig from @CoerverUK - very impressed with both!”

Scottish Youth Football Association (SYFA)- Coerver Development Program

Coerver and the SYFA have agreed a series of 10 workshops covering 10 Performance Modules. Each workshop will last 2 hours and will include 40 minutes of theory. The workshops will be delivered by Gordon Craig, Coerver Coaching Scotland and Portugal Director. The SYFA are the national governing body of youth football in Scotland and cover age groups up to and including 21's.

Gordon Craig said, "This is a fantastic partnership for Coerver and the SYFA. Our objective is to share our expertise with a selected group of SYFA coaches over the next year. We will hold the clinics at the Toreyglen training facility next to Hampden Park and the SYFA offices. It’s hoped the coaches can use this knowledge to effectively teach their young players".

For more information on Coerver Coaching Scotland, go now to http://www.coerver.co.uk/scotland/

Coerver® Coaching are delighted to announce a two year elite development partnership with Premier League™ club Stoke City FC.

The partnership will see Coerver® Coaching Co-Founder Alf Galustian and England & Wales director, Scott Wright working closely with both the coaches (see below image) and players at Stoke City. The partnership is a key component in the clubs development plan towards achieving category 1 academy status under the new Elite Player Performance Plan which is being introduced by the Premier League™ to improve standards in youth development in this country.



There is already a strong historical link between Coerver® Coaching and Stoke City, through the friendship of Stoke City legend, Sir Stanley Mathew and Alf Galustian which began 30 years ago and saw them work together in Canada, USA, South Africa and England (see below image).



It was Sir Stanley Matthews who first gave the quote that Coerver® Coaching was “The World’s Number One Soccer Skills Teaching Method”.  He was known as the World’s Best 1 v 1 player of his time and one of the most famous Coerver® Moves, “The Drag Push” Set is dedicated to his memory.

Sir Stanley played for Stoke City for many years, and when in his 80’s, a statue was built in Stoke, he invited Alfred as his special guest who said “Sir Stan was very special in my life; he guided my football career to a great extent; when I was invited by Stoke City, who have established themselves in the Premier League, it was an honour to accept”.

The Coerver® partnership was initially suggested by Stoke City FC First Team manager Tony Pulis.

Stoke City FC Academy manager Dave Wright said: "I am a believer in this coaching and when the manager said he was keen on it, then we decided to go ahead. "We were doing a lot of Coerver-type work, but now we will have a full syllabus”.

The Stoke deal includes the innovative Coerver® Coaching Homestudy website which will be available to all academy players and coaches.  The site includes video clips of skills for the players to practice at home, and will also enable each age group coach to provide feedback and personal development analysis to each individual player.

The partnership was officially launched at the Britannia Stadium (see below image) where Coerver® Coaching Director Scott Wright and Stoke City FC Academy director Dave Wright presented to over 400 players, parents and members of staff.



Scott Wright said “We are delighted to agree this new partnership with Stoke City FC who are fully committed to implementing and delivering a world class coach and player development programme. The ultimate objective of the partnership is to lay the foundations for this vision and in the long term for the club to produce more young, local, technically excellent players that have all the attributes to play for the club at first team level in the Premier League”.

Coerver® Portugal Director, Gordon Graig, will run the first Coerver Youth Diploma Course at Vale de Lobo in the Algarve, 30-31 July.

One of Coerver® Coaching's most experienced instructors, Gordon Craig, will run two weeks of camp at the beautiful Barrington's facility, Vale de Lobo in Portugal. The camp will focus on teaching the techniques used by the world's most exciting players and teams.

The camp weeks, for player ages 8-14, are:
26-29 July and 1-5 August.
Non-residential day fees are: €160 euro / €197 euro.

Many groups combine their Portuguese beach holiday with attendance at the camp. So an international group of players is expected. Accommodation for families can be arranged at preferential rates.

As a technical skills coach and a Director of Coerver Coaching for over 20 years in Scotland and more recently Portugal. He has worked and presented to U.E.F.A groups, The Scottish Football Association, Sunderland FC, Rangers FC ,Heart of Midlothian FC, and Livingston to mention a few and delivered presentations as far afield as Spain,Scandinavia, Russia, Australia,North America and to various clubs in Portugal. Gordon has also worked with SL Benfica as part of a global coaching project with the club.

For more information, contact: gordon.craig@coerver.co.uk

 

Writer Matthew Syed and coaching mentor Alf Galustian speak to nufc.co.uk at a special Academy event this week.

By Dan Sheridan

Around 150 people, including some of Newcastle United’s brightest young talents, were present at a special event at St. James’ Park on Wednesday night with author Matthew Syed and coaching guru Alf Galustian.

The evening, organised by United’s Academy Manager Joe Joyce, was attended by a number of the Club’s young players and their parents as well as representatives from many of the region’s boys clubs and the Academy’s coaching staff.

Former table-tennis international Syed, who now writes for The Times newspaper, spoke at length to the audience about his career and a sporting philosophy that forms the basis of his recent book Bounce.

And alongside Syed, player development expert Galustian – co-founder of the Coerver coaching programme and a regular adviser to Newcastle United – also talked about his footballing principles.

Speaking ahead of the event, Syed said: “The essential argument in my book is that when we see people performing at a high level, we make the inference that they must have been in someway born with it.

“But there is no evidence at all of anyone being born with the skills that we associate with top-level sport. These are painstakingly built up over a period of time and if we understand that, then we will be far more inclined to work hard and practice.

“Good coaching makes sure that these players are practicing in the most efficient way and that can determine the distribution of success around the world. That learning process is often accelerated and at the moment, Spain are clearly doing it.

“We limit our own development with our belief that we don’t have as much talent as someone like Lionel Messi, or that we’re so talented that we don’t have to bother working hard.

“If we can get rid of these assumptions and get the right coaches in place, then we will create brilliant players. There is no gene in Messi that makes him play as well as he does  – it is simply down to the way he was taught to play football.” 

Galustian, who has worked with the likes of AC Milan and Bayern Munich as well as the French Football Federation, added: “I believe that the foundation of all training should be of a technical nature – especially between the ages of seven and 11.

“The basis of the Coerver programme is that every talented player can achieve whatever they want to achieve and it’s a way of teaching technical excellence. Spain have shown recently that physical size doesn’t matter and that it’s a technical game.”

“I’ve enjoyed working with Newcastle over the years. I jumped at the chance to work with the coaches here, and of all the clubs I work with this is my favourite one. Once I’d explained my methods, the coaches here bought into it and accepted it.”

After the event, which was held in the Kielder Suite at St. James’ Park, Academy Manager Joe Joyce said: “It was interesting, thought-provoking and challenging stuff from Matthew and Alf and a very successful evening.

“The questions asked by a lot of the youngsters and their parents at the end of the session showed that they got a very good response and a lot of what Matthew and Alf said relates very closely to what we’re doing at the Academy.

“People who get to the top in any profession do so because of the amount of hard work they put in, and we’re trying to create the kind of environment where people can progressively improve.”

The course was attended by over 80 participants from all levels of the game, from grassroots coaches to professional coaches from The Premier League™, Real Madrid CF, Derby County FC, Birmingham City FC & Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.

The purpose of the 2-day course is for attendees to gain knowledge on the Coerver Coaching programme with an emphasis on how to teach the effective use of skills to young players and to give knowledge around effective session planning throughout the season.

The course was deliverd by Coerver Coaching Co-founder Alf Galustian who said, “The main objective of the course was to give coaches something practical that they could take away and use for their season's sessions. We were really happy with the feedback from the attendees, and look forward to the next Diploma in Bristol.”

First Team Coach of Real Madrid CF, Jose Morais (in the below picture with Coerver Director Scott Wright and Co-Founder Alf Galustian), travelled specifically for the course saying, "these last two days certainly made me a better coach. I have been a fan of Coerver for many years".

Birmingham City Reserve Team Manager Richard Beale also said of the course, “I thoroughly enjoyed the Coerver Coaching Youth Diploma course, and would recommend that all coaches working with young players should attend”.

There are an additional 4 dates left over the summer on the Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma in, Bristol, London, Manchester & Dublin.

For more information, log-on to http://www.coerver.co.uk/youthdiploma

Please also read the below from Carl Lander, assistant Head Teacher at St Aubyns school in Essex.

Teaching children is about breaking down a subject into bitsize, challenging chunks.  The teacher then presents the opportunity for them to apply these chunks of knowledge  in a controlled environment.  As they gain in confidence this then leads to its application in the dynamic and unpredictable real world.  These foundations of great teaching have been championed by COERVER who have taken football and created a system by which any child, through hard work and good teaching can master the basic ball skills, that then lead onto their application in skillful play.

Quite rightly we are all born equal.  COERVER have burst the myth of ‘TALENT’ and created a system, oh so familiar to those of us in education.  Now that they have established themselves as a beacon of best practice in football, we can all wonder why on earth it was not done sooner.

Much of our school days were spent on the football pitch, listening to the shouts of our coaches and teachers as they told us WHAT to do.  However, we were left to our own devices to work out the HOW we do it.  How much talent, love of the game & enthusiasm was wasted then.  Fortunately COERVER has the HOW, and none of my students will ever feel frustrated as skills are broken down into Bitsize chunks that can be built up, seeing the player become a capable and  confident part of the team.  The COERVER system  will undoubtedly prove an essential tool, aswe drive our grass roots footballers onwards, alongside our elite players already serving their time at academies.

In the last 2  years St Aubyn’s school (3-13 yrs old) has produced boys and girls that have gone onto play football at the highest level.  These have included the academies at Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham and Leyton Orient, as well as Barnet, Southend, Grays Athletic and countless borough and county players.   Our greatest achievement so far is Darren Mc Queen who progressed onto Spurs and then England  U17.  We are passionate about our football and the belief that we must develop our players to be the best they can be.  The COERVER system has just made this whole job so much easier.

In my opinion, Saturday’s Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United , confirmed to me, that we in the UK, are a generation away technically, from playing the sort of Football that 21^st century fans will expect.

Back in 1983 Wiel Coerver first indicated to Charlie Cooke and myself that technical excellence was the foundation that all other parts should be built. Over these 28 Years, Charlie and I ,inspired by this notion have devised and continually updated the Coerver Curriculum, which is now recognized as the World's leading Skills Development program.

Over these many years we believe that Highly Skilled Players can and must be developed. The crucial age/foundation, starting under 12 years old. To achieve this we need to train high, level expert coaches for  age groups 8 to 11 and 12 to 16 who are all working from the same page. This is not always the case now, if this does not happen I think the majority of the best players in the Barclay’s Premier League will continue to be from outside the UK/IRE. This does not make sense from a business perspective for club owners and will also continue to effect the success of our National Teams.

Many Coaches/Commentators agree that Skills should be improved; but offering a credible, original curriculum has proved elusive. The Coerver program has over 30 years expertise in Skill Development, and is widely recognized by many of the Top Coaches in Football , as the leading Skills program in the World.

"Ball Mastery is the foundation for all young players, it is excellence in Ball Mastery that is a major factor in the greatness of Barcelona and Messi. In my opinion Coerver Coaching's 30 year experience in teaching Ball Mastery to young players, makes them the global leader in this Topic" … Osvaldo Ardiles, Argentina, World Cup Champion

Click here for audio on teaching excellence

 

A successful launch of the Scottish Coerver Coaching Youth Diploma with presenter and Coerver Coaching co-founder Charlie Cooke, guest John Collins and Coerver Coaching Scotland Director Gordon Craig. 

Over 50 coaches from across Scotland managed to secure a place on the course. Over the two days coaches learnt games, drills and essential tips developed over Coerver Coaching's 27 year history. The NEW 5 part DVD, "the Coerver Coaching Session Planner" was also included in the course package.



The Scottish Diploma was in partnership with the Professional Footballers Association, with players such as Allan Johnstone (Rangers, Hearts, Sunderland, Queen of the South) and Craig Mcleish of Falkirk attending. Professional Clubs,  Falkirk, Livingston and Partick Thistle also attended, alongside many junior club coaches and Scottish Football Association  regional officers Scott Kinross and Ian Ross. The Coaches took part in two days of lectures and practicals with the Innovator sports platinum group players alongside Coerver affiliated club, Lochgelly boys club. We would like to thank all of the players and Stirling Albion FC for hosting the two day course. 





The next Scottish Diploma is to be held in October (dates TBC) . Please contact joe.jones@coerver.co.uk or call 08448080442 to get your place now.

Sir Geoff Hurst MBE interview with Alfred Galustian, co founder of Coerver Coaching. Sir Geoff is the only footballer to score three goals in a World Cup Final. They discuss the strengths of the England team, the importance of work ethic over talent, ideas on how to improve the next generation of English players, tips for creating goal chances, tips for coaches & Coerver Coaching. To listen go now to http://bit.ly/j7ENeI

We are really pleased that John Collins will be a guest at the Scottish launch of Coerver Coaching's Youth Diploma. John had a fantastic playing career as captain of Scotland whilst playing at club giants such as Celtic, Monaco and Everton. John was also manager of Hibernian F.C and Charleroi F.C. John has been a long term supporter of Coerver Coaching. The youth diploma will be held at Sterling Albion F.C on the 21st & 22nd May. To book now phone 08448080442.

Wiel Coerver was a Football Genius and was nicknamed “the Albert Einstein of Football”.

He died 22 April in his birthplace Kerkrade.

 

A History

In the late 1970s, Dutch European Championship winning coach Wiel Coerver led a revolution in football coaching. He was dissatisfied with the lack of individual skills and emphasis on defensive play in the professional game. An emphasis that many thought, was stifling the more exciting, attacking style of play necessary to score goals and attract fans.

Up to that point, little attention had been given to individual skill development, because no one knew quite how to teach these skills. It was also widely assumed that the great players of the game were innately gifted far beyond the capabilities of the average player.

Wiel Coerver challenged the widely held belief that talent was innate and could not be produced or improved by correct coaching methods. He then set up establishing such programs.

Coerver's early focus was on teaching ball mastery and 1 v 1 skills by encouraging players to emulate the “moves” of football’s all-time greats, such as Sir Stanley Matthews, Cryuff, Beckenbauer and Pele.

Part of Wiel’s legacy is that over one million players and thousands of Coaches have attended Coerver Programs all over the World since 1984, and the way Football has been taught around the World has changed because of Wiel.

What Wiel meant to us by Alfred Galustian, Coerver Coaching co-founder

In 1983, a football conference in Philadelphia changed everything for us. We happened to walk past a room where Wiel Coerver was showing four kids some turns with the ball. We went and sat down to watch and he kept us captivated. I had never seen anybody teaching 1v1 skills before, neither had Charlie.

The concept was something we were really excited about. Focusing on teaching individual skills to young players as a priority before any team or tactical concept.  It just made sense. Wiel agreed that Charlie and I could use his name, and in 1984 Charlie and I began what is now Coerver Coaching.

Wiel was a tough teacher over these 30 years, and constantly pushed us to add and improve our Coerver programs. Even two weeks ago when I was with him in the hospital, he took out his note pad and drew some new drills! We experienced this passion and energy for almost 30 years, and it made Charlie and I more determined to continually improve Coerver Coaching.

For all of us involved in Coerver Coaching in more than 22 countries for almost 30 years, Wiel Coerver changed our lives and inspired us to expand his philosophy all over the world.

We are delighted to announce the Scottish launch of the Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma Course with Coerver Coaching co founder & Chelsea great Charlie Cooke, in association with our global partner adidas® and our presenting partner FourFourTwo Performance. The Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma has been developed from 27 years of knowledge and work with the leading federations, clubs, managers and star names in International Football. It will provide coaches with drills and games for their seasons sessions.

Dates: May  21st & May 22nd

Venue: Stirling Albion Football Club

Instructor: Coerver Coaching Co -founder & Chelsea great, Charlie Cooke

Cost: RRP £239.  Scottish launch price £199

LIMITED PLACES. TO BOOK CALL 08448080442

For further details on the course curriculum and package go now to http://www.coerver.co.uk/youth.htm

Charlie Cooke bio: Charlie played for Aberdeen and Dundee in the Scottish First Division before joining Chelsea in the English First Division in 1966 where he played for the next 11 years. He made 380 league and Cup appearances for the Blues and played in four Cup Finals, winning the English F.A. Cup in 1970 against Leeds and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1971 against Real Madrid. He also played 16 times for the Scottish National Team and a World Select Team in 1979. He shares the Chelsea club record of three Player of The Year awards with Gianfranco Zola and in 2005 Chelsea’s Centenary celebration year he was selected for the Chelsea All Time XI. Along with co creator Al- fred Galustian Coerver® Coaching International Director Charlie has been a Director of Coerver® Coaching in the Americas since its creation in 1983.

Gordon Craig, Coerver Coaching Scotland Director, bio:  Director of Coerver Coaching Scotland for over 20 years. He has worked and presented to U.E.F.A groups, The Scottish Football Association, Sunderland FC, Rangers FC , Heart of Midlothian FC, Livingston & SL Benfica. Gordon is recognized as a top coach educator consulting for the S.F.A in such projects as the new advanced children’s coaching License. He is also a Head coach at the S.F.A  youth academy in Graeme High School in Falkirk.

Coerver Coaching, the world's number one skills teaching method, have partnered with BBC's Match of the Day magazine (MOTD) and website. Coerver Coaching and MOTD are teaching some of the world's greatest player skills. Players that have featured already include Nani, Bale and Messi. To watch the Coerver Coaching skills videos go now to www.motdmag.com and http://www.motdmag.com/podcast-video/list/ .

Coerver® Coaching Co-founder Alfred Galustian provides expert tips for leading football magazine FourFourTwo's new Performance website.

The videos include, master first touch, play like Messi, play like Bale and play like Arsenal. To see the videos go now to http://bit.ly/dYxvaS

The articles include playmaking the Xavi way, run the midfield with Jack Wilshire, Head it like Drogba and volley like Van der Vaart. To see the articles go now to http://bit.ly/e6uO9F

On the 22nd January, Coerver Coaching Poland successfully launched their program with a national coaches course for 150 youth coaches. The course instructor was Brad Douglass, Coerver Coaching International Technical director and Coerver Poland Director, Piotr Sadowski. The course and curriculum were well received by attending coaches and media.

Coerver Coaching Poland are based in Katowice, in the South of Poland. For more information on Coaches and player courses in Poland go now to www.coerver.pl

 The second Barclays Premier League Skills Course took place at Aston Villa’s training ground on the 27th and 28th November. The course was conducted by Alfred Galustian, co founder of Coerver® Coaching and technical advisor to the Barclays Premier League.

Youth coaches from the following Clubs attended; Manchester City, Everton, Manchester United, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Fulham, Newcastle United, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur.

Galustian said, “This was not a pass or fail course, the idea is to contribute towards the professional development of coaches who work with the most talented young players in the country. The program we have devised teaches the coaching of core skills. In addition it shows how these skills can be used effectively in games.”

Special guests at the course were Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier and Scottish great John Collins.

Gerard Houllier the Former France national team coach and Technical Director told the participants, “In 1993 Michel Platini and I identified that France’s best young players needed to be master technicians. We then invited Alfred Galustian to work at Clairfontaine and the other centers teaching coaches how to improve technical skills”. Houllier said, “that many of France’s top players were a result of this technical emphasis that Alfred and the Coerver Program are well known for”.

Collins said “I have been involved with the Coerver program since I was a teenager, it certainly helped my career. It is essential that we bridge the technical differences between UK players and some of the best players in the World. Watching Barcelona each week confirms to me that we need to teach our young players technical excellence. This should be taught by the experts, Coerver Coaching”.

Players and Parents from Coerver® Coaching West Midlands, Sussex and Devon travelled up to Liverpool during the October half term 2010 to spend the day training at the Liverpool FC Academy.

Following on from the previous trips to Chelsea FC over the summer, the players were given an insight into life as a player at the Liverpool FC academy.

Liverpool FC coaching staff gave the group a tour of the first class facilities based in Kirby, Liverpool and then delivered two coaching sessions in line with the Liverpool FC Academy coaching programme.

Players and parents were lucky enough to meet Liverpool FC legend and director of football Kenny Dalglish and were able to meet players from Stoke City, including Kenwyne Jones and Eidur Gudjohnsen , who were training at the academy in preparation for their Premier League game against Everton FC.

The group then travelled to Anfield stadium for a tour and were also lucky enough to meet Liverpool FC legend Phil Neal, who captained the great team of the 1970’s to four European Cup final victories.

The trips that are exclusively provided in the UK for Coerver® Coaching Performance Academy players are made possible by our partnership with the adidas® International Training programme which provides a rare opportunity for grassroots players to train with some of the biggest adidas® sponsored clubs in the UK and around the world.

Coerver® Coaching UK Director Scott Wright said “Our partnership with adidas® ITP provides our players with and unbelievable opportunity to experience life as a young professional at some of the world’s biggest clubs. Being able to train with the likes of Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC is only a dream for many young players so I am delighted that we are able to offer this exclusive programme in the UK to our players and parents. I would like to say a big thank you to the staff at Liverpool FC and adidas® ITP who ensured that we had a day never to forget”

To view pictures from the Liverpool FC trip, click this link to our Regional Gallery: www.coerver.co.uk/westmidlands/gallery.asp

  The English Premier League, recognized as the World’s Top League, has appointed Coerver® Coaching co-founder, Alfred Galustian as a Technical Skill Instructor.

Alfred conducted the first Premier League skills coaching course at Bath University. The course was attended by coaches from 17 of the 20 Premier league Clubs.

Sky TV’s Premier League World program that has a global audience of more than 80 countries will also feature the course.

Steve Stone, former Aston Villa and England midfield player, who is now an academy coach at Newcastle United said, "all ex professional players would get so much from this course. It will really benefit all coaches and young players."

In the middle of World Cup fever, Coerver® Coaching arrived in Johannesburg to conduct two training seminars for coaches as part of the adidas® Exchange Program. The first 2-day seminar involved coaches from 28 countries taking part with their teams in the Football for Hope Festival, part of FIFA's high-profile commitment to football for human and social development. The international group included coaches from South Africa, Senegal, Argentina, Brazil, England, India, Australia and Tahiti.

Head Instructor Brad Douglass was joined by Madrid-based Coerver® coach Manuel Ojalvo who helped communicate the seminar to coaches from Latin America. The feedback from the seminar was highly positive, with many coaches commenting the material would help them to create more dynamic, educational and age-appropriate training programs for their players.

The second seminar involved 20 coaches from the local Alexandra Football Club. Alexandra is one of the most historic townships in South Africa and is renown for its soccer excellence. On the final day 60 enthusiastic young players joined the coaches for a finale of Coerver® Coaching activities in Alexandra Stadium. Meetings also took place with the President and Technical Director of Alexandra FC with the goal of creating a pilot Coerver® Coaching program to develop the skills of a new generation of South African players. Stay tune for more on that.