Unrealistic Expectations in Grassroots Football

What do they expect me to do with just an hour a week?

Had chats with 2 different grassroots managers talking about dealing with expectations.

These are guys who are in it for the right reasons and basically do it because, if they didn’t, their kids wouldn’t have a team.

But the demands placed on them by some parents are just insane.

They’ve had to deal with moans & groans because some children aren’t improving as fast as the others.

Dig a bit deeper and the reasons for it are simple – the other kids are getting good coaching elsewhere and playing more often.

The players in question are doing just 1 grassroots training session per week.

It’s weird how to some, football seems to be a different skill to anything else a child learns.

Like it doesn’t follow the same process as things like learning to read or learning an instrument…

In other words, kids need to play more football (and ideally get better coaching) if they want to get better at football!

And like both managers said – ‘we aren’t coaches’.

And this is the reality that some need to understand.

Many grassroots managers volunteer to run a team and give up their time to do so.

They do a short online course and get a DBS check.

This does not mean they are coaches, it simply means they have met the criteria to be involved in a junior football team.

Expecting them to turn a child into Messi when they have very little coaching experience, hardly any time to learn more about coaching AND they only have an hour with them…

…is like having 1 driving lesson per week with a newly qualified instructor and expecting to be able to race in Formula 1.

If your child is in a team and you feel they aren’t improving and can see them being left behind, take matters into your own hands.

Find out where else you can take them to get the extra training they need.

Speak to other parents and see what they’re doing or ask at school about after-school football options.

It’s often not the fault of a grassroots manager. They are doing their best whilst juggling full time work commitments, football team admin and family life.

Of course, some clubs benefit from volunteers who are actual coaches and have the time to learn more about coaching.

But there are plenty others who rely on people who have simply being thrown into it without much, if any, prior experience.

So give them a break and control what you can control