Huckerby starts his coaching career

On behalf of the Norfolk FA during the recent half term holiday Ian Thornton FITC Director, coach educator and UEFA, A Licence holder headed to Thorpe High School to teach The FA Level 2 certificate to a group of 16 prospective candidates.  The group included Norwich City FC legend Darren Huckerby, FITC staff and local coaches.  

Interested to see how he and his fellow candidates were finding the course, a reporter from NorfolkFA.com caught up with Darren and Level 2 tutor Ian Thornton to find out how it was all going...

NCFA:  Darren, it's great to see you involved on the Level 2 course, how have you found it?

DH: It's been good thanks. Very different to what I've been used to as a player, now I'm looking at the game from a different angle. Obviously meeting new people has been good, as we're all in the same boat. It's nice that you're working with 17 year olds, 45 year olds and everything in between, so it's been very good.

NCFA:  How was it at the start of the week? I'm sure the other candidates might not have expected to turn up and be greeted by Darren Huckerby!

DH: Until you get to know people they tend to be stand offish to begin with, but it was soon lively and boisterous. Everyone's been great and we've all worked together. Like I said, everyone's been involved for the same reasons and we're doing the best we can.

NCFA: What is the motivation been behind you taking the course?

DH:  If I want to progress into coaching I've got to start somewhere and this is my starting point. I realise that playing and coaching are completely different, so you've got to learn the basics. Even though I've been around football for many years it's a different side of it and I'm looking forward to learning and hopefully progressing as a coach.

NCFA: Have there been any aspects of the course that have struck you in particular?

DH:  The planning. Even though I understand a coach would need to do a little planning, this week we've worked a lot on structuring the sessions and making sure they're right before you get out on the pitch. As a player you're out there and getting on with it, but now I realise it takes quite a while to structure a good session.

NCFA:  No doubt you've picked up a lot from the various managers and coaches you've worked with during your career, but you obviously see some validity in starting with your badges and learning your trade in this way?

DH:  Yeah, I think it's definitely been what I've wanted to do. I want to start at the bottom, shall we say, and work my way up. I think you get to learn the basics and you can build on the basics. I think if you try to go too high too soon, you don't get a real feel for it. This is the way I've decided to go and hopefully it'll set me up well for the future.

NCFA: So what does the future hold for Darren Huckerby as a coach? You want to go back into working in the professional game, but will that be with young or senior players?

DH:  I won't mind getting involved in local football with younger players, but I think I've got a lot of experience and knowledge that I can pass back to professional players too. I would prefer to work with the elite player in that regard and hopefully I'll get the chance to do that in time.

NCFA:  So having experienced the first phase of the Level 2 qualification, what qualities do you think are needed to be a good, successful coach - whatever the level?

DH:  I think you've got to be good with people, be a good communicator and you've got to get your point across. Learning from your mistakes is a big thing, nobody knows everything and sometimes other people know more than you and that's where you can pick up their best points and use them to develop your own ideas. It's just a learning curve, try and learn as much as you can while you can.

NCFA:  Ian, you've been tutoring candidates through The FA's courses for around three years now - how has Darren been as a student?

IT:  Darren has been a pleasure to work with. He has a strong desire to achieve his coaching qualifications. Starting with a solid foundation will only help him going forward. Like all the candidates his contribution to the course both in the classroom and out on the pitch was excellent.

NCFA:  For those who have perhaps already attained the Level 1 qualification, what does Level 2 offer in terms of further development?
 
IT:  The Level 2 course is really about becoming an effective football coach / teacher and understanding the 'whole' role of being an effective football coach. From start to finish the candidates cover 16 topic's that teach them how to structure specific technical parts of the game with a clear purpose to help develop players and achieve certain outcomes under their guidance.

NCFA:  So this group will now go away to put what they've learned into practice, before later being assessed - how do you think they're shaping up?

IT:  The group bonded very quickly. I am confident if they continue to apply themselves as they did for the duration of the initial training period of the course during the distance learning phase, Norfolk will have more Level 2 coaches come there assessment day.

For further information on FITC call the office on 01603 761122 or go to http://www.fitc.org.uk/