Iain Brunskill, Academy U10s coach spoke to SoccerCoachingInternational’s Paul Cooper about the philosophy at the club: “learning through fun”.

By: Paul Cooper TheThe AgeAge ofof FunFun

Any nerves on arriving at the impressive £13.0 million Academy Facilities site were soon dispelled as I was welcomed by the smiling Iain gave me a tour of the magnificent facilities. Opened in gateman. Indeed it was a reoccurring theme during my visit, 1999 in Kirby the facility was the first purpose-built Academy in everyone was so friendly from the receptionist to the ladies in Britain. It boasts ten grass pitches and a specialist goalkeeping the canteen and all the staff and boys. There is such a positive area. Four of the pitches are floodlit. There is also a separate and relaxed atmosphere at the complex that carries you along floodlit synthetic pitch. A more recent edition is an indoor facili- and makes you feel part of this big family. How can anyone fail ty named after one of the club’s most promising young players to learn in such an environment? My host Iain Brunskill and I Ian Frodsham. Ian tragically died from a tumour of the spine began our discussion over a cup of tea in the canteen. when he was just 19 years of age. This superb indoor pitch is “Learning through fun is our philosophy during the early years often used by visiting school teams who play 5 a side games of development and we have a number of key learning stages under the Academy’s motto, ‘Technique, Attitude, Balance and at the Academy.” Speed’ which is written across one of the walls.

As we left the canteen we walked along a corridor whose walls U9-U10s The age of fun are covered in photos of skinny, bright-eyed children. They could U11s-U12s The age of technique be children playing for any team. Faces full of excitement and U13s-U14s The age of understanding hope. But staring back from these photos are the faces of U15-U16s The age of competition , and . The photos are a constant reminder to the Academy boys and staff of the incredibly high standards that have been set at the club. It is a daunting challenge to everyone and appears to get har- Technique der each passing year with the ever-increasing influx of foreign Iain has coached a number of different age groups at the players, who are not just the tried and tested international foot- Academy and feels happiest now coaching the U10s. “They sur- ballers but also a growing band of hungry, talented teenagers prise me all the time not just in training but what they come out from abroad. Indeed Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier introdu- with. Children are so much fun at this age and very receptive to ced two eighteen-year-old French wonder kids into the first team learning.” Iain works mainly on technique and does a lot of 1 v squad this summer. 1, 2 v 1 and 2 v 2s as well as small-sided games. He lets the children express themselves as much as possible and make their own decisions on the pitch.

2 No. 5 -oktober 2004 French Under 21 internationals Florent Sinama Ponsolle and pening outside on the streets.” Anthony Le Tallec had already been loaned back to their former club Le Havre for a season and are now in strong contention for a regular first team place at Liverpool. The boot room Iain also showed me the state of the art medical and physio- As well as having to present to the other coaches what they therapy centre, hydrotherapy pool and weights room. There are have gained from visits to other clubs and countries, the coa- also offices, a canteen and classrooms, furbished with the ches hold regular discussion groups. These are invaluable to latest IT equipment. All this is a far cry from when Iain, now everyone and make sure that creativity is always high on the 27, was a trainee at the club. It was before these imposing agenda. facilities were built and in those days you spent a lot of time It is reminiscent of the old boot room days at with the cleaning the first team squads boots and other such delightful likes of , and Ronnie Moore talking foot- chores. Iain did not play for the first team at Liverpool, but went ball and swapping ideas. on to play professional football at Bury. His career was cut short with injury and he became a coach.

Under 19s We stopped off to see the U19s being coached by John Owens. John was formerly a teacher and worked for the FA with some of the youth squads. It is typical of the thinking behind the Academy to employ people who are not just outstanding coa- ches but who also understand children. Iain reinforced this by stating that they have found that some coaches have a particular affinity with a certain age group. “It is not just about getting pla- yers into the first team it is also about developing people,” explained Iain. The educational side is just as important as the football.

Brazil Iain is a refreshing new breed of coach who is always looking for new ideas. He wants to learn as much as possible about the game and be exposed to different football cultures. He has already had a weeklong trip to Ajax in Holland to visit their Academy. He took extensive notes and videoed a lot of what he saw. On his return he presented his findings to Academy Director and the rest of the coaches. “A lot of the coaching that goes on in the big clubs is very similar, the attention is in the detail,” explains Iain. “I was particularly impressed with how they identify talent at Ajax.” A big difference Iain found with relation to the identification process at the two clubs is that at Ajax, the teams play the same system throughout the club. The numbers at Ajax have significance, so when one talks of say a number 6 everyone knows what that means. So they scout for a particular player for a specific role in the club. At Liverpool it is different and they are looking at finding good footballers first.

Ian likes to introduce new and challenging ideas to his Under I was really quiet moved by my visit to the Academy. The atmos- 10 charges. phere is very special, and people can only create that who have One such introduction is the use of ‘Hulla Hoops’ in balance a mission, a belief and who ultimately care passionately about and co-ordination training. This was from an idea from a good the development of young people. friend and coach in Trinidad and Tobago. Fittingly as I left Iain and walked towards the car park, a local school group passed me on their way to play in the indoor facili- Iain’s next and most challenging project is a trip to Brazil in ty. The teacher in front had a grin as wide as the Mersey and February with Mike Keohane of Soccer Futuro. “I am really inte- the children babbled excitedly as they also knew this place has rested in what they do with younger children in Brazil. I want to a touch of class. experience not just the work done in clubs but also what is hap-

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