The Football Parent
Posts
Academy coach reveals secret 🚩

Academy coach reveals secret 🚩

Does your kid do this?

January 09, 2026

Hello Football parent!!

We are building some interesting tools to help parents navigate the football journey and over the Xmas period I have enjoyed several conversations with an experienced academy coach and I thought some of it might be worth sharing with you.

Obviously academy staff have a trained eye for evaluating talent but they also observe countless parents, and crucially, many parent > < kid interactions.

🚩 If YOUR kid looks at YOU every time THEY make a mistake, this is a BIG 🚩

A clear sign that the parent is putting too much pressure on the child who ultimately, needs to be focussed on the game rather than parental / external validation.

This reveals to the coach that the child will likely struggle with independent decision making and resilience so might be the reason why the child doesn’t get signed!

If your kids dream is to make it, and they are under 9, then we are working on something that will really benefit you so feel free to reply to this email to let me know I will put you on the list for first access. This could be groundbreaking!

Right, let's keep going… 👇️

RAISING THE LEVELS

🔥 This is getting silly now!

2 year old and can do it all 😮‍💨

📹️ Raising adults not kids

For those that say ‘let them be kids’ this is a different perspective. At the end of the day you are raising adults not kids, so there is a lot to be said for these frank, open and honest situations.

📈Getting a lot out of a small space!

Watch the video and you’ll see a lot of nice technical elements coming out of a small space and simple set up. A lovely player and great inspiration !

BEDTIME STORIES
🔈️ Chelsea legend Michael Duberry helps Essi stick to her goals…

Bedtime ⚽️ Stories For Kids

We love helping parents with skills and drills - but football also teaches children confidence, empathy and resilience.

Our Bedtime Stories explore those emotional ups and downs, giving families a way to talk about the experiences all young ballers face.

🔈️ Listen on Spotify.

⭐️ If your child enjoys it, please leave a 5‑star review, comment, or share with a friend - it really helps more families find us.

REPS REPS REPS

🛠️ Useful Drills For Every Training Scenario

Some of the best from our timelines this week:

🎾 The next level toe taps drill.

💪 This drill develops strength for shoulder to shoulder duels

⚡️ This U12 speed session looks INTENSE.

🧠 The 8 ingredients to success are right here.

🇧🇷 A technical futsal masterclass - receiving the ball with the sole.

We appreciate your support 🙏

Reply

or to participate.