Better football for a better world
{mb_sdlf_jugador_SDLF-jugador_frase-destacada}About thirty coaches of the Arandina CF grassroots football will receive an excellence training that will cover both technical and ethical aspects.
We believe trainers should be constantly educated and equipped from a scientific standpoint. Arandina CF shares this vision and has made it their objective, dedicating the next few months to developing an ambitious training project in collaboration with the Marcet Foundation, to comprehend the technical, psychological, pedagogical and ethical aspects of training. A 360º, all encompassing preparation that will be put to use in both face-to- face and online sessions.
Thirty-odd trainers from Arandina’s football headquarters will be coursing specialised excellence training with the aim of becoming competent educators capable of communicating their knowledge in an efficient and empathetical way. Simply transmitting technical and tactical awareness isn’t enough. It is just as important to develop an adequate pedagogical aptitude for the training of genuine leaders, up to the task of bringing out the best of their playing colleagues. A teacher has truly succeeded once surpassed by his or her pupils.
As the project deals with grassroots football, special emphasis will be placed on ethical training. “Establishing values when training adults is harder than is the case when you start educating younger athletes”, explains José Ignacio Marcet. “There are quite a few successful footballers that end up becoming negative role models because they didn’t benefit from a proper education during their training as an athlete. This is why it’s so essential there be a strategic plan for the inclusion of values in the educational process. This is something that isn’t improvised and requires as much experience as it does expertise.
Football bad habits
According to the president of the Marcet Foundation it’s important to make clear that playing football doesn’t guarantee, in itself, the acquisition of values: “It all depends on how it’s handled and approached. Sport is an excellent environment for the teaching of values but you have to know exactly how to teach them. Football, when misunderstood, can be tragic because it risks the developing of bad habits potentially tied in during adolescent years, which can then go on to become serious problems down the line towards adulthood”.
Marcet’s keyword here is “resilience”: every young player needs to learn to resist the possible negative influences in his surrounding environment, particularly the feeling of failure and frustration concerning not ‘making it’. “A frustration that often comes from parents forgetting to teach their children three fundamental values: humility, humanity and honesty”. These being the foundation to the following attitude a player should develop in his training towards reaching professional football with his head in the right place: hard work, organisation, generosity, friendship, camaraderie, respect, discipline, optimism, higiene, health, responsibility, etc.
Arandina’s objective is that its educators take on these values to then pass them on through example. “We see it as a way to make our trainers aware of the importance of morally educating our players”, explains Javier Almendáriz, secretary of the Spanish-Leonese club: “We signed a collaboration agreement with Marcet precisely because they are a leading reference in the teaching of values”.
Ethical issues aside, this initiative aims to see the qualification of the aspiring trainees technically, tactically and pedagogically in their communication to, directing of, and authority over groups of athletes. Arandina’s trainers will learn to teach by way of Marcet’s methodology, getting to understand the necessities of each child to then establish and improve relationships with their surrounding players and family. A contribution with the end game of developing a better football for a better world.