Team meetings before or after a match in the same room with all the players and coaches. This is typical for tactical meetings for all the team sports we know. But this team, Goyang U18, seems to be a bit different from what we expect.
A Different Approach to Coaching Youth Football
Goyang FC U18 from the U18 league from South Korea belong to Goyang FC's academy, along with their U12 and U15 teams. They have seen young players become adults, professional players or go to college to develop themselves. Today many players are training hard to achieve their dream of a future in football.
This team is special to the coaches, especially head coach Lee Yong-gwon and coach Choi Dae-hoon. They’re eager to make this team better and care for the boys as coaches, and elder brothers at the same time. This approach makes them contemplate how they coach.
Using Technology to Improve Player Performances
Goyang FC U18 does not hold team meetings like we’d imagine. Instead they’ve replaced it with an online meeting where they watch videos, automatically filmed with a Bepro camera, inside the Bepro messenger. Here they give and receive feedback, review play and watch video of the opponent's play to prepare.
The way the new generation, with a small device in their hands all the time, joins and engages with these online meetings takes away our concern that the content will be distracting.
Coaches add their tactical feedback and ideas to the video through the Bepro editor and share them with the players...
In preparation for the match on the weekend, coaches analyse and edit the video of the team's past match with the editor and messenger, and send it to a player or a group of players, and players add their thoughts in the comments. On Thursday, the players share their thoughts on how to best respond to their opponents whilst giving specific details on the opposition’s formation and style of play. This is all then reflected in team training on Friday.
“Through analysis we can find out what the young player's problems are and what they need to develop through analysis. This leads to the boys putting in extra effort which brings better results.”
- Coach Choi Dae-hoon
Players express their opinions without any hesitation or intimidation, even with direct feedback from coaches. Thanks to the conversations taking place online, there's no need to worry about running out of time in a meeting room or having to say, 'Let's talk later' without an appointment, they can communicate whenever and wherever through their own device. The players easily understand the feedback compared to the tactic board that was used previously, the videos provide clear visual evidence!
Thanks to this, the coaches have more time to focus on and care for their team.
Performance Technology and Supportive Coaching Bringing Results on the Pitch
Goyang FC U18, where a new type of team meeting has become the daily routine, are looking up the table after recording three wins and one draw in the last four league matches. The preparation they are putting in is showing up in the results at the end of the game, so the players are very encouraged. By the end of the season, we are looking forward to seeing how much the players have grown under their thoughtful coaches.
“I remember what head coach Lee Yong-kwon said to me 10 years ago: ‘We should be coaches who care about the boys' lifes, never just counting the number of players who become professional players.’ We lead the team with that in mind.”
- Coach Choi Dae-hoon
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