Shanice’s top tips for a successful football team
Friday 10 July 2009
1. Team work
2. Communication
3. Have fun
Shanice’s football team knows all about fair play – and they’ve got the medals to prove it. Placed 5th in this year’s London Youth Games, the team from Swiss Cottage Specialist SEN School was awarded with both the Outstanding Girls’ Team and Fair Play awards.
Joined by Lorely, Nicola, Anaïs and Bervely, Shanice trains with Coach Carly three afternoons a week on the school’s football field. For the girls, it’s all about sharing the excitement and challenge of the game.
‘It was a challenge to get them working as a team,’ says Coach Carly. ‘No one wanted to be goalkeeper – but now they take it in turns and everyone gets a go. If someone is hurt in a game, they’ll stop and help the player on either team – rather than listen to the ref,’ says Carly. ‘And they always shake hands at the end of the match.’
Football gives the girls the opportunity to improve their fitness while developing important life skills like teamwork, communication and self-confidence. Having a female coach gives them a chance to share girl-talk on hot-topic issues like body consciousness and hygiene. At a time when more than 40% of teenage girls are pulling out of sport and PE across the UK, Coach Carly has found a way of getting girls out on the field.
‘It’s about showing them that PE is fun and not boring. Working with girls in sport builds their confidence, and that helps them relate to boys. Now they’re saying 'I can do this!' – and they want to show the boys just what they can do on the field,’ says Coach Carly.
