Dealing with large groups of young athletes is not the same as the coaching squad situation where
small numbers are guided in pursuit of a specific skill. The larger group presents a teaching situation
where the leader will be developing the young athletes’ co-ordination, balance, posture, agility and
the beginning of movement related to physical skill. The planning and organisation of an activity
session is probably the most crucial factor to actually achieving success with the young athletes.
It is therefore just as important to spend time on preparation, as it is actually to deliver the session.
2.1.1 What a coach needs to know before planning the session
• The aims of the session.
• The best ways of achieving the aims. It may be worth discussing this with other coaches.
• The size and condition of the facility.
• The quantity and condition of appropriate equipment.
• The number of young athletes in the group.
• The basic safety factors, which include nearest telephone point, emergency fire exits if working
indoors, first aid box location and other factors specific to the location.
• Time allocated for the session to ensure that the benefits and reasons for warm-ups and
cool-downs are included.
2.1.2 Effective organisation of groups
• The coach should be prepared for young athletes arriving late and therefore try to start with a fun
whole group activity. If any latecomers do arrive they can easily join in without additional organisation
but punctuality should be encouraged as it is an important attribute to possess for later life.
• Start with group sizes that can be quickly increased or decreased. This will help with ensuring
efficient organisation later in the session. For example, it is easy to start with groups of six as this
number can be halved, or divided by three to give smaller groups.
• If the session does need to move into a team situation involving more young athletes than in
the original group size, coloured bibs can be given out at the start to ensure swift changeovers.
• When splitting the group into teams it is better to use colours or countries than numbers, as
sometimes young athletes in team six will feel as though they may not be as good as those in
team one.
• Where the group numbers and names are known, then a division into working groups prior to the
session would be very advantageous.
• If the session is part of an ongoing regular programme, try to keep to the same small groups each
session. It is pointless wasting activity time every week organising and reorganising groups.
Keeping the same groups will also encourage team solidarity and build new friendships. However,
during competition activities the groups must all be similar ability.
• The size of the team and groups should be dependent on the intensity of the exercise and the rest
required. If the groups are too small then performance will erode and if the groups are too large
then there may be a Cool-Down and / or boredom effect.
2.1 Session Organisation
Coaching & Leadership Skills
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