Wimbledon want their young players to know there is more to life than football
More teams are being encouraged by Wimbledon to develop young players with “larger than football” skills.
In honor of UK Coaching Week, the academy of the Sky Bet League Two team is collaborating with UK Coaching to help players grow both on and off the field by assisting in the holistic development of people off the field.
Only a small percentage of the 10,000 or so young football players that compete at the academy level go on to play professionally.
Michael Hamilton, the manager of Wimbledon’s academy, told the PA news agency: “If they are fortunate enough to be a football player, fantastic.” However, football careers are very brief, therefore we aim to provide them with the essential life skills to help them succeed.
“Academies may have been guilty in the past of viewing players as nothing more than footballers, but we now view our duties as extending beyond football.
“Playing football professionally will have enormous benefits and opportunities for success. Many people are working toward that objective, but there are millions of others who aspire to play professional football.
The London team uses a variety of development initiatives to make sure its players are prepared for life beyond football, such as games that give them the confidence to take charge of their own destiny. Young gamers can also participate in a hands-on “camp” where they can learn vital life skills like cleaning, cooking, and self-management.
“The boys have to go to a game without a coach and execute a game plan, without the presence of coaches,” Hamilton went on. They handle things on their own; things go wrong and right, but there are a lot of valuable lessons that we as coaches can use to help the guys grow.
“I recall that at halftime, we were trailing when I took the 18s. “Michael, can you please leave?” the boys asked as I entered the changing room.
“After ten minutes, I went downstairs, and they had written down what went wrong, what they needed to do next, and what was unacceptable. That is the most potent thing in my opinion since it is a life skill.
