Getting the kids interested.

[chunkygull]

i dont know if this sort of thing has been covered in a thread before, but here goes.

as some of you may have read on the barnet matchday thread, this weeks game vs the bees was the first time my son went to watch my beloved torquay united.

i had shown him around outside of the ground before when he was younger and he was really interested. he really wanted to go and watch a match with me and asked about it often, but my wife in her wisdom dug her heels in and deemed he was too young to go to games.

for some time now we have been in agreement he could go to a match but alas the misguided boy has just not been interested, having his head turned by other things, mainly computers. in fact to my horror, somehow thanks to a family member he started playing bloody rugby. no beef with that but football should always come first and take priority.he enjoys playing rugby, but is not a fan of the sport as such.

i have played football with him, i have tried to get him watching on telly, i have told him football stories, i tried to make matchdays at plainmoor sound like exciting and magical events, indeed to a young boy they used to be and should be.

finally he has succumbed to his dads wishes and we have success.indeed, our house was a buzz of excitement last saturday but eventually that turned into a massive come down(bloody weather). on approaching the ground on tuesday though i dont know who was more excited about my son attending a game me or him, those old childhood feelings that were completely different on matchdays came flooding back. for a few moments it was like reliving it all again.

as i said before, just as we approached the ground my dad said to my son, once you get in there you will be hooked, your dad was. then seeing my son go through the turnstile with my father was a lump in the throat, tear in the eye moment for me i was just so happy to see that moment. it was a bit like deja vu, memories of 9th may 1987 vs crewe (my first game) and many other great moments from when i was a kid supporting the gulls came flooding back. until that crewe game to be honest i wasnt a massive football fan or a torquay fan at all. dad was determined to go as he had been a supporter already for 30 years +, he made me go because he wanted me to see a football league torquay match and there was a huge possibility this was the last chance.

subconciously i think this is why i was so determined and would not take no for an answer about my lad going vs barnet (although i do believe we will be fine). he loved the experience and was very excited during and after. he really enjoyed himself and got well into it, he picked up a good understanding very quickly.

(although the cheeky little sh!t said exeter chiefs ground is bigger.he played a kids tournament there. Is this true,is it bigger?)

the first thing he wanted to do when we got home was to recreate the game on xbox (fifa), but he had to go straight to bed. the next day the enthusiasm had worn off a bit. indeed it is me thats more excited about him going than he is. however he definitely wants to go again vs rovers and next season.so thats my saturdays a lot easier now.hopefully he will get more interested and into it.maybe he will fall in love with the game and torquay united like i did.

i have found out first hand how difficult it is to get a young kid interested in football. most of them are far more interested in computers/laptops/ipads etc these days ( my son very much included).

a shocking fact is for the barnet game we had a spare childs ticket and we asked a few of my sons friends if they wanted to come with us, giving them the ticket for free etc. NONE of them were interested at all. we could not give the thing away. i was quite dismayed.

i asked my son if many of his schoolmates liked football, there were not many. the ones that are interested are football mad, although they have their own teams already who they support.guess who they are - chelsea, man utd, arsenal, liverpool, spurs etc. none of them go and watch live football. none of them have been to plainmoor or even given the experience a chance. but they have full kits of premier league teams.

i dont have a problem with this if people/kids want to be armchair fans or want to have a big team to support, after all they are seen on tv all they time and saturated in publicity. people are entitled to support a team that is miles away that there is no link or affinity with. but as football fans surely they can give their local team a chance and support them also. it does happen. i went to school with loads of man utd and liverpool fans who supported torquay and went to every game. there isnt much chance for these people to watch the premier league teams but there is live football and a team on their doorstep.

the proof is there that once we can get the kids to plainmoor they will love it and want to go again, maybe forcing dad etc to go also. we have tried great incentives already such as kids for a quid, 200 free kids tickets and buy 1 get 1 free. the club can do no more in this respect and i loudly applaud them.

we need to show the children somehow what they are missing or spark their interest. i know there was frank prince community stuff, and there used to be large groups from chosen schools at games, is that still going?

i know clubs get involved in schools and indeed i am sure ours has, but is it often enough? i know of only 1 occasion in 6 years of my lad being at his school that the club has been involved in anything there and that was only for 1 of the year groups.

maybe we should be visiting schools etc more, can we get the players to visit the kids, what can spark their interest? by the sounds of it mr candy and the club are promoting and advertising the club superbly, and there are loads of great ideas for the club coming in thick and fast which they are willing to look at or take on board.

we really need to appeal to children to support the team and want to go to games. we need somehow to give it that magic again. we are in big danger of losing a couple of generations here to computers, laptops and premier league teams. any ideas?

p.s dont even get me started on the standard of the football i have seen kids play. i have attended a few school matches and am dismayed at what i am watching. i dont shout though, some parents are a disgrace. i would love to know what they are being taught football wise. if these "coaches" have FA coaching badges then i suggest the badges/certificates arent worth wiping your arse on. sadly, indeed i have heard this before in radio debates on the state of our game by people who have attended FA coaching courses.

[ferrarilover]

Lovely story and excellent sentiment, but I wish your keyboard had a shift key.

I think you identify the problem in your post, the bloody Premier League. Torquay aren't cool and you can't reason with nippers to make them understand that going to a game is cool, yacking on about Man Utd based on MOTD is not.

Matt.

[Southampton Gull]

When my kids were younger I was forever teling them about Torquay. Being brought up in Southampton it was the Saints that they initially showed interest in. All that changed when I took them to Torquay games and it turned out that their mates all thought it WAS cool of them to support a little team like us so much so that dozens of their friends accompany us from time to time and always comment on their social media sites with various remarks.

As the OP says, get them through the gates and they will become hooked.

[Kernowgull]

Just a comment on the FA Coaching badges Chunky. I did level 1. The level required to succeed is so poor it really isnt worth the paper its written on. Everyone has to do a 15 minutes session, with the rest of the group being the football coachees. Some of the people delivering these sessions, and subsequently becoming qualified coaches could barely speak. Most were Premier League supporting morons who think that dribbling the ball and never passing to a man in space are the best way to score goals, and that stepovers are the most important skill.

To move on to level 2 is very time consuming and such a huge step up in standard that most dont bother. I was most disappointed

[Mav]

The chiefs ground is bigger, current capacity is 12,000 and they are expanding it upto 18,000. I have to say it's a really smart ground.

[Dave]

The community scheme is still running, and the club have been giving out free tickets to the family stand to pioneer league clubs during the course of the season and I believe to schools aswell although not sure about the schools, so it's fair to say the club are doing what they can.

One thing I am not sure about, a few years ago the club used to do kids birthday parties via boots and laces, with a tour around the ground and a kick about on the pitch, does the club still do this ?

And if the tust does not run the future gulls anymore, it would in my view be worth the club running it's own junoir supporters club.

I have also done level 1, whilst I do agree with Kernowgull in one respect, you only have to complete the full level 1 course to pass it. I would not advise anyone reading this who wants to go into youth coaching to do so with out completing level 1. The child protection workshop, soccerparent and first aid elements make it every bit worth the paper it's written on, and vital to complete this course before you start coaching kids.

Also agree level 2 is a 9 month course, which I had no chance of doing, so opted to do a number of F.A training days including goalkeeper coaching to brush up on my coaching skills.

The point to all of that, I worked for 3 different pioneer league clubs, and Chunky you are right about schools, I was asked by a teacher I know if I would help run the after school football club as he didn't have much idea on how to coach football, and this pointed me towards one big problem, it really is not the kids, it every bit is the mums and dads.

I was amazed at the large number of kids turning up to training sessions with Torquay kits on, however when you talk to some of these kids you soon realize that they were brought the kit for either a birthday or christmas present because thats what they wanted and that is sadly as close to becoming Torquay fans some these kids are going to get.

And why, because dad is a Man.U fan and won't let me go, or dad will not take me, or dad says he can't afford it.

The only thing the club can is keep getting itself out there, and hope that when some of these kids grow up with their own minds and money they will come to the games. And keep doing the good work it already is to attract new and young supporters to the club.

[Kernowgull]

I agree with that Forever, my point was in response to Chunkys comment about the standard of football. The fact that no football knowledge or ability is required to pass is worrying, and there are a high number of idiots teaching kids who think that because they have level 1 they know what theyre doing. The child protection/first aid parts of the course are valuable, although Id argue again dont take any skill to pass, so whether its put into practise or not is a different matter!

[Dave]

I agree with that Forever, my point was in response to Chunkys comment about the standard of football. The fact that no football knowledge or ability is required to pass is worrying, and there are a high number of idiots teaching kids who think that because they have level 1 they know what theyre doing. The child protection/first aid parts of the course are valuable, although Id argue again dont take any skill to pass, so whether its put into practise or not is a different matter!

Yep understood that, and your right, there was one candidate on my course who just failed to fully deliver a 15 minute session to the point the examiner ran out of room on the feed back form, and there are indeed some awful youth coaches out there, also there are a heck of a lot of good ones aswell, just do not want anyone reading this to get the impression it's ok to run a kids to team with out level 1, also the F.A want to encourage people to get into coaching and doubt they will make the entry level coaching course harder. In fact if a junoir football club holds a F.A charter standard certifcate all coachs must atleast have a level 1 or be working towards it , aswell as have 'crb' documentation and other things in place. So to any parent reading this if you want to encourage your child into football I would advise you check to the club concerned does have a charter standard certifcate.

On the child protection and first aid, not all of it is common sense, I have managed a mini-soccer team and full sided team, as you and many will know at mini -soocer you can have mixed teams, child protection teaches you to never attend to a girl down injured with out bringing on the parent or gaurdian aswell things like spotting the signs of a child who maybe being abused.

With first aid, you learn about over-use injuries, allways to ask questions of the child before moving limbs or applying cold water, incase of broken bones and so on, these are the reasons why I say and I know you agree it is vital to do level 1 before going to far into coaching kids.

[chunkygull]

="forevertufc"The community scheme is still running, and the club have been giving out free tickets to the family stand to pioneer league clubs during the course of the season and I believe to schools aswell although not sure about the schools, so it's fair to say the club are doing what they can.

I was amazed at the large number of kids turning up to training sessions with Torquay kits on, however when you talk to some of these kids you soon realize that they were brought the kit for either a birthday or christmas present because thats what they wanted and that is sadly as close to becoming Torquay fans some these kids are going to get.

And why, because dad is a Man.U fan and won't let me go, or dad will not take me, or dad says he can't afford it.

The only thing the club can is keep getting itself out there, and hope that when some of these kids grow up with their own minds and money they will come to the games. And keep doing the good work it already is to attract new and young supporters to the club.

as i said in first post, i am very impressed with some of the measures and incentives the club have tried, there isnt much more that can be done in a financial way to get kids to games. free tickets, quid tickets, buy 1 get 1 free. glad to hear the community scheme is still going.

i remember a few years ago there used to be 5 a side tournaments for schools before matches and at halftime. the kids playing watched the match in the family stand for free i think, but they used to bring along paying parents. we dont do this anymore i dont think, do we?

i find the quote about kids wanting to watch and support torquay but cant because dad etc doesnt want to because he supports man utd, bloody sad but not surprising.its typical.

i wish i had a quid for the amount of times down the years i have had the p!ss took out of me by armchair supporters of premier league/first division/championship teams for supporting torquay. they scoff and guffaw with glee when i say have you actually been to watch them, do you ever go?

these type of people obviously arent going to take their children are they.surely a live matchday experience is better than watching on tv, even if the standard of football isnt the greatest.

part of this problem i suppose is that a lot of people who live in torbay are not from torbay so those into football support the team of where they are from.

but then again i have known lots of people support a big glamour team or the team from their origin as well as torquay though. you do get many different regional accents at plainmoor, exiles from brum, london and the north can be heard loud and clear supporting torquay.once these people gave it a chance they were hooked.

getting the kids through the gates is going to be vital in the next few years and all i can think of is to just keep raisng more awareness. more visits and coaching sessions to schools would spark the interest. having Q+A sessions with players and a very light kickabout maybe.

we may be doing such things already but obviously it has to be more. like i said the club has been in my lads school once that i know of in 6 years and that was 1 session with just 1 year group.

we need to make them so determined to go they nag dad until he gives in and gets his arse out of the armchair.it needs to be like a christmas toy campaign where the product is there being shown all the time and advertised and packaged well the kids think they are missing out on something and the kids pester there parents i want it! i want it! i want it!

[OllieGull]

While I was walking home yesterday I walked past Shiphay Primary School and there must have been some sort of football after school club and I'd say about 50% of them were in full Torquay kits actually!

[Kernowgull]

[quote=

Yep understood that, and your right, there was one candidate on my course who just failed to fully deliver a 15 minute session to the point the examiner ran out of room on the feed back form, and there are indeed some awful youth coaches out there, also there are a heck of a lot of good ones aswell, just do not want anyone reading this to get the impression it's ok to run a kids to team with out level 1, also the F.A want to encourage people to get into coaching and doubt they will make the entry level coaching course harder. In fact if a junoir football club holds a F.A charter standard certifcate all coachs must atleast have a level 1 or be working towards it , aswell as have 'crb' documentation and other things in place. So to any parent reading this if you want to encourage your child into football I would advise you check to the club concerned does have a charter standard certifcate.

On the child protection and first aid, not all of it is common sense, I have managed a mini-soccer team and full sided team, as you and many will know at mini -soocer you can have mixed teams, child protection teaches you to never attend to a girl down injured with out bringing on the parent or gaurdian aswell things like spotting the signs of a child who maybe being abused.

With first aid, you learn about over-use injuries, allways to ask questions of the child before moving limbs or applying cold water, incase of broken bones and so on, these are the reasons why I say and I know you agree it is vital to do level 1 before going to far into coaching kids.[/quote]

I actually thought the content of the course was excellent, and you highlight some of the very good aspects it provides. My issue with it was nobody failed, when I felt at leat 10% if not more should have done. With regards to child protection etc, all highly important skills that you and I learnt. Again my concern is that many didnt.

I do agree though, that if you want your child to join a club and develop, a qualified coach is more likely to have the skils to help, and that they have been CRB'd. Thats important, I was just so disappointed that they dont fail people. I would also suggest to anyone looking to get their kid into a team, that you go and watch a couple of the training sessions. Most people will be able to tell the difference between good and poor sessions, and being qualified doesnt guarentee quality

[brucie]

An excellent thread actually - I forced my two to go when they were six or seven, they didn't have a choice!
Luckily they were always interested and played football, even if my eldest did spend to years at Exeter City when he was 14-16 !!
Anyway it seems to have paid off as they both went to Morecambe with me - even if I did have to drive my sons car there and back as he renaged on a promise not to get pissed on Friday night.
Whilst football might seem a pretty aimless thing to do it really hasn't done my two any harm. Its a great social outlet, amateur football offers good comraderie and it instilled confidence in my two.
Contrast that with my partners 18 year old son whose only hobby is sitting in his room all day, every day in the dark, like a mushroom - socially inept, shooting goblins and hobbits.
Thank god for football thats what I say - anyway I am off to watch younger one playing this afternoon!

[ferrarilover]

An excellent thread actually - I forced my two to go when they were six or seven, they didn't have a choice!
Luckily they were always interested and played football, even if my eldest did spend to years at Exeter City when he was 14-16 !!
Anyway it seems to have paid off as they both went to Morecambe with me - even if I did have to drive my sons car there and back as he renaged on a promise not to get pissed on Friday night.
Whilst football might seem a pretty aimless thing to do it really hasn't done my two any harm. Its a great social outlet, amateur football offers good comraderie and it instilled confidence in my two.
Contrast that with my partners 18 year old son whose only hobby is sitting in his room all day, every day in the dark, like a mushroom - socially inept, shooting goblins and hobbits.
Thank god for football thats what I say - anyway I am off to watch younger one playing this afternoon!

Do they share your eternal optimism and sunny disposition?

Matt.

[chunkygull]

well, i started this thread at the end of last season because my son went to his first game vs barnet after i had been trying hard for ages to get him interested in football in general, whether it be playing or watching football, watching my beloved torquay united with me in particular.

today was his 2nd ever match - bear in mind i was late getting into football properly just like him, but my first 2 games were crewe 87 (2-2, the last day, great escape), my 2nd game was 87-88 1st game of the season 6-1 thumping of wrexham, so i had an exciting start and i was converted there and then.

after that i lived, breathed, ate, drank and slept football. i spent nearly all my spare time, day and night playing football with my mates down at clennon valley field, i even kicked a ball around on my own sometimes waiting for the others. if i wasnt playing it, i watched it, read about it or talked about it.

with this laptop, mobile phone, xbox generation its not so easy.

the enthusiasm after the barnet game was long gone, so today was a struggle to get my lad to go again. to be fair he's getting to a funny age, he's 12 in a couple of months. all summer, getting him to do anything other than something indoors and technology based has been a strength sapping, brain draining chore.

like i said earlier from what i have seen and been told by other parents, a lot of the other lads his age are the same.

he does play rugby, that was through someone on my wifes side of the family, he doesnt like watching it though, just playing it. but he hasnt given football a chance.

i have managed to get him out for a kickabout a few times, because i badly need the exercise and he is quite happy to help me there. he does enjoy it, when he gives it a chance.

he loved it at the barnet match, the game, the atmosphere, the result. i explained to him its not always like that, there was a lot riding on that game, the crowd were up for it, we dont always score so many, and we dont always win.

we werent awful today , the first part of the game was exciting as hell, we had plenty of ball and chances, but we didnt score, we didnt win, the atmosphere was as flat as a pancake (see atmosphere thread). to me the game was ok and i appreciated what was going on in front of me. we could have scored a few and the whole day could have been very different.

today, is a sad indictment of how fickle kids are, he wasnt impressed and kept saying he was bored and it wasnt very good, he is going to be a nightmare to try and get him to go again. but then again i suppose that is no different to many neutrals, you can get them to go and as soon as the game is average or poor, the team dont win or the atmosphere is flat then you have lost them.

if the atmosphere is flat though or the team are not setting the world alight, what the hell are we supposed to do. i always used to think if we charged less then we would get a lot more people in and we would make more money, but sadly that has proven to not really work.

the problem isnt money or incentives, its getting someone to feel the magic of watching and supporting the team, its the atmosphere in the ground once they are there and at least seeing some entertainment on the pitch, but understandably watching torquay you arent always going to get those things.

my first match vs crewe, the atmosphere was great, even when we were losing halfway through the 2nd half i said to my dad even if we go down (which looked very likely) can we still come up next season this is great. it isnt just the winning team, glory mentality, its the atmosphere and all that goes with it. its generating interest.

we touched on a few things earlier in the thread that could get people into the ground and the general apathy towards football in the torbay area. also how kids are just plugged into their computers and consoles etc. i think if this is going on in my house, how many other parents are having this problem, or how many kids would love to watch a live game and give torquay a try but there parents wont take them or let them go. i can just hear some
" oh you dont want to go and watch that lot".

unfortunately i dont get to as many games as i would like because i work tuesday evenings, the lads mum works saturdays so he spends the day with me, if i cant get him to go to plainmoor then i cant go. i cant force him to go, even if i wanted to, and if i made him go his mum would kill me. i want him to want to go though, i know once he gets into it he will love it, he will follow in my footsteps. we have so many things in common and things we share and enjoy, this would be great, but i cant see it happening.

help me somebody, what can i do ? if he wont go on a saturday, im buggered!

do i just make him go and then i face down his mothers wrath, he may also probably end up hating football then because i have forced it upon him or do i just hope if i get him to keep going and hopefully playing more he see's sense, i just know he will love football if he gives it a proper chance.

[bengull]

I wish you luck Chunks but I fear you may be fighting a losing battle.

Nowadays there is simply every incentive not to go to your local club- even if you like football or not. Football is on TV non-stop all day Saturdays, and a live match is on pretty much every night of the week. Winning 100 consecutive matches on FIFA, or winning League Two on Football Manager is seen as a bigger achievement than learning how to kick a ball, or even going to a football match itself. As a dad there is nothing you can do other than physically picking your lad up and carrying him to Plainmoor and tying him to his seat, which obviously isn't going to have the desired effect.

I stand with fans who are roughly 20 years older than me, all of them have tried introducing their families to Plainmoor, none of them have succeeded. Top flight football is so readily available to the casual football fan through subscribing to skysports that many can not fathom why you would hand over good money to stand on a cold terrace watching donkeys cock up the easiest of passes or shooting opportunities when a lot less money you could stay at home with a cold beer in your hand, or go down the local and watch an illegally streamed premiership match.

I think a lot of these kids will watch Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Utd etc on a Wednesday night in the Champion's League and expect the same at Plainmoor on a Saturday, they can't understand why its not the same in terms of skill, excitement and quality.

I was extremely lucky, my Dad got me into it just at the right time. My first league game was an Exeter derby early into the season. It had everything, an electric atmosphere, blood and thunder, passion, goals, sendings off, it was amazing. I didn't need asking if I wanted to go again after seeing that, I was begging to be taken. We started that season no better nor worse than how we've started this, in fact back then TUFC were well known as one of the worst teams in the football league, I was somewhat fortuitous though that our season unfurled into a promotion push culminating in what is still the best night of football I have ever seen - the home play-off vs Scarborough.

It would be better if we could have our local derbies early on in the season perhaps. Weather still nice enough to not have to wear a million layers, away end full to the brim, atmosphere loud, passionate and exciting, I think this would be a better chance to get the kids interested rather than the empty away end and no atmosphere we had yesterday.

For a kid, it either goes two ways, there is no in between. Either, like me, you fall in love with TUFC, you understand completely that you are supporting a bunch of underdogs and the whole world is against you. That any win in the football league, any goal, any new development at plainmoor, any unlikely signing, is a massive achievement and measure of success, that the one season of joy and promotion will make up for the 20 seasons of pain and despair that pre-ceded it. Or, like many are finding nowadays in this era of Iphones, Xboxes and round the clock football coverage, kids will think 'whats the point, I could be at home watching "proper" football on the box.

I rather feel its out of your hands mate, there is little you can do really, its down to the boy himself. But I wish you luck. Supporting TUFC is unfashionable, I daresay a lot of his mates support Utd and Chelsea, and if that is the case there is very little you can do to show him the light.