"How to make your football academy successful and profitable."

Vision

 

The vision of FAD can be divided into 4 parts.

1. Vision on football

  • We hold a unique outlook on football. We view football in terms of general football rules. Teams that play by these rules play better.

 “What makes FC Barcelona play more beautiful football compared to other teams?”

“Why is Bayern Munich so successful compared to other teams? ”

“What makes AFC AJAX always produce such good players and regularly achieve considerable results within European football?"

Answer: These teams apply the general football rules and pair this with a clear philosophy and strategy on scouting, coaching, development and organization.[uva1]  These “basic rules of football” can be learned by understanding how to recognize and train them.

 

2. Vision on coaching and mentoring

  • Process before Result.

  • Club/Country before the team, team before the individual.

  • A positive relation between coach and player is essential.

  • Behaviour comes first, second comes individual development, the player's natural position comes third and fourth comes systems and tactics. One to four comes together in vision and philosophy.

  • Coaching is helping players to explore, not telling them what to do.

  • A positive relation between coach and player is essential to good player development.

  • A good coach loves the game and loves people.

 

3. Vision on development and organization

Learning progresses from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence, then to conscious competence and finally to unconscious competence.

The FAD logo symbolizes this process.

                                     Unconscious-Unable  Conscious-Unable  Conscious-Experienced  Unconscious-Experienced

  • Learning process according to Paul Hersey’s situational leadership style.

  • Train TIPS (Technique,Insight, Personality, Speed) in the right context and do the right things at the right age.

  • Start with  the end result in mind.

  • Good scouting and recruiting the right coaches are top priorities.

  • Facilities are of secondary importance; Russia's or China's top athletes were often first trained using poor facilities. It is primarily about using the correct methods and understanding how to apply them.

  • Developing a talents individual's strengths and his areas for improvement, within the team and training, should be the focus.

 

4. Vision on governance, structure, policy and organisation

How does the youth academy fit into the club's business model?

How do the club's mission and vision and policy relate to the academy?

How are the communication structures organized within the club?

How is the flow of players within the club facilitated?

Thanks to Edmond's specific experience as a goalkeeper, goalkeeper coach, goalkeeper scout within Ajax, Ajax Cape Town, HFC Haarlem, National youth teams of the Netherlands and China and as a teacher of goalkeeper training within the KNVB and CFA, Edmond has developed a vision on goalkeeper scouting, training and guidance in addition to a vision on the above-mentioned critical success factors for a youth training.

 

Note: Vision on goalkeeping

  • Goalkeeper is one of the 11 players, only with different clothes and with some different rules.
  • Train a goalkeeper in game-specific and match-specific situations.
  • Train communication and decision making.
  • A goalkeeper coach should be an assistant coach specialized in goalkeeper-training and goalkeeper-coaching
  • The goalkeeping coach and his role in restarts
  • Goalkeeper guidance within the selection of a professional club and the role of the goalkeeper trainer