Social skills are a fundamental part of football, helping players build stronger relationships, improve teamwork, and handle conflicts. But it’s easy to forget to give these skills the attention they need when designing your practices. 

In this episode, FA coach development officer, Danny Fenner, returns to Coachcast to share his journey and offer invaluable advice for integrating social development into your coaching. 

Danny breaks down the role that coaches play in shaping players' social skills. This episode is packed with real-world examples and expert insights. Danny challenges coaches to rethink their approach, to help shape not just better players, but more confident, resilient individuals - both on and off the pitch. 

In this episode, we cover: 

• why teaching social skills is essential in football


• what good social skills look like across different age groups


• advice for coaches working with players with disabilities to improve social skills


• tips for helping introverted players and encouraging leadership qualities


• how to integrate social skill development into your practices


• encouraging player-to-player feedback and empathy

• how to handle player conflicts and turn them into learning opportunities


• the role of parents and guardians in supporting social skill development


• how the non-verbal side of communication comes into play 

• Danny’s top coaching tips


• and much more… 

Transcript on the England Football community⁠ (https://bit.ly/4h0KTS0)

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Do you have any coaching questions you’d like answers to? Or perhaps you’re facing a coaching challenge that you’d like help with? Simply head over to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠England Football Community forum⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://community.thefa.com/coaching/f/youth-club-football-forum) and post them there. Or leave them in the comments below. We can then put them to our guests in future episodes to get their advice!

Already listened to this episode or the previous seasons of Coachcast? We’d love to hear from you! Pass on your feedback by contacting us via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coachcast@thefa.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

LEARN MORE

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠England Football Learning⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://learn.englandfootball.com/

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠England Football Learning on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCisPO86aEIhWRTnTS1vrSVw

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠England Football Learning X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://twitter.com/EnglandLearning

Email - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coachcast@thefa.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Editing and show notes by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Claricast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.(https://www.clarioncast.com/)