Emphasis is not on winning say Chelsea Academy coaches

The Youth FA, in conjunction with the Chelsea Supporters' Club - Malta (CSCM), recently held a seminar on Youth Football Development at Ta' Qali.

The key speakers were Chris Harris, football development official at Chelsea and Laurence Batty, goalkeeping coach at the Premier League club's Academy. They were in Malta for the Emirates Airline Young Footballer Challenge.

Following an introduction by CSCM president Joe Anastasi, Harris outlined the activities carried out at the Chelsea Academy.

Established in 1992, the youth football organisation is run by eight full-time officers and freelance coaches. They promote grassroots football within the geographical boundaries allocated via the Professional Footballers Association (PFA).

Harris runs a development centre in Guildford and he coaches children from the age of six. The eight development centres cater for 200 to 250 children, who are divided in groups of 20. The aim is for children to learn in a fun, organised and safe environment and to improve their standard of football.

Batty coaches goalkeeping for a 90-minute to a two-hour session four times a week. An innovative idea at the academy is the use of a personal log book for each child.

Log book system

Chelsea are one of the first clubs in the UK to monitor the growth and progress of each child by using a log book. Apart from allotting a point system on each and every exercise, training and games, the log book provides information on drug awareness and drills to be undertaken at home and at the academy.

Asked about competition matches, Batty said that there are no league tables for children U-16. After the drills, they are free to play an eight-a-side game but the emphasis is not on winning.

Batty said competition at an early stage can cause injuries by playing too many games. This could lead to stress on talented young players. "At Chelsea Academy the importance is not on winning but on the fact that young players need to be nurtured and looked after."

Batty said that the Chelsea FC Academy aims to be the best, also with the full backing of Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

The objective is that through new youth football development systems, clubs in the UK will eventually not need to rely on so many foreign players.

Youth FA vice president, Godfrey Pecorella, said: "The response from the Maltese coaches for this interesting seminar is very encouraging for us.

"We will endeavour to continue running similar seminars such as this one by Chelsea FC. We thank the Chelsea Supporters Club - Malta and Emirates Airlines for their full collaboration."