Braga Visit TW Academy in Belfast

We were pleased to welcome Portuguese side, SC Braga, to Belfast over the Easter period.  My good friend & Braga’s Assistant Academy Director, Hugo Vicente, travelled with his U13 side.  They were taking part in a tournament in Dublin.  We organised for them to travel up to see Belfast & play TWAcademy.

SC Braga U13 side that drew with TWAcademy.Org 1-1 in Belfast

SC Braga

Sporting Clube de Braga is commonly known as Sporting de Braga or simply Braga.  They play at the AXA Stadium which is also known as ‘The Quarry’ or the ‘Tool Box’.  This is due to the design where the stadium is built inside a Quarry with cables attaching the 2 main stands.  The ground was built for UEFA Euro 2004.

Braga had been known as Arsenal do Minho and changed their kits from green and white hoops to their Arsenal style red in 1935.  This is due to their coach, Jozsef Szabo, visiting and watching Arsenal at the old Highbury ground.

The emblem of Sporting de Braga is the city of Braga’s shield with Mother Mary and baby Jesus.  On the top of the emblem is the golden Mural Crown of Braga, with the name Sporting Clube de Braga on it.  Many fans of Braga have said that Mother Mary gives them luck.  The fans of Braga are known as Arsenalistas due to their team home kit that resembles that of English club Arsenal.

After finishing runners up in the Portuguese league during season 2009 / 2010 they qualified for the knock stages of the Champions League. They defeated Celtic and Sevilla to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League for the very first time.

Youth Set Up

Braga provides teams from 7 / 8 year olds and above.  The younger section of the Academy will train 3 times per week along with a match.  They concentrate heavily on ball mastery and 1 v 1 duels on defence and attack.

Players also receive homework so they really develop and are confident using both feet.  Braga will work closely with a number of other local clubs.  They play in a number of tournaments so they are playing against the best.

They will play small sided games on smaller pitches and with a smaller ball at the young age.  Their U13′s play 11 v 11 on a full size pitch.  I suppose one of the problems is with the local leagues that they are forced to play in.  Some opposition are very poor.

As the players get older they will start to train more.  The U19′s for example are in every day.  They also have players from all over the world.  The nationalities in the squad asides from Portuguese include; German, Greek, Brazilian along with a number of players on trial from Africa.

The U19′s train at the old Braga stadium which is a great facility.  The Spain National team used this as their base during Euro 2004.  They also play their home games here.  An athletic club also operate out of the same base.  During the week that we were in Braga there had been a lot of rain so the training was transferred to 2 full size 3G pitches that are at the same location.  They are Council run but a great facility to fall back on.

Belfast Welcome

MLA, Chris Lyttle, from Alliance Party welcomes SC Braga to Belfast at the NI Assembly

We organised a coach to transfer the players, staff & parents of SC Braga from their Dublin base to Belfast.  Chris Lyttle, MLA, from the Alliance Party organised a tour around the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont.  This is were the Good Friday Agreement was signed.  The players & coaches enjoyed the tour & were able to get some great photos.

It was also superb to welcome a good ‘Twitter’ friend of mine called Liam.  He flew in from England to enjoy the full day…showing a real hunger to learn & develop as a coach!

After the tour it was back on to the Braga coach & transfer to Belfast Boys’ Model School to play the challenge game at the fantastic venue of Mount Pleasant on the 3G pitch.

Braga playing in their famous red tops while TW Academy turned out in their bright orange tops like the Dutch!  It was a very well contested game of football.  The technical ability from both sets of players on show was impressive.  TW Academy started well & were very disciplined & played some attractive football.

Very secure at the back with Matthew & Jamie having excellent games in front protecting the back 4 it allowed freedom for the attacking players to try & create opportunities.  It was Curtis Ritchie who controlled the ball toward the end of the first period & beat the Braga defender.  Stephen Wilson then made a great run from the right & when Ritchie weighted the perfect ball Wilson made no mistake with the finish.  What a goal it was going in off the underside of the crossbar!  TW Academy 1-0 SC Braga.

The side that played SC Braga in Belfast

The second period was much more even.  Braga started creating more opportunities.  It was a pass that was made for the Braga forward that the defenders thought was off side but he didn’t stop & put the ball in the back of the net to equalise, 1-1.

Both teams in the last period defended well.  The central defenders of TW, Nathan Kerr & Louis Simpson, made it difficult for Braga to break them down.  The final score was 1-1.  The parents & supporters enjoyed a very entertaining game.  What an experience for our boys, & myself, to prepare & play against a top European Academy!  It was evident how developed the Braga players were & how comfortable they all are on the ball.  It was a nice test for us.

Hugo Vicente, Assistant Academy Director of Braga, commented; ‘I was very impressed with your team considering this was your first game together with a new squad & you only have access to the players once a week.  That is a testament to the work you & Lee carry out.  Imagine what you could achieve if you had them 3-4 times per week what you could achieve!’

Watch the match highlights by clicking here!

Player & Coaches Clinic

After the game the boys from both teams transferred to Belfast Boys’ Model School for refreshments before they returned to Dublin.  We supplied all the players with a goodie bag thanks to the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.  I also included a copy of my ’1-on-1 Coaching The Secrets To Improve ALL Football Players – GUARANTEED!’ book for each of the players.

Hugo Vicente shares the methods of SC Braga - fascinating night!

Our players remained with a number of coaches for the player development & coaches clinic.  Nigel Best from the Irish Football Association was pleased to award 5 credits for coaches CPD.  Hugo Vicente led the clinic assisted by the Braga Director of Goalkeeping, Ricardo.

Below is the report of the clinic from my Academy Assistant, Lee Hodge…

Aims

• Develop players with initiative and top technical ability
• Develop players’ able understanding, analyse and decide with quality in the game. – (Game based training helps develop intelligent players so they always include defenders)
• Develop players with the right mentality and ambition to reach the 1^st team and to play at top level football
• Be a Community Partner (i.e. help them with school work, social lives etc.)

What they want to develop

• Develop players through a clear vision
• Create players in a team context and not teams (focus on individuals)
• Specific contents for each age group, to develop the player in each dimension; Technical, Tactical, Mental and Physical
• Creating a demanding environment but fun environment and ensuring the sessions are age appropriate

(We need to put ourselves in the players place – what do they want?)

Main focus is on individual development – Play players up if required. They are willing to lose to win in a few years’ time when it matters.

They believe when working with children it is essential to show you care. Then they will be willing to learn – BE THEIR FRIEND!

• Focus on technical ability
• Focus on speed
• Focus on aggressiveness
• FORGET ABOUT SIZE

The club also do one on one training with each player every week to improve these areas.

When the teams are playing the coaches limit the players when they don’t have the ball but not when they have the ball.

At the club they strongly believe in having a club vision. Therefore, they promote coaches after training to sit together and discuss the vision and develop ideas on how to achieve the clubs aims.

Hugo & Ricardo work with the players while educating the coaches

Specific Contents

Technique

• Dribbling
• Protect the ball
• Moves
• Shooting
• Receiving and Control
• Short Pass
• Long Pass and Crosses
• Heading
• Other Behaviours

Defensive Techniques

• Closing Down
• Tackling
• Charging

Under 9’s Syllabus

• Technical development is top priority
• Usage of weaker foot – condition games
• Rules of the game
• Basic tasks on different phases of the game
• Learning the game principles
• Learning the specific playing principles of the club: Focus on progression and closing down
• Same percentage of playing time for each player
• Players play in every position
• 7v7 at this age group

Under 13’s

• Technical development
• Weaker foot
• Pre specialisation: Players play in two or three positions according to their characteristics
• Specific game principles based on the way we play
• Percentage of usage time is merit based: According to the balance between quality and commitment
• Control the game – don’t lose the ball

(Results are important as the games are reported in the papers).

Session Model

1^st Phase – They do not believe in warm ups. Therefore they will play games such as tag.

2^nd Phase – 1v1, 2v1, 2v2, 3v1

3^rd Phase – 4v2, 4v3, 4v4, 5v2, 5v3, 5v4, 6v3, 6v4

4^th Phase – 6v4, 7v5, 7v6

Final Phase – 7v7 with no coach intervention

Liam filmed some of the sessions in the clinic…the links are below;

Braga Clinic – Part 1

Braga Clinic – Part 2

Braga Clinic – Part 3

The European Approach

After the clinic Hugo & Ricardo took the time to speak with coaches.  This is typical of the European approach.  They don’t look at their watch or think I’m not being paid for this!  Remember they had departed Dublin at 7.30am & were still talking to coaches well after 9pm!  We got cleared up & drove them to Dublin.  Again many people would think that they don’t want to drive to Dublin at that time as they wouldn’t be home to after 2am…take 4 hours…spend money on petrol.  For me?  Easy decision, I jump at it.  Not just because Hugo is a great friend of mine & puts himself out for me when I visit him but I never stop learning.  In a car for a couple of hours with top European coaches develops me as well!

Can we change a culture here?  Let’s stop looking at our watches & thinking what’s the point…let us think can we develop & continue learning as coaches?  If it is the latter join me on my journey…

Thank you…

Massive thank you to SC Braga, Hugo, Ricardo, it’s coaching team, players & parents for offering us such a wonderful opportunity to play against them.  Thank you to my players & parents for supporting the event.  Massive thank you for the coaches that attended – especially Liam from England!  What can I say about my team of coaches?  Lee Hodge my assistant that worked so hard in the lead up to the event & on the day.  Frank McLean who did referee & loads of jobs for me.  My young coaches of Craig & Brad who assisted on the day with set up & filming.  I’m sure I have forgotten someone so very sorry if I have…of course the support from the rest of the team that kept our weekly centres operating on the day.  My wife & kids deserve a massive thank you for their hard work & organising they did on the day & lead up to the event.

Professionally I would like to thank Chris Lyttle MLA from the Alliance Party.  Darren Nixon & Belfast Boys’ Model School.  Grounded Coffee for supplying sandwiches & Julie from the Mace at Greenway, Cregagh for supplying refreshments.  The Northern Ireland Tourist Board for the welcome packs for the Braga kids.  Again I hope I haven’t left anyone out!

Dublin Tournament

For those interested in watching some footage from the Dublin tournament that Braga took part in I have included links below.  They defeated Brondby from Denmark 6-0 to help progress to the semi finals.  They faced a very talented Arsenal side.  Enjoy!

SC Braga v West Brom

SC Braga v Arsenal (Part 1)

SC Braga v Arsenal (Part 2)

Pressing Issue

I’m a massive fan of possession type games in training.  All my teams over the years have been drilled with hearing, ‘KEEP IT’, ‘KEEP IT’, from me which relates to keeping control of the ball.  Keeping possession of the ball insures you keep control of the game.  This obviously leads you along the way to winning games by adding creativity in the final third & of course scoring!

Communicate to work as a team to press or screen

Although at a recent session of mine I had a player scream with frustration to his team mates to ‘press’.  The other team were keeping the ball so well but his team didn’t work as a unit.  While he was closing down players his team mates were not.  This made it easy for the team in possession but very frustrating for the player working so hard on his own!

I love asking my players open questions to get them thinking.  The age group varies from 11-13.  I asked the player what the problem was.  He answered correctly by informing the group that he was pressing the ball while his team didn’t.  With this in mind the following week I planned a session around it.

I love my teams to play with speed so I not only wanted to create a session that encouraged teams when to press or screen but if they were to win the ball encourage a point of attack developing to counter attacking.  One of the best examples in the Premiership is Manchester United that attack at such speed.  They win the ball & look to hurt & punish teams on the counter attack.  With the speed of the attacking players in front of the defence from Ashley Young, Nani, Cleverley, Rooney & Hernandez along with the pace of Evra & Fabio can rip teams apart.  So I wanted to add this into my session.

Warm Up

As my players arrive they each get a ball & go for a dribble.  They perform tricks, turns & juggle the ball.  This is their time to get warmed up & have a chat with their team mates.  I often then do group keepie up challenges & some 3 v 1 keep ball.  To lift the intensity we had a quick game of dribbling tag…

Dribbling Tag

Emphasis

Fun dribbling warm up played like ‘TIG’.

Set-Up

Use cones to mark out a 20 x 20 yard area. Everyone has a ball. The person who is ‘IT’ carries a bib.

Objectives

The player who is ‘IT’ has to carry a bib & dribble their ball to try & catch someone as quickly as possible.

For younger players call the person who is ‘IT’, ‘TIGO’ (pronounce it T-GO.) I find it adds to the fun & banter!

Other players should avoid ‘TIGO’ & perform skills to get away from them. If ‘TIGO’ catches someone they simply pass the bib to them to carry & the game continues.

Progressions

1. Make more than one person ‘TIGO’.

Coaching

• Dribbling skills.
• Turns & tricks.
• Keep head up.
• Awareness.
• Attack space.
• Change of speed.

Press Or Screen

Emphasis

Decision making on when to win the ball & when to hold as a unit.

Set-Up

Set up a 20 x 15 yard area.  4 v 4 midfielders 5 yards apart with a forward centrally located outside the grid at either end.

Objectives

Object is to gain possession & pass the ball forward to forward before opposition.

Play starts with one group of midfielders simply passing the ball from right to left.

Progressions

1. Vary the player who communicates in the centre.
2. As the group develops make the area larger.
3. Move the ball at different speeds & ask the attacking team to start switching, etc.

Coaching

• Concentrate on closing down – ‘PRESS’.  When a player goes to win possession players around them close space – tuck in.  Don’t dive in!
• Then, ‘SCREEN’.  Basically players don’t allow the ball to be played forward – looking over their shoulder to stop the ball being played to the target.  Adjust!
• Keep shape, apply pressure while others react & drop off but cover space in behind.
• Communication.
• Nearest player pressures the ball.
• On the call, ‘PRESS’, all players should look to win the ball off the opposition.

Pass, Move & Support

Emphasis

Possession game with the focus on a switch of play.

Set-Up

Play takes place on a 60 x 40 yard grid which is split down the middle.

Objectives

6 v 5 in one half.  The team with 6 attackers look to keep possession.  The 5 defenders look to win the ball.

Attackers should pass the ball quickly & accurately amongst themselves, passing & moving as required.  On gaining possession the opponents should switch the ball to the awaiting player & move quickly into the other half to support them.

On loosing possession, 5 players should switch so that it is 6 v 5 again.  This will again leave 1 target player in the other half.

The player left on their own should always adjust their position so to make themselves available.

Offer a goal for set number of passes achieved.

Progressions

1. Have 2 players wait in the other half to increase success of session, i.e. 6 v 4.
2. Adjust size of grid to suit players ability.

Coaching

• Work rate & movement on / off ball.
• Quality passing.
• Good support & angled runs.
• Communication.
• Speed of play.
• Pressure.

The importance of taking everything from your session & applying it into a conditioned game is so important.  On a recent trip to Braga I watched this game with one of the youth teams.  I loved the concept.  It has everything that we are working to.  It also encourages the players never to give the ball away.  If they lose possession of the ball they lose their attack…they have to stop & watch the other team attack & then they have to defend the next time the ball comes into their half.

Regardless whether it is Northern Ireland, England, Portugal or Spain…players hate losing the ball!  One very talented kid was in a team that kept losing the ball.  You could see the frustration in him that his team mates continued to make mistakes.  Although I don’t speak Portuguese I had a very good idea what he was shouting at his team mates when they lost possession of the ball!!

As you develop this game you can then allow the team that lost possession to gain it back before the other team leaves the half.  This keeps it very game realistic & players working very hard in possession of the ball & without.

Braga’s Concentration Of Transition

Emphasis

To win ball & counter attack at speed.

Set-Up

Play takes place on half a pitch with 2 full size goals & the pitch split in half by cones.

A supply of balls are placed in each goal with a keeper at either end.  Organise 3 teams of 6.  A team of white is in one half with 6 red v 6 yellow in the other half.

Objectives

Red attack yellow.  If yellow gain possession of the ball the red team stop while the yellow team attack the white team in the other half.

Teams continue to attack until they lose the ball.

The session is based around transition.

Progressions

1. The team that loses possession can try to regain the ball before it leaves their half.

Coaching

Trying to win possession;

• Concentrate on closing down – ‘PRESS’.  When a player goes to win possession players around them close space – tuck in.  Don’t dive in!
• Keep shape, apply pressure while others react & drop off but cover space in behind.
• Communication.
• Nearest player pressures the ball.
• On the call, ‘PRESS’, all players should look to win the ball off the opposition.
• Recovery run.

In possession;

• Break & attack at speed.
• Quality passing – weight & accuracy.
• Decision making.
• Support play.
• Work rate on / off ball.
• Receive ball side on.
• Head up.
• Play simple pass or run with ball.
• Look for space.
• Use of width & depth.

Cool Down & Debrief…

I always have one of my players organise a cool down from the previous week so they lead their team mates at the end of each session.  This offers them confidence & a feel of leadership.  We then discuss the main points from the session.  Of course before we start the cool down I always offer the players time to play a normal game with no conditions.

Coaches, always adapt.  My diagrams above will show a certain amount of players but if you don’t have enough – adapt!  Adjust the size of the pitch too.  Insure your players enjoy the training but demand a lot of hard work from them at the same time.

Want more info?  You can access over 450 of my session plans by clicking here!  Follow me on Facebook, Twitter or You Tube

Typical Schedule of an U13 European Player

I travelled to SC Braga, Portugal during April.  This was my second visit to the Europa League Finalists; you can see my first report by clicking here.  2 of my coaching team travelled with me to visit my good friend & Youth Director, Hugo Vicente.  Braga this season have created a lot of headlines by beating a number of British teams in the Champions League including Celtic, Arsenal & then Liverpool in the Europa League.  They then beat Benfica in the semi final to set up a final against Porto in this year’s final at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.  The final takes place this evening & I’ll be there to cheer them on!

We flew from Dublin into Porto.  We had time to explore this beautiful city & walk around Porto’s Stadium.  This was the first time I had been in the city (apart from commuting through to Braga.)  Porto is situated in Northern Portugal & is a busy industrial & commercial centre.

The weather was terrific, 30 degrees +.  On arrival we jumped into a taxi to head to the stadium.  Finding that not many locals spoke English I had to use my Portuguese which involves talking louder, slower & in a European accent.  After demonstrating my silky football skills with the imaginary ball we were soon on our way.

Porto had just been crowned Portuguese champions.  Although on arrival at the stadium we were disappointed to learn that they only operate tours from Thursday – Sunday with games also affecting the tours.  We arrived on a Wednesday so made do with walking around the outside of the ground & looking in…& a quick visit to the supporters shop.

Hugo, who was conducting a morning training session, suggested we went to the cafe bars at Ribeira (pictured.)  Well want an adventure.  The taxi driver couldn’t understand us & must have simply taken us to his brother’s cafe lol.  Although it was a lovely cafe & we grabbed a few cold Super Bocks (the local beer) for only €1…we soon seen the funny side of being nowhere near Ribeira!  After a few fun conversations, a number of stops in bars to keep hydrated we arrived at Ribeira to meet Hugo.

It was great to see Hugo again.  He is a modern coach, loves to learn & share ideas & has a hunger to succeed.  To enjoy his company over some of the best tasting food & drink was unreal.  After lunch we had a walk around Porto with the multilingual Hugo – he speaks 6 or 7 different languages!

Typical Portugal

The city is quite varied in terms of its architecture.  We seen many old, beautiful buildings sat next to modern new buildings.  Porto’s geography is hard on the feet, but pleasant to the eye.   The city is extremely hilly, with many buildings built into a cliff face that overlooks the river.

I’m not one for heights or water.  So met with the challenge of walking across the cast iron bridge, which is at least 100ft above the river, & being able to see right through was not an easy challenge!  I tried to walk further away from the edge but also had trams to contend with coming on the other side of me!

We had fun climbing down the stairs (cut into the stone running up and down the cliff face) after a few Super Bocks!  Across the river, in the suburb of Gaia, are located the warehouses of notable companies dealing with Port Wine, such as Cálem, Fonseca, Sandemans, Kopke, and others.  This is where we sat facing eating lunch.

I couldn’t help take a photo of the beautiful alley way in Porto.  The colour of the buildings with light shining through was a piece of art…far from the alley ways of Belfast.

The locals regard themselves as being the economic heart of the nation.  As their saying goes, ‘Porto works, Braga Prays, Coimbra studies, & Lisbon gets the money.’

Well our next port of call was Braga.  After a previous visit the above statement I wouldn’t disagree with.  There must be a church on every street corner!

SC Braga Youth

My previous report details more about Braga & the club.  The focus for this report was an interesting meal we shared with one of the U13 Braga players.  Pedro is one of the few boys that lives away from his family & is based at the club.  Normally boys at this age group reside in Braga (or nearby, i.e. no more than 50 kms or 1 hour travel) & commute to training with parents.

Pedro, U13 Braga

A typical day for Pedro starts at 7.30am.  Wake up call, shower & breakfast.  The club will then send a car or club bus to take Pedro to school at 8am.  Lessons will start at 8.30am & continue through to lunch at 12pm.  Pedro will then head to a restaurant before returning to school at 1.30pm.

In Portugal they have extended lunches but school can finish later.  On this particular day lessons didn’t finish to 6.30pm.  He then travelled back for an evening training session with Braga U13′s at 7.45pm.  The session was shorter on the night we were there, it lasted one hour.  Pedro then showered, changed & head for a meal at 9pm.  Club officials would insure the young players are accompanied to restaurants.

Pedro arrived home to start homework at 10pm before bed time at 11pm.

I must stress that this schedule is variable.  Some day’s school finishes at 4pm & home work can be completed then.  On other days lessons will start later so Pedro can have a longer rest.

Personally I was surprised at the long days.  Pedro admitted on this particular day he was feeling tired but I was impressed at the same time how the club monitor their young players.

All players greet each other, coaches & visitors with a hand shake

Schedule

The club will always arrange transport for players that are away from home.  This includes too & from school, training & meals.  At meals they will always insure, especially the younger players that they eat with a club official or the U19′s.

Although Pedro lives away from his family & misses them he simply told us he adapts.  He lives in an apartment owned by the club with 3 other boys & looked after by a ‘Nanny’.  The adult will look after the boys.  Generally the boys will partner up & share a room each.  He will see his family generally every weekend.  If he has a game on the Saturday his father will come along to watch the game.  After the match Pedro will travel home with his father & return on Monday morning.

The club try to send all the children to the same school so they can adapt a schedule to suit their training sessions.  They eat together so that the club can control what they eat & when they eat.  The players will generally eat red meat on Monday & Tuesday, white meat on Wednesday & then pasta, etc. thereafter.  The nutritionist talks with the restaurant to adapt & suit the weekly programme.  The boys’ height & weight are recorded every month too.  The club also has 3 Doctors to attend to any sickness.

Players, at this level, will generally train 4 times per week.  The U19′s will train every day & also receive wages.  The accommodation, schooling, transport & food are all paid for by the club.

Braga has psychologists that work alongside the club.  If a coach knows he will be releasing a player the psychologist will work closely with that player but not obviously tell him right away.  The club will also try to find another club for the player.

Summary

The first thing that I picked up on from my first visit to this club was the family feel it had.  Everyone greeted each other with a welcome, smile & hand shake.  This is very positive & creates a real togetherness.  The set up is very impressive.  All sessions concentrated heavily on the technical side of the game.  This includes use of the ball along with pressurised drills & sessions.

Personally I was surprised at Pedro’s schedule when I was talking to him but I suppose we have to consider that this was possibly his busiest day.  Other days of the week had later starts, or earlier finishes or a non training night.  Although in some cases it is no difference from a child living in the UK that has to juggle schooling, homework, meals, transport & training.

The big difference I feel is the interest they take in each individual child.  The club record everything from school work to eating habits & from training to simply monitoring their height, weight & rest.  Also for the players living away from home.  The effort they put into for accommodation, transport & duty of care.  Then the long term development & future of the child is put as most importance with every last detail thought of – even if they unfortunately have to let a player go.

It was nice to sit & have a meal with one of the players at this age group.  It also, I suppose, shows how quick they mature as in Pedro’s words he simply ‘adapts’.  He obviously enjoys what he does even if he does miss being away from his family.  I found all the Braga Academy players to be confident young players that behaved & worked very hard in all sessions & games.

So in closing, here’s to Braga in becoming Europa League Champions 2011!

2010 Review

Happy New Year!  Now 2011 has arrived I thought I would review 2010 at the TWSports.Org Group.  From attracting Benfica to Belfast to travelling to Holland and Portugal it has been another action packed year.  I published my first book in March, celebrated 5 years of operating TWSports.Org in July and got married!

Of course I couldn’t do this without your fantastic level of support and friendship.  I continue to re-invest to help continue to make our product the most innovative around along with offering the latest in technology with our websites, social media my new blog to help communicate and make ourselves available to you.

January – TWAcademy.Org announced a tour to Holland for August 2010.  Tour highlights included a game against PSV Eindhoven, a tour of PSV training complex, stadium tour and to watch a PSV first team game at the Philips Stadium.  Players involved in the Academy come together from Irish League sides and boys clubs.  Currently we have players from Glentoran, Cliftonville, Dungoyne, Larne Youth, Lisburn Youth, Ridgeway, Abbey Villa, Carryduff Colts and Lower Maze.

The Academy is open to all elite players that want access to additional elite training that focuses on technical training and game understanding.  To get your child involved contact myself by email or by phone, 07740120788.

February – The TWSports.Org Group increase their presence on the social media sites of Facebook, Twitter and You Tube.  Simply search for ‘twsportsgroup’ or click on the logos at the top of our web page and follow us for the latest news.  We have also made it easy to share pages from our websites by clicking the link button at the bottom of each page!

March – I published my first book, ‘Toddler Soccer the Essential Guide’.  You can get a FREE download and your copy by clicking here.

You can listen to the BBC Radio Ulster interview on Tim’s new book by following this link.

April – SL Benfica accepted TWSports.Org invitation to fly to Belfast to offer Coaching Clinics and Player Development Clinics.  Hugo Vicente & Edgar Cardosa led the clinics that attracted a number of local coaches, parents and children.  A family also flew in from New York to attend!  They spent the week in Northern Ireland and attended the TWSports.Org Easter Camp in Dundonald.

Over 60 children enjoyed the Easter Camp along with a SoccerSixes.Org tournament being played by a host of local clubs.  We catered for all boys and girls aged 2-13 along with an open age for children, young adults and coaches at the Benfica events!

May – ‘Toddler Soccer the Essential Guide’ book by Tim Wareing has now sold in 18 different countries!  This stretches from the UK and Ireland, across Europe to USA and Canada, the Far East and Australia!

You can order the paperback version or the e-book by clicking here!

June – Amazon and SoccerTutor.com are now selling Tim Wareing’s new book!  Tim has done a telephone interview by his publisher to be used as a case study and offered another publishing deal to write a second book!

SoccerTutor.com have also requested that Tim writes a book based on elite coaching using his sessions as Academy Director at Distillery and his visits to FC Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Ajax.

July – What a special month!  TWSports.Org celebrated its 5th birthday!  Our Summer Camps offered over 14 venues across Northern Ireland and open to all boys and girls aged 2-13.

Director & Head Coach, Tim Wareing, married to his partner, Leanne.

August – 25 parents, children and coaches travelled to Holland for an unbelievable tour.  From start to finish everything was a huge success from our direct flights from Belfast to the 4* Hotel & luxury coach.

TWAcademy drew 4-4 with PSV Eindhoven’s feeder team and then recorded a fine 9-1 victory over Helmond Sport.  Everyone enjoyed the tour of the PSV Eindhoven training complex along with the penalty shoot out with Hans Segars!  A game at the Philips Stadium topped the weekend off!

You can read a full report from our tour by clicking here & view our video by following this link.

September – We kicked off another new season – our biggest yet!  From offering 8 great products that cater for children aged 2 years +; to our web based products that have coaches registered from all over the world!

Along with the likes of Toddler Soccer, Mini Soccer & elite training through TW Academy we also offer other great packages to!  From 1-on-1 coaching and organising birthday parties to coaching in schools and at local clubs we offer the most inclusive and innovative product around!

October – A successful Halloween Camp is held which offers affordable day care solution for parents while children are off school.  Helping children get active, have fun and learn new skills from only £2 per hour!  A party is held for all children and parents at the end of the week.

We base all our Fun Camps on a normal school day from 10am-3pm with an early drop off service available from 9am.  For more information contact me by email or phone, 07740120788.

November – Tim Wareing organised a European Club visit to Braga, Portugal for his staff.  They studied the training methods of SC Braga along with taking in the Champions League game against Arsenal.

You can read a full report from our tour by clicking here & view our video by following this link.

December – We made developments to the layout of our websites.  We have free downloads of books, training sessions and videos!  Simply visit our sites and subscribe to our newsletters.  Along with our FREE chat facility (top left hand corner of each website) we launched a new blog, CoachTim.Org.

We continue to grow & have a huge following around the world that have registered to our web based sites & coach resource information.  The TWSports.Org Group has a number of exciting new features & opportunities as we enter 2011.  We will bring these to you & your child!

Thanks for the support in 2010.  Good just got better for 2011 & we look forward to sharing it with you all!

Braga Club Visit

As coaches you can never stop learning in this game.  I feel it is essential to travel and exchange ideas on club visits.  More importantly we need to share our experiences as coaches.  Personally I don’t think we do this enough.  Coaching can be a very lonely job.  I love the European way of talking about football and coaching over a coffee or beer after sessions and games.  In the UK we don’t seem to do the same, unless we get paid for it!

During November I travelled to Braga, Portugal.  It was another great experience viewing a top European Club that is competing in the UEFA Champions League.  I would like to express my thanks for the kind invite & hospitality from Hugo and SC Braga.

Here is my report, enjoy!…

Braga

The northern city is the third biggest in Portugal, although it still keeps its charm and feel of a village.  The architecture of the buildings and Se Cathedral were beautiful.  The views over the city from the Bom Jesus do Monte was breath-taking.

We found the people to be very friendly.  The food was of a very high standard and very reasonable to eat out.  The Portuguese don’t do a quick sandwich but eat a large meal at lunch time as well as evening.  It is a very social thing to meet friends and family at lunch.  We enjoyed eating fresh bread and a great main course before finishing with coffee.  It was great to eat at leisure and talk about football.

SC Braga

Sporting Clube de Braga is commonly known as Sporting de Braga or simply Braga.  They play at the AXA Stadium which is also known as ‘The Quarry’ or the ‘Tool Box’.  This is due to the design where the stadium is built inside a Quarry with cables attaching the 2 main stands.  The ground was built for UEFA Euro 2004.

Braga had been known as Arsenal do Minho and changed their kits from green and white hoops to their Arsenal style red in 1935.  This is due to their coach, Jozsef Szabo, visiting and watching Arsenal at the old Highbury ground.

The emblem of Sporting de Braga is the city of Braga’s shield with Mother Mary and baby Jesus.  On the top of the emblem is the golden Mural Crown of Braga, with the name Sporting Clube de Braga on it.  Many fans of Braga have said that Mother Mary gives them luck.  The fans of Braga are known as Arsenalistas due to their team home kit that resembles that of English club Arsenal.

After finishing runners up in the Portuguese league during season 2009 / 2010 they qualified for the knock stages of the Champions League. They defeated Celtic and Sevilla to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League for the very first time.

Youth Set Up

Braga provides teams from 7 / 8 year olds and above.  The younger section of the Academy will train 3 times per week along with a match.  They concentrate heavily on ball mastery and 1 v 1 duels on defence and attack.

Players also receive homework so they really develop and are confident using both feet.  Braga will work closely with a number of other local clubs.  They play in a number of tournaments so they are playing against the best.

They will play small sided games on smaller pitches and with a smaller ball at the young age.  On the day we arrived into Portugal we got to watch their U13′s.  At this stage they play 11 v 11 on a full size pitch.  I suppose one of the problems is with the local leagues that they are forced to play in.  Some opposition are very poor.  Braga eased to a 19-0 victory on the day.

As the players get older they will start to train more.  The U19′s for example are in every day.  They also have players from all over the world.  The nationalities in the squad asides from Portuguese include; German, Greek, Brazilian along with a number of players on trial from Africa.

The U19′s train at the old Braga stadium which is a great facility.  The Spain National team used this as their base during Euro 2004.  They also play their home games here.  An athletic club also operate out of the same base.  During the week that we were in Braga there had been a lot of rain so the training was transferred to 2 full size 3G pitches that are at the same location.  They are Council run but a great facility to fall back on.

All the players training clothing is ready on their arrival in a basket set out in the changing room with their name on it.  They change before reporting to the pitch.  Each day we watched we were always greeted with a smile and hand shake.  I also found it nice that all the players always shake hands when they meet including players and children from different age groups.

1-on-1 Coaching

Another important role for Hugo Vicente as the Technical Director is to work with players 1-on-1 or in a small group.  He’ll concentrate on ball mastery, using both feet and a number of games and sessions that relate to the position they play.

This is something crucial to the overall development in each individual player’s game.  The players I personally work with 1-on-1 have found the benefits that it has added to their game and overall development.  You can find out more by following this link or watching video 1 or video 2.

Champions League

What a treat to watch a live game in this wonderful stadium.  Made even better that it was Arsenal in the Champions League!  To be a stone’s throw from the players during the warm up and to be part of the crowd was something else.

With the teams lined up, the Champions League music blasted out and all the home support held up Braga posters to really create a special atmosphere.  I got goose bumps; I knew something special was going to happen!

To see players like Theo Walcott, Denilson, Jack Wilshere, Rosicky, Bendtner and the great Cesc Fabregas in the flesh was a treat.  Although I must admit, Arsenal was very disappointing on the night.  Braga over all deserved their win and Nascimento Matheus scored two great goals – especially his second.

What a result from Braga, especially after being defeated 6-0 away to Arsenal earlier in the group.  I was surprised that it was not a sell out but those that came went home happy…apart from the travelling Arsenal supporters!  The Porto Manager also watched the game behind us.

Review

The hospitality that was shown to me and my colleague Daniel is hard to express in words.  Hugo, the club and the players were so welcoming.  SC Braga is such a family, friendly club.  Every staff member and player – from the young age of 7 – welcomed us with a smile and a hand shake.  This created such a positive experience as everyone was so approachable.  Especially in a day and age where at some clubs people and players feel they are above the normal person.

I also found all the youth players very confident and polite.  This is very much a European way but something I like to instil in my own children and kids I work with.  Manners and confidence cost nothing but create a lasting experience.

This experience will last with me and I will always have a real fondness and interest in SC Braga.  Watch our video review by clicking this link!