Description

For a lot of parents, choosing the right Soccer School for their child can be difficult, especially with each school offering something new and something different.

At The English Soccer School we believe people shouldn’t base their choice on that ‘one difference’. We believe that people should base their choice on the many differences included in the whole package.

Things to consider when choosing a Soccer School for your child :

The Coaches and Coaching Coaches of the future.

A qualified coach is not enough. ESS hand picks its senior English FA , AFC qualified coaches not only on their qualifications but also on their footballing and life experiences so that our coaches can also act as teachers and mentors to our players. Football qualifications alone do not necessarily make a good coach. Life experiences, academic qualifications, communication skills, patience and a genuine love for youth development are some of the important factors to consider. Additionally and more importantly , we look for coaches with the ability to engage with children and a number of years coaching at a particular level of a coaching qualification, and continuous coach education is very important to us. At ESS we actively encourage the development of our own coaches and those of other soccer schools, both locally and internationally. We teach coach education courses twice a year in Singapore for the UK accredited HNC Level 1 and 2 in Football Youth Development. Participants, compromising teachers from international schools such as Tanglin Trust, STJII and Standford American School as well as Singapore MOE Schools . The participants over the past 2 years are far ranging in nationality, including ; British, French, German, Australian, Singaporean, Indonesian, Indian, Malaysian, Swiss, Iraqis, Thais, Brunei, and Burmese. This year we have had ESS parents on the course who were eager to learn purely out of interest!

Value For Money – Beware glamour and glitz.

ESS not only offer competitive termly rates, but the quality of coaching and customer service makes us exceptional value for money.
Our prices are affordable for both the local community and the expat community (who are usually charged inflated prices in our opinion). Far too many schools rely on glamour and glitz on their websites, equipment and even facilities. Football is a simple game! First and foremost a child’s safety should not be compromised, Astroturf, grass or even hard court can be played on as long as the conditions are appropriate and conducive to safe and rewarding play. Football should be inclusive in all manner of ways, not just in price but in reaching out to the community at large. ESS has several locations around Singapore to make things easier for busy parents. We believe that equipment should be basic and effective, not overly technical to dazzle and impress the non-football parent. Facilities such as showers, internet access and cafeterias are great but in reality hardly used, yet the cost is passed on to you in your child’s fees.

Sessions

At ESS we firmly believe in inclusive play, that there is a session for everyone. All our sessions are carefully planned in accordance with English FA guidelines and our curriculum has been developed by our Chief Technical Advisor Keith Boanas, author of ‘Fun Games for Children’.
We have for many years been strong advocates of small sided games. It is not a new philosophy and we implemented this school of thought from our inception. Monotonous dribbling drills and children waiting to take their turn in long queues are unfortunately all too common nowadays, along with inappropriate age sized balls. If ‘location, location, location’ is the mantra for property then in football it is ‘demonstrate, demonstrate, demonstrate’. Children understand far quicker when they are shown what to do than when they are explained to verbally. At ESS we use size 3, 4 and 5 balls dependent on age. We like to think our coaches are engaging and encouraging children to think for themselves and to use their imagination, particularly when it comes to game play. The match or game should be the teacher – not the coach. Small sided, age-appropriate games (3v3, 4v4, 5v5, 6v6) enhance this, along with small class sizes to ensure good coach to player ratios. Too many children these days get lost in the crowd! At ESS, we firmly believe that forcing children to pass and play pretty football is wrong! Children should learn why they must pass before learning the rudiments of passing, the end result is not necessarily to score a goal and the emphasis should be on self- and guided-discovery.

Matches

As mentioned above the focus should be on learning, not winning at all costs – the game is the teacher. Players should be encouraged to think for themselves, to use their imagination and not be frightened to make mistakes. Children should be told why they are asked to take up a certain position and not just asked to fill a position or role for the sake of obtaining a winning score line. This should also be applied in competitive matches by the coach, not just at half time but also during the game itself – winning at all costs has no benefit whatsoever, other than to stroke the ego of the coach/soccer school concerned. Spatial awareness, crowding, movement off the ball, movement in relation to the ball, decision making, confidence to take responsibility, time on the ball , unselfishness and team work are all fundamental aspects of game play that children should be encouraged to understand – whilst not under pressure to avoid mistakes. Children should be encouraged to play in different positions from Goalkeeper to Striker, not just for their own development but also to appreciate each position – by playing different positions, children will broaden their skillsets and have empathy with teammates. Don’t blame the goal keeper when you concede, it’s the most difficult position to play in!

Please feel free to contact us personally by phone, email or even SMS should you wish to learn more about the ESS Philosophy.

Original Text

Description

For a lot of parents, choosing the right Soccer School for their child can be difficult especially with each different school offering something new and something different.

At The English Soccer School we believe people shouldn’t base their choice on that ‘one difference’. We believe that people should base their choice on the many differences included in the whole package.

Things to consider when choosing a Soccer School for your child.

The Coaches and Coaching Coaches of the future.

A qualified coach is not enough . ESS hand picks it’s senior English FA Qualified Coaches not only on their qualifications but their footballing and life experiences so that our coaches can also act as teachers and mentors to our players.Football qualifications alone do not necessarily make a good coach , life experiences, academic qualifications , articulation , patience and a genuine love for youth development as well as the ability to engage with children and number of years coaching at a particular level of a coaching qualification are some of the important factors to consider. Furthermore continous coach education is important . At ESS we actively encourage the development of our own coaches and those of other soccer schools, and local and international schools. We teach coach education courses twice a year in Singapore for the UK acredited HNC Level 1 and 2 in Football Youth Development. Participants , teachers from international schools such as Tanglin Trust, STJII , Standford American School , well as Singapore MOE Schools . The participants over the past 2 years are far ranging in nationality they include British French German Australian Singaporean Indonesian Indian Malaysian Swiss Iraqis Thai Brunei and Burmese. This year we had ESS parents on the course who were eager to learn out of interest !

Value For Money – Be aware of glamour and glitz.

ESS not only offer competitive termly rates, but the quality of coaching and customer service makes us exceptional value for money.
Our prices are affordable for both the local community and the expat community, who are usually charged inflated prices in our opinion. Far too many schools use glamour and glitz starting with their websites to equipment and even facilities. Football is a simple game . First and foremost a childs safety should not be compromised, astro turf grass or even hard court can be played on as long as the conditions are appropriate and conjusive to safe and rewarding playing. Football should be inclusive in all manner of ways not just in price but reaching out to the community at large .ESS has several locations around Singapore making it easier for busy parents. Equipment should be basic and not overally technical to dazzle and impress the non football parent. Facilities such as showers, internet access, cafeterias are great but in reality hardly used , but are they truly needed ? After all , the cost is passed on to you and you end up paying for them in your child’s fees.

Sessions

At ESS we firmly believe in inclusive play, that there is a session for everyone. All our sessions are carefully planned in accordance with English FA guidelines and our curriculum has been developed by our Chief Technical Advisor , Keith Boanas author of “Fun Games for Children ”
We have always been strong advocates for small sided games for many a year , it is not a new philosophy and we implemented this school of thought from our inception, monotonous dribbling drills and children waiting to take their turn in long queues are unfortunately all to common nowadays along with inappropriate age sized balls . If location location location is the mantra for property then in football it is demonstrate demonstrate demonstrate . Children understand far quicker than being explained to verbally. At ESS we use size 3 , 4 and 5 dependent on age. We like to think our coaches are engaging and encourage children to think for themselves and to use their imagination especially when it comes to game play. The match or game should be the teacher – not the coach. Small sided age appropriate games 3v3 4v4 5v5 6v6 enhances this along with small class sizes and good coach to player ratios. Too many children these days get lost in the crowd! Forcing children to pass and play pretty football is wrong! Children should learn why they must pass before learning the rudiments of passing, the end result which is not necessarily to score a goal and emphases should be on self and guided discovery.

Matches

As mentioned above the focus should be on learning not winning at all costs – the game is the teacher . Players should be encouraged to think for themselves and to use their imagination and not be frightened to make mistakes. Children should be explained to why they are told to take up a certain position and not just asked to fill a position or role for the sake of obtaining a winning score line. This should also be applied in competitive matches by the coach and not just at half time but during the game itself-winning at all costs has no benefit what so ever other than stoking the ego of the coach /soccer school concerned. Spacial awareness, crowding , movement off the ball, movement in relation to the ball, decision making , confidence to take responsibility, time with the ball , unselfishness along with team work are the fundamental aspects of game play that children should be encouraged to understand and not simply pressurised into doing so. Children should be encouraged to play in different positions from goal keeper to striker not only for their own development but also to appreciate each position -don’t blame the goal keeper its the most difficult position to play in !

Please feel free to contact us personally by phone or email or even SMS should you wish to learn more about the ESS Philosophy.