News

Michiel's memo:December 2019

Every day I spend here in New Zealand at Christchurch United and the football environment I learn more about the culture. It is no secret that as a club we have great ambition, not only for ourselves but specially for your players. In order to give the players what they need to get a step closer to their goals we have a lot of work to do at the club. I’m happy to see that a lot of our efforts are paying off and I can see the framework that is necessary to offer a pathway that will lead to success is shaping in front of us.

We started Term 4 with a lot of energy and that energy is starting to get us closer to our goals. The Coaching Course took off a couple of weeks ago and an energetic group of coaches, parents and players are digging deeper into the methodology that we are implementing in the club. Great discussions, training sessions with all age groups and content are being shared with this great group of people! Besides that the coaches are ahead of schedule when it comes to building our Christchurch United playing philosophy, I didn’t expect us to be at the stage already where we discuss the connection between our values and our playing style on a deeper level. I’m happy to see that in this pace we will have a framework of our playing style before the end of 2019.

Besides those initiatives that lead to better coaches also our training sessions have been improving over the last couple of weeks. Coaches are using the principles of play in order to strengthen the structure of training and actually teach the players about the beautiful game of football. Our sessions on Monday (U13-17) and Tuesday (U9-12) where we are following the same session under my guidance are creating a united vibe and besides that an opportunity for coaches and players to learn of each other. All great developments.

For me personally I’m thinking about the pathway we have to create for our players in order to get as close to their goal as we possibly can. To create that pathway my players of the U14 taught me a valuable lesson. We need to change a couple of things in order to aim high and I’m happy to look into all opportunities we can get the upcoming period. Since we are already planning ahead for Term 1 (and beyond) we will need the help of everybody in the club to push our programs to a higher level.