Club Development Plan Season 24/25
Committee & coaches
Peter Lappin, Frank Rowe, Mark Scott, Ben Lamb & Mark Dawson
Our Squad – where we at;
Squad size is 21 Players
Training – Sessions for the players will be Monday 5.30pm-7.30pm indoor at Blue Flames & Outdoor Jesmond Academy Thursday 6pm-8pm
Leagues – Northumberland Football League Sat & Sun League
Facilities – Blue Flames, Jesmond Park Academy & Oxford Centre
FC Sparta Club;
We are the only Club in the North East with only 1 age group & whose name does not signal where we are based but identifies who we are. It is these unique aspects which separate us from the norm. We must embrace this uniqueness as an opportunity to establish our identity and give our players a feeling of being part of a special group. We cannot underestimate the power of a united group mentality, through players, parents, coaches & committee.
Committee/Coaches;
All members of the Committee and Coaches must be fully qualified to carry out their role within the club which includes updating certifications when they expire.
The Club will pay for coaches to be CRB/DBS, Safeguarding Course, First Aid Course & Level 1 Coaching Course.
New Coaches – We will need to advise them how to get a FAN number. Get them CRB/DBS ASAP. Book them on First Aid & Safeguarding Courses, Level 1 Coaching Course, we will pay for this also.
New kit for Coaches – once a coach has been with us long enough so we know he is committed we will invest in some coaching kit.
Coaches are to wear coaching kit when at Sparta sessions and games.
Training;
Everyone must understand the ‘Sparta Model’ everything we do must feedback into this model.
The Sparta Model
Ball Mastery – Angle Support (static & fluent) – Real time action – Decision Making.
Work Hard, Maximum effort, willing attitude to listen & learn is just expected as a bare minimum requirement.
The Triangle;
The Triangle is made up of the Coaching Team, Player & Parents. All three has to be correct for a player to be happy and successful within Sparta. All three points of the triangle must be happy and content for each player within the group to remain and thrive.
The parents can be viewed as either our fans or the player’s agents – either way they are hugely important in making sure that our player is happy within the group. If you have a happy parent you will mostly have a happy child with positive interactions with his peers. Our parent’s morale and support is huge in ensuring our Club is a success. The more the parents feel part of the Club the more time and effort they will submit which leads to sponsorship, fund raising etc.
Our players must look forward and enjoy coming to training – we have to ensure they feel challenged and have fun at the same time so they grow and develop in an environment they love.
As a coaching team we must be happy and content the players we are working with are correct for the model that we are trying to achieve. The parent of each child needs to be someone that the coaching team feel is invested in what we are trying to achieve. Only then can the coaching team be comfortable in our section of the triangle; this must apply for each player.
Codes of conduct;
Players will understand our code of conduct and they will be required to maintain the standards of the Code. New players coming into the group will be introduced to the code of conduct by senior players.
Parents will understand our code of conduct and they will be required to maintain the standards of the code. New parents coming in to this group will be introduced to the code of conduct by senior parents.
Coaches will understand our code of conduct that we must work to. This needs to be practised as a priority.
All codes of conduct are displayed on our website.
Selection Box;
Committee – Ad hoc Meetings will take place throughout the year.
Annually Select/reappoint members of the Committee will be carried out at an AGM once a year.
Finances – Treasurer Report
Treasurer will give a report on finances at every meeting
Parent Liaison – Graeme Nash will Liaise with Parents and report to Welfare Officer Frank Rowe & Peter Lappin if any issues/unrest within the Parent Group need to be addressed. This could form anything from an informal private chat to a parent group meeting. This would include questions/queries brought up by our parent group or conversely coaches group which need directing the other way.
Team Names – FC Sparta. FC Sparta 96.
Philosophy;
Our style of play was introduced 29 years ago when our Head Coach began coaching in 1996.
Our style is possession based, dominating the ball & trying to control every aspect of the game with technical players keeping the ball and an effective but simplistic defensive system when we do not have the ball.
Players are coached to be the best they can be technically with the ball at their feet. Hours & hours of training are geared to improving players touch and comfort level with the ball. If our players are comfortable with the ball at their feet then they can confidently influence a game.
Players are given a simple system/shape to adopt when in possession of the ball to control games and encourage passing patterns designed to begin our attacking moves. Players are given scenarios at match pace on the training ground to replicate game situations so they become accustomed, confident and knowledgeable within these scenarios; so come the weekend games our players can look slick & effective in these movements/patterns.
Players are shown a simplistic set of instructions when out of possession which is easy to understand and logical so a defensive shape can be easily adopted wherever we lose the ball.
All teams are given exactly the same instruction so it does not matter which team our players play for within Sparta; they are all educated the same philosophy. This means any player moving teams within our Club will walk into a familiar environment regardless who his new team/teammates are.
Peter Lappin
Head Coach