By Al Fernandes, Generation Phase Manager

The Club’s coach development and mentorship program continued to evolve through the outdoor season, and we are starting to see more engagement from our volunteer coaches. The coaching roundtables have become an integral part of our learning process. Coaches get an opportunity to share ideas on subjects including sessions, dealing with players and parents, and providing solutions to situations that are common to the age groups they are coaching in.

In providing our coaches a safe space and sound board, our coaches feel appreciated and heard. This is a supportive environment that nurtures the need for coaching knowledge and the ability to provide positive feedback from not just me but from other volunteer coaches.

Our last roundtable provided coaches the opportunity to guide and lead a session on the field. Feedback was very positive with participants saying it gave them confidence t deliver our curriculum and coach “The Foothills Way”.

As we move to the indoor season, coaching mentorship becomes easier as we are all at the same location. Coaches are encouraged to seek out full time Foothills staff for assistance during training sessions and to shadow me during my sessions. Our first roundtable of the indoor season will include shadowing me with our top program and then asking our coaches to “build” me a session that I can deliver to the Generation Phase program. This empowers our coaches through self guidance plus mentorship from me and other staff members.

We continue to cover ground that our volunteer coaches have requested. As Foothills encourages our coaches to follow the CSA guidelines for their credentials, we as full- time staff coaches include the practical side of coaching while adding the issues that can arise from coaching in a large club. This gives our coaches the confidence to take on the role of coach and feel empowered, supported and educated through the entire process.

As I say to all our coaches, “Learn and grow always, as the game is always evolving, and enjoy yourselves, as after all, it’s still just a game.”

Thank you to our Sponsors, Parents, Coaches, and Volunteers

As we grow our development pathways, we also host more games and see the need for support increase. This summer we had many of you help with game days, as sponsors, volunteers and with team management. It was great to see so many of you supporting the respective levels and hosting team fundraisers as well as being walk out teams.

We are a volunteer-based organization and without the support of our members we would not be able to pursue opportunities to develop our players. Thank you for the continued support of our program, it is truly appreciated.