The beginning - my coaching journey so far
This isn't the beginning of my journey, but rather the beginning of our journey, together.
Boringly, work has stopped me coaching lately, in the last few months. In fact, let's get that out there, into the ether, and talk a bit about me...
The man behind the diary
I call it a diary, but i'll avoid some of the rubbish I'd usually put in my actual diary - i'm sure last nights Chicken & Tuna protein pasta isn't of interest. Or maybe it is? Joking...
Seriously though, this will serve as a place to share my thoughts. We may disagree, in fact we could be totally wrong, but that's the beauty of it. You engage, we both learn, we evolve, together we create a community of coaches supporting each other, sharing ideas, and remembering - we all want the same things, in some respects!
So be ready for a daft opinion. Be ready for a strange observation or two, or the silly references to former players - likely that of my team Nottingham Forest - when discussing a player every now and again. "Ooh, he's got a bit of Radi Majewski in him, hasn't he?" No? Please tell me you get that? Nevermind.
I've coached for a while now, here and there, firstly aged 16 - very informally and more as a "ball boy" if anything. A local team. A few months before school took over, exams got in the way, and before you know it, the dream was kept in a box, stored away until I turned 18, and things kicked off again.
Here's a funny story. Was 18, offered an u18's team, blindly I accepted - not just me, but two of my football-loving mates who hadn't coached before, the problem? It was all very informal, nothing was actually official - not that we knew that - and..I was in Italy for the first session. Texts from my mates said it went well, the reality? The opposite. I won't say exactly the wording, but it's fair to say, the first session got off to a wrong start. Bad attitudes, strong commitment to former coach, and overall, grumpy teenagers. Us ourselves only being a year older, commanding that respect and discipline, a difficult task. My mates didn't want to ruin my holiday, but when I got home, they told me of the reality - no coaching for us, I was so invested, but lessons learned.
A year later, a mate of mine has been there a while at this point, coaching a group. He offers me to come and join his coaching team, and after a while of trying to sort the pesky FA number issue, and sorting the DBS, we got there. From probably mid/late 2024 until early 2025, I coached alongside my friend, him being the co-head coach with another coach, a lady, can't remember her name, she was lovely, a parent of one of the kids - a nice part of grassroots, I think. I saw out the season with them, alongside helping out with another team my friend assisted - same club, just a bit younger. That extra hour of coaching made it so much more worth it.
Different skillsets, personalities, age group, all these different factors made the challenge exciting. Adapting sessions for different ages and abilities, sometimes at short-notice, that makes or breaks you. I was far from perfect, quite anxious, but it taught me lessons. And that was the last time I coached in the UK before a big move to Australia, where the next part of the story begins.
Gold Coast, Australia. That famous Surfers Paradise view of the skyscrapers huddling along the coastline, tangerine skies or bright sun the typical view on your instagram searches of the place. Well just west of that was a little area, Tallebudgera - more specifically, the Valley, and sitting in there a former A-League side, now NPL, Gold Coast United. The next part of my journey, this time 10,000+ miles from home.
Australian winter. Some sun, some cold, early wake-ups, late nights - my time at Gold Coast United - or GCU as I will always refer to it when writing - was awesome. Learned a lot, made heaps of mistakes, and progressed as a coach as a result of that. My main role was assisting the U14 Pre-academy boys side, a big role for me, as it was the first time i'd be helping out a team consistently on both training and match days, alongside the fact GCU was a much larger, established club than others i'd worked at.
The season was great; it also involved supporting various age groups in assistant capacities, and sometimes taking the team altogether for a short period. u10's, u13's, u14's & u18's - all the teams I helped with. Again, the u14's taking heavy priority.
Mikey was the teams manager, he knew most of the boys from their previous team he coached - Northern Rivers - based in Byron Bay. Great bloke, experienced coach, I met him at a Futsal match, and from there he asked me to jump on and help him that night, before asking if i'd help him up on the Gold Coast with the u14's. Of course I said yes, as any aspiring coach should when oppurtunities present themselves, and well, when I arrived in Australia once again in June, the next 3-4 months of my life was well, pretty much football!
I won't go into every single moment of the season, but from a u14's perspective, we learned a lot collectively - and I took so much away from the experience. "Good people make good footballers" - that's one of the biggest takeaways from my time at GCU. It stuck with me.
One huge reason? We won the league, but here in Australia, it goes to a "grand final" - the top two face each other for another trophy. Honestly, for me, pointless. Does it favour the better team, or the one with more players [spare energy]? The latter for me. That being said on the day, we should have been better - but this taught me a lesson, and Mikey's quote has been with me since. Mikey's son is undeniably a great lad, good keeper, but a reserve keeper, playing up from the u13's was available. Tall lad, around 6"1, and we are going to penalties. I'm sure you see where this is going. A decision. Naturally, as someone who wants to win a game of football you suggest the taller keeper, also a quality option. It's easy to say in the moment you didn't win because of the decision to stick with the original keeper, but that's what made Mikey different. He wants good people. He doesn't want to knock one players confidence for the sake of a game. I admired that decision, and I saw just how happy the player was to have trust in him. That meant a lot, and you know what, it made me think of my own situation, one I wanted to share with you just after this.
My time at GCU was incredible. None of it would've happened if not for Mikey, Matt, Alan, and all the amazing staff there. Matt didn't get enough of a mention, maybe because he made me referee soo much (only joking matt), but he was instrumental in so many things for me. Learning HOW to properly coach, WHAT to say, WHEN to say it, but also WHY we do certain things. This blog is as much dedicated to my journey so far, as it is to showing gratitude to those who influenced me along the way.
Coaching influences are important, recognise them, and be grateful for them - another big point for me. There is my coaching journey so far.
My time as a player
Kids remember everything, that's another thing you come to remember as a coach. Growing up, I played down a year, presumably due to poor ability, eventually being moved up to my own age group. There, I was out of my depth, maybe only 7 or 8yrs old, but already, felt left out. I kept asking for game time, it never came. The reality of some grassroots teams is shocking, how they could do that to a child - leave them in the dark - was beyond me.
I joined my next club, Attenborough Colts, around 2013, and never looked back. Early influences impact you forever, and my interaction with Attenborough early on shaped me. The "A team" (the blues) were too good for me, I was not great growing up, so the Yellows, the 'second team' took me on. Again, I wasn't great, it took a few games to get into things, but I remember it all so well.
One training session, Graham, our coach, said to my mum that I had "potential" - this meant a lot. People often forget football as kids, or how much it meant to them, but this set a precedent for me. If I worked hard, there was something to achieve. No, I was never going to go to an academy, but I just wanted to have fun, and be good within the squad, win things, and have something to show for hard work. That one sentence literally changed everything. Graham will never know how grateful I am for his coaching, and in general his influence on me.
We won a few things here and there, couple of cup finals, one of which I captained, seeing it through until we turned 18 and the group split. Most left, some stayed for the "development leagues", a senior league locally, of which is still going now, and I hope to reconnect with when I'm back from Australia in May.
Your time as a player influences you as a coach more than you will know. I'm not perfect, this journey in coaching is so new for me, but I can tell you that influence goes a long way. Put yourselves in the shoes of these players you coach - younger, older, senior, whatever age they may be - think about them, and remember everything you say can, literally, make or break them.
Learn from the good and the bad when it comes to influence, recognise how players should be treated, and remember, these are people - people who want to have fun. Of course we want to win, but, like Mikey said, can we create good people first, and reap the benefits of that on the pitch? Can we put trust into those we coach, like Graham did, and remind them of their progress? For me, those influences have been profound in me wanting to not only coach, but coach how I do, believing in culture collectively, but individual support for players as priorities alongside the tactics and other operational bits within a team.
What do I actually want from this blog?
One thing I love is taking people on a journey. I've always loved storytelling, I'm a talker, every parents evening was "Jamie is lovely, but he talks too much," it's just who I am. I like telling people things, whatever it may be, and sharing passions with them.
This blog has aims: I want it to be a resource not for advice, but for an opportunity to seek and view another perspective on football as a sport, coaching it, and analysing it. I'm going to be wrong on things, or maybe we will just differ in opinions - football is subjective! The point is, we work together, engage, and make this a platform of discussion, and support.
I'm a younger lad, 20, and probably less experienced than most coaches reading this, and that's the best part. Learn from people. I want to learn from you, wether you're more experienced or not, sometimes a "foreign" perspective is what you need. A different voice. A challenge. A question. Anything. Be open to alternatives.
One thing I didn't mention is that I've worked in football commentary and broadcasting since the age of 15, both voluntarily and more recently, professionally. I understand football. All of it? God no, I've watched so much football, do I understand all of its nuances? Absolutely not. And I'll showcase that. Maybe by seeing me make mistakes, learn from others, and share perspectives, you can have a wider knowledge, and learn to ask more questions. But I want to emphasise, this is NOT a blog for advice - rather a space to take ideas (maybe), and understand my perspective on things, developing your own thoughts in the mean time.
Growth, perspective, engagement, and somewhere to ramble on about the sport I love. That's what this blog will be. Can I promise weekly segments? Right now, no. But they will be fairly frequent - of course, alongside this I'm a bartender in a busy city-based bar in Sydney, and run several projects including another blog (linked below - documenting travel) and my podcast, also linked below.
While on the topic, view the third link - yes another link - of which leads to my good mate, Daniel Ferguson's, sports psychology instagram page. He's a coach too, a great source of knowledge, inspiration and - I don't say this about just anyone - one of the most persistent people I know. Give him some support, because he's been a coaching, and honestly a life influence, that I'm so grateful for. He works bloody hard, and deserves his plaudits, coaching several teams at Northumbria University, alongside Uni work and several projects himself. Give him a follow! Lots of love, Dan, mate.
Well, that's it - end of the first blog. I wrote this over two days, I only write when the energy feels write, the words just come to me. I hope this was a good read for you, as it was a fun one to write for me. I'd love to hear your story, and more of what you do - drop me an email, all below alongside links.
Do drop the blog a follow, it only takes a second, just so you can keep up to date with my thoughts, and more!
Have a great work, speak soon.
Jamie Martin
CONTACT:
Jamie Martin (Blogger/Coach) - jamiemartinfootball@gmail.com
LINKS
Jamie Martin Football Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiemartinfootball/
Jamie Martin Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiemartin_media/
Daniel Ferguson (Coach/Sport Psych): https://www.instagram.com/danferguson_sp/
Making It? Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6M1sMGP1QijOxFPwDJnAcT?si=3308608d8e5c495d
Broke in Sydney - travel blog: https://imbrokeinsydney.blogspot.com/
Well thought out and written Jamie.
ReplyDeleteVery kind, thank you so much!
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