Valentine FC in Australia is a prime example of a club thriving through its usage of The Coaching Manual.
Under the direction of decorated coach educator Cas Wright - the Technical Director and Head Coach at Valentine FC - the New South Wales organisation has even earned the status of 'GOLD' for its Junior Development Program strongly supported by The Coaching Manual.
We caught up with Cas to discover what she finds useful about platform, her own journey with The Coaching Manual, and how it has become an essential toolkit for Valentine FC.
Cas said: "I had previously used The Coaching Manual at a different NPL club and was eager for Valentine FC to see the benefits. When I returned to Valentine, I said, 'Can we roll this out because it saves everyone time?'."
The roll-out across the club was smooth thanks to the expert support processes in place at The Coaching Manual. Cas explained: "I spoke to Ellie (The Coaching Manual's Account Management specialist) and sent her our 40-week curriculum guide, and our requirements, and she helped me upload it. We use the Folders as part of our curriculum for all of our departments within the club, including content for our coaches like the 7v7 and 9v9 guides.
"Ellie has been amazing setting us up. All I had to do was change a session here or there, but most of the hard work was completed. The 40-week curriculum is obviously a mammoth job for two departments, but Ellie could throw things in and get me started. So, that was such a time saver."
The variety of sessions in The Coaching Manual's content library is ideal for building Valentine's curriculum across their age groups.
"Once we changed from our old curriculum to the new curriculum, which is all about the principles of play, it was great," said Cas. "That's why I suggested that the club utilise The Coaching Manual - it is the same football terminology and it was easy to translate and adapt for all of our coaches to use the same 'football' language. Therefore, all new coaches coming on board can now access all the right content which is exactly the philosophy that we utilise in FA/AFC License courses.
"The coaches can make up their own session, or they can tag me in as they go, 'What about this?' So, I suppose I'm lucky I can have that flexibility with a lot of my coaching staff. They're all on different learning journeys but The Coaching Manual gives them that platform and flexibility with session choices. So they either utilise what's in the folders, or find their own, or build their own. That's where we have the awesome flexibility with The Coaching Manual.
As well as the platform itself and the structures it provides for session management, Cas has utilised some of The Coaching Manual's shareable PDFs and ebooks to provide further support to her coaches - many of which are relatively early on in their coaching journeys.
Cas added: "I recently sent another of TCM's guides out to the coaches this week, a document about the fundamentals of setting up a session, the theory behind Play-Practice-Progress-Play - it was the New Coaches Starter Pack, I used it as a refresher."
It's not just the coaches who benefit from the resources available to Valentine FC - parents are supported through material sent out by the club, too.
Cas added: "For parent education we have a team app and provide a weekly update. So one week I might send them Perception, Decision, Execution or The Three Rs, or an update about 'using two feet' or 'first touch'. So it definitely helps educate them as well as sharing the football terminology, so they can discuss football at home. I like the nutrition content as well. Basically we use these guides to educate our parents as well as the players so we're all on the same page."
Further to the club's self-imposed structures and goals, The Coaching Manual is also supporting Cas and her Club in ticking the right boxes on a national level.
She said: "We are under the NPL, so Football Australia has national Premier League guidelines that you have to meet. For example, in the Junior Development League, we have received gold status (boys and girls) and that's partly thanks to you. Amazing resource.
"We have to build a 40 week curriculum. which includes six-week cycles. It needs to be specific to ages 9 and 10 (7v7), and then a separate set to 11 and 12 (9v9). It then has a key focus for the sessions. So, whether it's play-practice-play, or a buildup of introductory skill and game, for us it's both we can utilise multiple options during the cycles."
Cas and her team have also been watching our Principles of Play Webinar Series (Episode 1, Episode 2) in order to further their understanding of their own playing philosophy.
She said of the webinars: "I had a look and they were all brilliant. They were really good because it was relevant to what we're talking about - the principles of play and how you bring them to life, and how that's staged in a pyramid and what that looks like. It was a good process for me. As a coach educator, I live and breathe that anyway. So it's really important to share the knowledge"
A vastly experienced and decorated coach educator for over 15 years, Cas is at the top of her game when it comes to supporting her fellow coaches. As well as being named NSW Football Female Coach of the Year in 2021, she has coached in Australia's premier competition the A League with Newcastle Jets as second assistant.
Established in 1971, Valentine Eleebana Football Club (commonly known as Valentine FC or Valentine Phoenix) is one of the largest football clubs in Northern NSW, with a membership of more than 900 registered players and officials, plus over 1,500 associate (adult) members and families.
For more information about Valentine FC, click here.
If you are interested in a partnership package for your club, we'd love to discuss how The Coaching Manual can support you, your coaches, and your players. Click here to drop up a line!