The UEFA Coach Education Workshop in Budapest

The Football Association’s coaching and learning philosophies were presented to technical experts from 53 European countries at a recent UEFA Coach Education Workshop in Budapest.

Head of FA Learning Jamie Houchen and FA Head of Coaching Awards Geoff Pike were invited to provide an overview of the player centred methodology which underpins The FA’s expanding coaching pathway.

Houchen believes the invite to speak at European football’s largest gathering of coaching minds disproves the myth that the English are playing catch-up to other countries when it comes to coach education. He said: “During international week the number of qualified coaches and coaching programmes adopted by England’s European counterparts are often elevated on to a pedestal and presented as something we should be aiming towards. “What we found last week is that in many aspects of coaching we are leading the way and other European countries, including many of the successful ones, are very keen to learn from us and adopt some of the ways we are doing things.”

Houchen and Pike provided a detailed insight into The FA’s Future Game playing philosophy which encourages a style of play based on technical and decision-making excellence, controlled possession and attacking creativity.

The Future Game philosophy guides the technical syllabus of all the courses included on The FA’s coaching pathway which, unlike many other European countries, offers coaches the opportunity to develop as a specialist in working with young players. Houchen added: “One of the areas the other nations were keen to learn about is our dedication to developing the next generation of specialist youth coaches. “Since 2006 we have been developing a strand to our coaching pathway which provides coaches with the opportunity to become highly skilled in the varied skills needed to work effectively with young players.”