Next in our staff blogging feature we have Al Tindall. Al founded the Club back in 2012 and quickly established it amongst the countries elite achieving Super League status back in 2015. A change in strategy has since seen the Club close its adult team to focus on the development of the next generation of Futsal players. Still Club Chairman Al now combines this role with leading on player development for the Clubs u7 and u11 squads.
Its been a great start to 2017 for Carlisle Futsal Club. A four week break over the Christmas period is great for relaxing but I like to be ‘on the go’ and couldn’t wait to get back. I think the break is good in that it makes me realise just how much I enjoy being part of this Club so from that point of view its definitely worth it. And judging by the players performances since Christmas I think the same can be said for them too.
I have had some really fantastic messages from parents of players in our academy recently. They’ve been complimenting the Club on the quality of the sessions we are putting on and telling us how much their children are enjoying being part of it. As coaches we don’t do what we do for praise but its always great to know we are having a positive impact and that what we are doing is working, so thank you.
Our Academy programme is the healthiest it has ever been. It is a real source of pride for me. Not only because of the improvement we are seeing in our players but also because of the quality of the coaches we are developing. It is the coaches who make it what it is and identifying the right people to lead our teams of young people is not an easy task. As a Club if you want to protect your brand image you must ensure you retain the quality in every session. It takes time to find the coaches who can do this. Its hard work finding them. To be a Futsal coach the person has to have the right attitude towards learning, usually they will know nothing about Futsal to begin with. Even if they do they need to understand our Club philosophy and get to know our players. They also have to have certain personality attributes. They need to be level headed, good communicators, patient, creative and obviously they must have a real passion for coaching. The team we have built here at Carlisle Futsal Club is special, it has become a real family of friends over the last 12 months. I think Futsal does that to people when they get involved in it. Everyone acknowledges the need to learn and we all go on that learning journey together, sharing experiences and things that we find to help make each other better. We help each other in sessions. We plan over the long term and short term together. We share practices and drills. We assess each others performance and adapt our coaching styles to become the best coaches that we can be. Of course we all have different styles but that’s the beauty of coaching isn’t it? Its an art and not a science. The messages of praise we have received are directly linked to the fact we have this coaching team in place and I am really proud to be a part of it.
It was also great to be featured on ITV border news again recently, more so because they contacted us after hearing good things about what we are doing. It always amazes me how far news travels. I’ve lost count of the number of times over the years I’ve met people for the first time and I’ve mentioned Carlisle Futsal and they have already heard of us.
We have the Futsal Euros coming up in 12 months time in Slovenia, England wont be there but Europes best will. Four of us went to the last Euros competition in Antwerp in 2016. It was a brilliant experience to witness top level Futsal live. We don’t ever get to see it in England – the speed and skill level was fantastic. I would encourage anyone who wants to witness top level Futsal to hop on a plane for a few nights and take some games in. They will no doubt be televised on Eurosport too.
In the coming months the Club plans to build on the great start to 2017. We’ve added more games to the schedule for our academy teams and are always looking for matches so we can put into practice in a competitive setting the things we are learning in training. Its vital for our players development.
We have some great links with local football teams and Futsal Clubs around England and Scotland and we are always looking to create more. We will be looking to forge a link with a Futsal Club from abroad over the next 12 months too with a view to organising a future trip oversea’s for our squads.
Cant wait for 2017!
Al
