Part 3 : How you could to use ChatGPT to help in Volunteer/ Grassroots Coach Education

We are very grateful for all those who have responded to our survey on how you are using Chat GPT ( or would like to use ChatGPT ) - we had over 100 responses.

The vast majority of those replying said that were using ChatGPT as an 'assistant ' and 'brainstorming ' as well as ' research ' were still the biggest uses.

One of the major desires of the respondents was to try and use ChatGPT to support Volunteer /Grassroots Coach Education.

So in this blog we will look at how ChatGPT can support Volunteer /Grassroots Coach Education.

For context we will review what is expected of Grassroots Coaches with the increased influence of ' PLAY ' as shown by the German FA , English FA and also referenced by the late and much respected Horst Wein

The biggest value of ChatGPT we believe will be providing ' another voice ' to prospective coaches other than the coach educator or standard content. ChatGPT can be a summary of the wisdom of the crowd +hopefully a stimulus for discussion

So what do we expect from Volunteer/Grassroots Coaches ?

The increasing trend in Grassroots Football at the younger ages is to emphasise PLAY. The best example of this is the new game formats promoted by the German FA as outlined in this article in the excellent Training Ground Guru

I also asked ChatGPT to summarise the German FA's new formats and ChatGPT came back with this response -you can compare but the summary is I think very effective !!

I was in Frankfurt earlier in the year with the DFB and I was told they had spent some time researching best formats around the world, piloted and tested the formats in Germany before launching these new initiatives which are mandatory from the start of the 2024/25 season

Two Big Take - Aways hit me :

1. No referees and minimal involvement from coaches and parents.

2. ‘game afternoons’ and festivals, rather than formal matches and leagues.

This is part of trend in many countries where PLAY has become the central theme for 5- 11 year olds ( thankfully!!) See also the work of Pete Sturgess , the English FA and the free online course ' Play Phase'

So will the most admired and effective Grassroots Coaches be more of a Facilitator than a Coach ? ( see the useful post here from SoccerX's )

How can Chat GPT help ??

We think there are a number of options

• If you work for an Association, League or a large Club,you may wish to create your own Chatbot specifically for Grassroots Coaches using ChatGPT. This is response here from ChatGPT to achieve this

• If you aren't that confident in creating a Chatbot yet then I would suggest using our step by step guide - the BRASS format and start ' training ' your ChatGPT account to focus on Grassroots Coaching by adopting the following tactics :

1. Focus your ChatGPT account to answer questions on Coaching 5- 11 year olds and challenge ChatGPT to provide references. Examples could include the following:

- Why do kids start to play soccer and why do they quit playing ?

- Why do parents enrol their kids in grassroots soccer clubs and programmes?

- What aspects, formats of grassroots soccer do kids really enjoy?

- Why do coaches volunteer to coach soccer and why do they quit ?

- Why do grassroots coaches enrol on grassroots coaching courses ?

If prospective coaches in your club or Association have ChatGPT accounts then ask them to use these prompts and then start a discussion on the responses at the first coach education session.If they don't have ChatGPT accounts ( they will have in 12 months !) then use your account to pose these questions and share the responses with prospective coaches for discussion

2. Train your ChatGPT account by uploading a document and asking it to summarise it. You can then share with your prospective coaches. For example I uploaded this excellent document from the late and much respected Horst Wein.

This was freely available on the web as a PDF. I then uploaded it to ChatGPT and asked it to summarise the main points of this philosophy for young players.

ChatGPT's response was as follows :

1. " Soccer is more than the sum of technique, tactics and condition.A coach who teaches his players correct technique using special, frequently repeated drills is neglecting to teach them“why,” “when” and “where” they need to use a technique to deal with a given game situation.

2. The players learn to read game situations correctly by chance– if at all.Players therefore need games that

• stimulate them technically, tactically, physically and mentally in equal measure

• promote their understanding of the game

• improve their perception and decision-making ability

• help them learn to adapt quickly and securely to the constantly changing game situations in defense and attack.

At each development stage the size of the field and the goals, the ways in

which goals are scored, the size of the ball, the number of players and the

rules are harmonized to suit the age and level of ability of the players.

Made-to-measure games

3. TALENT DEVELOPS IN REPEATED CONFRONTATIONS

BETWEEN LOTS OF PLAYERS IN A SMALL FIELD,

WHEREAS A LARGE FIELD EXHAUSTS THE CREATIVE,

LIVELY AND IMAGINATIVE PLAYER

soccer-intelligence-horst-wein.pdf

Download PDF • 608KB

Please give us your feedback to this blog in the comments section below or email me at rrussellsportspath@gmail.com ?