Coaching students treated with trip to live international cup match to help with modules

Students of UCFB’s BA (Hons) Football Coaching and Talent Development course attended a Premier League International Cup match as part of their most recent module.

The students visited Blackburn Rovers v Atletico Bilbao in the international cup competition, held at Accrington Stanley’s Crown Ground.

Level 5 and 6 students attended the match, for their respective modules:

• Level 5: International Player Development
• Level 6: Coaching in the Professional Development Phase (16-23 years old)

On the International Player Development module, students are taught about the approaches to player development at a number of different clubs throughout the world, one of which focuses on Atletico Bilbao due to their approach to only playing players born within the Basque region of Spain and France.

Students had a lecture on Bilbao prior to attending the game and were then given the task of observing their approach to the game in relation to their stated approach and philosophy. This will then feed into their first assessment for the module.

On Coaching in the Professional Development Phase, students focus on the many challenges of working in this particular phase of an academy. Students were tasked with observing the approach Blackburn took to the game in relation to their game model.

In the coming weeks the students will have a follow-up visit to Blackburn’s academy, meeting with the staff involved with the game to discuss their approach. The students will also have a detailed overview of the clubs highly successful approach to player development before watching related coaching sessions from the PDP staff.

Find out more about the many football coaching-related degree courses available at UCFB to score your dream career in sports.