The nerves have disappeared and what has been left behind is a soul full of joy!!

As a Mummy coach in a what remains mostly a Man’s world I question what have I let myself in for? I know little about football and felt physically sick as I welcomed the expectant little faces of the 4 and 5 year old girls and boys onto the pitch I had marked out.

My coaching ‘career’ (ahem) came about as my husband is one of the coaches for our daughter on the U8s team, and Kickstart, the group that caters for our son, was struggling to find a coach as the previous Kickstart group had moved up to U7s and one coach to look after two groups seemed unfair-  I didn’t want our son to miss out so before I knew it, I was in the local branch of Sports Direct, picked up some boots and a whistle. A coach was born!!!

Lily (our daughter) was hesitant and informed not only would I look daft I also had little skill. James too had his reservations but when faced with Mummy as a coach or no coach at all he decided to take the only option if he wanted to kick a ball about on a Sunday morning!

I spent last Saturday evening watching endless children’s coaching videos on YouTube as well as CBeebies Footy Pups videos, I made notes and created my drills list!

The week running up to the session was spent checking with the husband that my drills were realistic and that I could deliver what the children were expecting to receive. I was so pleased to have the 8 girls and boys turn up, they listened well, followed my instructions and all appeared to have a ‘ball’ (pun intended).

Their feed back was that they would all like a turn in goal,so as I busily plan next week’s session a drill of goalkeeping plays a vital role as well as a Paw Patrol themed drill.

I never knew I had it in me, but each week I will turn up in the hope to bring more fun and happiness into the lives of the kids!