Interview with Balvinder Shekhon, Community Delivery Manager at Milton Keynes Dons Football Club

(Image credits: FA/Getty Images)

Balvinder Shekhon has been a youth football coach running programs in both England and the United States. As the Head Coach at the U-15 Girls Centre of Excellence at Milton Keynes, he has a unique perspective on youth football. He was generous with his time in speaking to us at length.

Please tell us about yourself, your family, your early formative years and the role that football played in your childhood.

I have been coaching for over 15 years now in a variety of environments which has given me valuable experiences and lessons in life. My wife is my biggest fan and has been really supportive along with the rest of my family towards my career, which is very important because football is a very competitive environment. I have very strong roots in India, Punjab where my uncle and aunt still live. I am very proud of my Sikh heritage and culture which has blessed me with crucial foundations to make positive contributions to society. My passion for sports, especially football, began from 7 years of age, watching the Mexico 86 World Cup finals on TV. I also had a sticker album, like every other kid of my age, which was complete with all the teams who had qualified for the finals that year. I still remember the dreaded ‘hand of god’ by Diego Maradona which broke English hearts. In my formative years, Liverpool were dominating the domestic game. Players like Ian Rush, John Barnes and Peter Beardsley were and still are household names. I liked quick and skilful wingers like Tony Daley (Aston Villa), Mark Walters (Liverpool), Lee Sharp (Man Utd), Ryan Giggs (Man Utd) and Anders Limpar (Arsenal).

I remember the moment I shed my baby weight at the age of 11, I pretended to be like my idols at every opportunity in the park with my friends. When I was growing up, there were hardly any soccer schools or coaching programmes to enroll in. I just watched football on TV and went out to practice the skilful moves I saw. I was fortunate to have really influential PE teachers throughout my school years. I must admit without these great human beings I may have been on a totally different path. There were many distractions to potentially lead you astray when I was growing up, such as gangs, drugs and alcohol. Fortunately for me, I threw myself into as many sporting activities as I could, ranging from Football, Basketball, Cricket, Tennis and Athletics. Football had everything for me, the passion, desire, drama, excitement and a roller coaster of emotions. The game gave me an identity and it allowed me to escape away from the bad distractions that were around to trip me up.

For a period of 7 years, you were at the World Youth Promotions in partnership with Arsenal FC Soccer Schools. What are your thoughts on the Arsenal FC Soccer Schools? What, if anything, makes them different from any other Club Soccer Schools?

Yes, I was given the opportunity to start my coaching career by Roland Butcher who was the first black cricketer to play Test match cricket for England. World Youth Promotions was an official licensed operator for Arsenal Soccer Schools and operated in schools, leisure centers’ and local grass roots clubs. Their work also extended into Germany and Cyprus where talented boys from the area were taken on tour to play against local sides. Arsenal football club have always had strong ties with local communities within the South East of England. The soccer school programme has created opportunities for many children and young people to enjoy playing the game, from beginner to advanced level. In recent years, the club has extended its international partnerships to America, Saudi Arabia, Africa and most recently India. These partnerships are unique; this global strategy is built on longevity and sustainability. Arsenal is a strong and vibrant brand which people of all age groups can relate to. The oversea projects understand and respect the host country’s culture and values which helps build empathy with local communities. On the pitch, there is a strong DNA throughout the club, from the U-8’s academy kids through to the first team. Arsenal has a great desire to extend this style and philosophy, throughout the world, which is known as the ‘Arsenal way’.

Tell us about the Skill 7 Elite progression program that you prepared while at Skill 7.

Skill 7 Elite was set up by a close friend of mine who wanted to give young players an environment to develop their technique and skill so they could fulfill their potential. One of the core activities was to build strong relationships with academies run by pro clubs. Through this network, we were able to arrange fixtures with Arsenal, Reading and West Ham to name a few. This allowed the players a platform to play against elite players to measure how much they had developed. We wanted to measure the development of our players and through this, the ‘Skill7’ Elite Progressions Programme was created. This was a process of agreeing ‘smart’ targets with players and reviewed at the end of each 10-week block of work. The coaching programme was a ‘player centered’ approach in-order to give each player the opportunity to be the best player they can be. The reviews were based on players’ strengths and areas for development, such as technical/tactical skills, personality and character, balance, co-ordination and agility. Through this programme, we had a number of players try out at academies run by professional clubs. Five such players signed youth contracts at Reading, Bristol City, Cambridge Utd, Leicester City and Oxford Utd respectively.

(Image credits: FA/Getty Images)

You have spent some time in the US too. What are your thoughts on the quality of the US youth player pool?

Yes, I spent nine months in New Jersey and New York in 2006 which was a fantastic learning experience for me. The game in North America is thriving at the grass roots level with a large number of private coaching companies providing a variety of environments for children and young people. There is a huge British influence with hundreds of coaches flying out to the States every year to build their coaching experience. Whilst I was out there, the coaching environments were very much coach-led, allowing very little opportunity for the children to make their own decisions and be creative. However, it is changing and good practice is being exchanged through all major football federations to help develop players. The girls and women’s game is very strong, where they produce fantastic athletes who skilfully manage the technical and physical demands of the game. America has a system which has a strong synergy with education which I feel supports holistic development of an athlete. I feel it is only a matter of time before we see America win a major youth or senior international tournament.

Could you tell us about the FA Tesco Skills Program? What did it seek to do, why and do you think it had any lasting impact?

The FA Skills Programme was established in spring 2007 with the support of Tesco (A major supermarket chain here in the UK) and Sport England, a government quango organization that distributes financial resources to all major sporting National Governing bodies. I was fortunate enough to be part of this fantastic initiative as a Skills Coach Team Leader, where I managed three other skills coaches. The programme’s main purpose is to improve physical literacy, fundamental movement skills with and without the ball amongst boys and girls aged 5 to 11 years of age. This is major flagship initiative for The FA which has a long term strategy for players and coaches. Currently, The FA employs over 150 full-time skills coaches who deliver sessions in schools, after school skills centers’ and at local FA Charter Standard grass roots clubs. There are also dedicated Regional Coach Educators who deliver age appropriate qualifications to coaches across the country. The programme is into its seventh year, making a real impact on the development of grassroots players and coaches. We are starting to see the benefits, children are experimenting more with the ball, technique is improving and the ability to be more creative thinkers in-order to solve problems is starting to show. Only time will tell if this programme helps develop players for the professional game and England.

Could you tell us about the “Centres of Excellence” concept and how they came about in England? How are they funded, run and what have the results been so far?

There are two pathways for elite performers in the boys and girls game and, like any other country, we want to see home grown players playing in the domestic leagues and England competing at the highest level of International competition. We have a thriving girls and women’s game here in England and there is a clear pathway for girls to develop and progress. The FA fund 29 licensed girls Centres of Excellence operated by professional clubs across the country. Girls aged 11 to 17 are selected through trials to represent their clubs and are divided into regional leagues, where they play fixtures every week. England scouts are then sent to fixtures to select girls for England Performance Centres. Here, girls from other centres take part in sessions run by FA coaching staff who select players to represent England at U15 and U17 levels. I think this national concept is fantastic and some of the talent I see week in week out is truly amazing. I feel privileged to be part of a process where I am making a contribution in helping England produce future Internationals. The boys Academy system here has had a major revamp at the start of this season.

Late last year, Premier league and Football league clubs voted in favour of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP); this meant that the academy system would be broken down into four categories – 1 to 4, with 1 being the highest level. Clubs would now have to apply for a licence and state what category academy they wanted. The process is then followed up with an audit implemented by an independent organization, who would go through and check the academy’s philosophy, coaching syllabus, coaching qualifications of staff, player development programmes, facilities and of course financial sustainability. The academies are part funded by the Premier League and the professional clubs themselves. The FA and Premier League have also invested in Professional Club Coach Educators who support the ongoing Continuous Professional Development (CPD) of coaching staff at academies in order to quality assure the work being done. Academies can apply for higher or lower categories every two years, where they can submit for an independent audit. Again, only time will tell if this system produces stars of the future. I really hope it does.

What do you think makes a good youth coach?

I’m a big believer that the coach is a good human being first, coach/teacher second. You need to have qualities such as integrity, patience, passion, desire, personality and character. We need to understand the motivations of the reason why children and young people play the game. Once we have established this, we can start to create fun learning environments with a holistic focus on developing the whole person. Not every child is going to be the next Ronaldo, Messi or Beckham but our duty as coaches is simply to harness their enthusiasm for the game and help them become the best player they can be.

How do you make skill learning fun for kids, when most of their attention is on the game at the end of the session?

Kids are messy and so is learning. Gone are the days of line drills and patterned routines without any defenders. If we were to watch a group of U-8s playing a typical game with one goal at each end, it would look like chaos. But the kids know the objective; it’s simple, score in their goal and defend your own. So to prevent the dreaded question for every coach after 5 mins of the session…”when are we playing a match coach”, try to design practices that are realistic to the game itself. Make the practices competitive, keep time, score along with Team, Unit and Individual ideas to keep them involved in the learning process. The practices you design can also be games as long as the kids have a physical target to take the ball to. It does not necessarily have to be goals at either end, the target can be end zones, shapes made from cones, gates and players. Plan sessions so you can deal with differentiation within your group; not every child is going achieve the desired outcome from the task. Think of ways of how you can increase and decrease the challenge, you want every child to experience the feeling of success. Kids always need a reason or extrinsic motivation to fully engage them so they can achieve maximum returns from their experiences, but on most occasions young people just want to see their coach smile and have fun too.

Why do you think England has been such a poor performer at major football tournaments over the years? Is there anything they are doing to address this?

Such a common question this one and I have heard numerous opinions and thoughts to why England under perform. For me, a major factor is that England has a very unique structure when it comes to the Elite player development and the professional game. England once had a structure where talented players across England would attend one school (Lillieshall) where they would train and receive their academic studies. The structure changed and emphasis and responsibility of elite player development went to the professional clubs, who all have various playing philosophies. Ultimately, the emphasis went towards club football rather than country, especially after the creation of the English Premier League. Many of the world’s football federations have kept the ethos of national pride and created a playing DNA which runs through all national age groups. I feel we may have lost this sense of pride and passion in playing for England because professional club demands are massive, especially with big salaries they pay to players.

However, I feel in the past 8 years The FA and all the major stakeholders of the game have been working incredibly hard to address the issue of increasing standards at grass roots all the way through to elite level. The proof of this was when The FA opened its multi million pound National Football Centre – St George’s Park last summer. This will be a university of football where thousands of coaches will be trained so they can develop good technical players within their communities. The national centre also hosts all the England teams when they are preparing for matches. The facilities are world class and every young player I have spoken to who has trained there say they feel like an England player. The England youth teams have had good success in qualifying for major tournaments and performing well in the finals. I feel it’s only a matter of time before the senior team will click and win a major tournament.

The Indian diaspora in England is now probably into the second or third generation, yet there hasn’t been a single break-through mainstream player to emerge from the British Asian community. Why is that?

I strongly feel it is only a matter of time before a youngster breaks through. In recent years we have had the likes of Harpal Singh (Leeds Utd), Zesh Rehman (Fulham) and Michael Chopra (Newcastle Utd) break into first team squads. I also think as soon as a young player breaks into a home nation’s youth team squad, (England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland) there will be a really positive vibe, the exposure will be fantastic, in turn inspiring children and parents. Another big factor is that we need to attract parents to become involved in local grassroots teams and volunteer their time. We all know Asians are very knowledgeable about the game, but are they knowledgeable about coach and player pathways? Becoming an elite performer in any sport takes a lot of time, patience and dedication; it does not happen overnight. I feel if we become involved in player development at grassroots and work up, we will start to see more children from Asian backgrounds playing the sport at a level where their talent can be recognized and nurtured. It is about gaining knowledge of the system and building relationships with groups and organizations so we can start integrating children so they are exposed to the game at all levels. I have coached at every level and have seen only a small number of children and young people from Asian back grounds on courses and teams. We need to increase participation, especially at the younger age groups where vital ball techniques and skills can be ingrained so they can progress and develop. My belief is we have great passion and desire for the game but lack the motivation to reach out and find opportunities to become coaches and players. I strongly feel there is a strong correlation between the two and should not be addressed in isolation, we need to embrace the fantastic initiatives The FA and Sport England promote to educate new coaches and playing opportunities for children.

Have you had any exposure to football in India or Indian footballers? Any thoughts on Indian football that you would like to share with us?

I have been amazed with the amount of football activity which is currently happening in India. I have recently visited India, Punjab to see my family after 18 years and was amazed at the amount of playing areas which had goal posts. Commercially, the game is thriving in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune with major Premier League clubs running soccer schools and academies. I personally have not been involved in any capacity but it has always been an ambition to do so. I have always wanted to help India develop football and players so we can build a healthy nation who can compete at all levels of the game. Maybe one day soon this will be possible where I will be able to share my knowledge and skills. I look forward to that day.

Many thanks for taking the time to speak to us.