Kev Weir - PE & Sports Coach

Kev Weir - PE & Sports Coach 👨‍🏫 Primary PE Teacher | Sports Coach
🏃Sharing daily coaching and PE ideas
⚽ Weekly football sessions in North Devon
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10/09/2026

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10/09/2026

Nobody is suggesting coaches have committed a crime 😂

But if we say youth football is about development, then surely playing opportunities have to be part of that conversation.

The children who currently need more development probably need more chances to play, not fewer.

Equal playing time isn’t about pretending every child is at the same level. It’s about giving every child the opportunity to develop.

⚽Should children be split by ability in football? ⚽Swimming has badges. Karate has belts. Clear, visible progressions.Fo...
09/09/2026

⚽Should children be split by ability in football? ⚽

Swimming has badges. Karate has belts. Clear, visible progressions.

Football?

Not so much.

We like to think we can group children by “ability" but what are we actually measuring?

Decision making?
Confidence?
Physical maturity?
Game understanding?

Or just who looks good right now?

Because the reality is football ability at young ages is hugely subjective.

And more importantly it changes.

The child who dominates at 7 might plateau. The quiet one at the back might suddenly click at 9. The less physical player might flourish once everyone evens out.

So yes, there can be a place for ability grouping.

But it should come with a big warning label:

Ability is not fixed.

The biggest issue isn’t splitting, it's how fixed those groups become.

Kids get labelled. Confidence follows the label. Opportunities follow the label.

If you’re going to split by ability, it has to be:

Fluid.
Flexible.
Regularly reviewed.

Children should be moving up and down, without stigma.

If you want to delve further into ability grouping I've added a reference list from various sources on the subject in the comments 👇

"It's just passion"Somewhere along the way we have confused passion with inappropriate behaviour on the sidelines. You c...
09/09/2026

"It's just passion"

Somewhere along the way we have confused passion with inappropriate behaviour on the sidelines.

You can be incredibly passionate without being the loudest person on the touchline and shouting and swearing doesn’t prove how much you care.

Sometimes the most passionate coach is the one quietly creating an environment children can’t wait to come back to.

Can't believe it was a year ago today when I made my first cover appearance in the Sports Directory catalogue.It was gre...
08/09/2026

Can't believe it was a year ago today when I made my first cover appearance in the Sports Directory catalogue.

It was great fun shooting the images and putting the interview together.

If you really want to kill a child’s love of sport, don’t shout on the sideline.Wait until the car ride home and give th...
08/09/2026

If you really want to kill a child’s love of sport, don’t shout on the sideline.

Wait until the car ride home and give them the “Match of the Day” breakdown of everything they did wrong.

Or on the other hand if you want to enhance a child's love of sport try: “What was your favourite moment today?”

Then stop. Let them talk if they want to.

08/09/2026

You can play this without a ball to develop fundamental movement skills then add the balls.

Course costs can be a barrier for many coaches.But developing doesn’t always need money.Some of the best ways to develop...
08/09/2026

Course costs can be a barrier for many coaches.

But developing doesn’t always need money.

Some of the best ways to develop are completely free.

Here are 6 simple ways to develop as a coach (and the last one might help you 😉)

Save this for later and let me know which one you already do 👇

Kids absolutely do need to learn how to lose.But sometimes the biggest emotional reaction to a youth football result com...
07/09/2026

Kids absolutely do need to learn how to lose.

But sometimes the biggest emotional reaction to a youth football result comes from the adults.

If we want children to become resilient, competitive and able to handle setbacks, we probably need to model that too.

We conceded a goal and I praised one of our players.Not because I’m soft or because winning doesn’t matter.We’d been wor...
07/09/2026

We conceded a goal and I praised one of our players.

Not because I’m soft or because winning doesn’t matter.

We’d been working on tracking back in training.

One of the things I’d noticed was that when we lost the ball, too many players stayed high up the pitch. Often one player was left trying to defend near our goal on their own.

Then, in one game, Ollie, who was probably the furthest player away, sprinted all the way back to try and help stop an attack.

We still conceded but I said:

“Ollie, I loved the effort you made to track back and help defend.”

What happened next?

Ollie kept doing it but he wasn’t the only one.

The other players had heard exactly what was being praised and started showing the same behaviour.

Praise the effort, decisions and behaviours you want to see more of not just the outcome.

Give children enough opportunities to repeat those behaviours and, over time, the successful outcomes are far more likely to follow.

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Barnstaple
EX32

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07853008133

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