Red Devils academy coach plays ball in Benoni
He coaches United’s U8 to U12 teams. He also owns a soccer school called JNS where he is focusing on individual coaching of children and elite players. He has coached players like Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood.
Manchester United’s lead pre-academy coach Jarrad Ince conducted a coaching clinic at SuperSport Soccer Schools (SSUSS) at Benoni Country Club on July 1.
The 30-year-old is one of the leading youth coaches in the world. He is in the country for the next two weeks and will conduct training sessions with the SuperSport United Academy and several coaching clinics for young footballers in the province.
Ince took the players through their paces, teaching them the basics of football. He set them up in a small-sided game to help them better master the ball, body language of opponents and communication.
He commended SSUSS for spearheading youth development in the country..
“There are a lot of people in this country who are pulling in the right direction. I think the work and approach at SuperSport is absolutely perfect. They are giving the players the best opportunity to develop as individuals rather than as part of a team,” Ince said.
SSUSS coach Ryan Macfarlane told the paper that Ince has lots of experience in foundation phase football development.
“He coaches United’s U8 to U12 teams. He also owns a soccer school called JNS where he is focusing on individual coaching of children and elite players. He has coached players like Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood,” Macfarlane said.
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The SSUSS has played a crucial role in football development in South Africa since 2010.
According to Macfarlane, the school’s ethos is derived from Brazillian football where players are encouraged to perfect their technique and ball skills by spending most of their time with the ball on their feet.
He argued that their approach better equips players to understand game situations.
“Our main focus is getting the players good on the ball where a lot of clubs focus on gameplay. We believe that the children first need to master the ball before starting playing games.
“We start them off playing in a futsal-like game in a small field where they get a lot of touches on the ball. Our players become good in tight spaces and at playing the ball,” he said.
Macfarlane added that the global approach to youth development needs to be modelled on helping young players develop ball-playing skills before being thrown into competitive matches.
“In football around the world, we’ve had a problem for many years with the way children are coached. They start with an 11v11 or 9v9 game before the players can even play and master the ball.
“We focus a lot more on 2v2 small-sided games to help the children learn how to play with the ball. We have some that are two and three years old that are already learning ball skills.
“When they are nine, they would have been playing for some years whereas most children in a normal club start playing at the age of six.
“The children that start with us are already ahead in terms of training. I think there’s a lot wrong with youth development in general.”
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