Confidence, Week 1
Every player points their confidence at one thing they shy away from when the pressure's on.
Kids put far more into something they chose than something they were handed, so this week is about ownership.
But it is not just any goal. The thing that counts is the one a player backs off of when the pressure is highest: the shot they don't take, the player they won't run at, the ball they hide from when it matters. That is their growth spot. Point their confidence there, and they start to get better. Let them pick something safe they already fancy, and the month does nothing.
It also has to be one specific thing rather than confidence in general, and that is worth understanding before you put it to them. Confidence is not a setting a player turns up. It is specific to the task, which is why a kid can be certain they will bury a chance and still not fancy holding the ball up with their back to goal.
So "I'm going to be more confident" points at nothing, and nothing is what changes. There is research showing exactly this: a programme can lift how good young people feel about themselves in general and leave their belief in their own ability untouched. One named thing is what closes that gap. It gives them somewhere to put the effort, and something they can watch themselves get better at.
The Practice
Once a player knows what they are pointing their confidence at, and only then, they pick the word that fires it. One short phrase they say to themselves right before they go for it, like "pick your spot" or "go on." This is the month's first confidence tool, and it earns its place: the words a player says to themselves change how they play. A word aimed at what they want to do beats one aimed at what they are trying to avoid, which is why "pick your spot" works where "don't miss" does not.
Keep it to a few words, keep it theirs, and tell them when to use it, in their head, in the moment just before they go. The tool at home, Make It Mine, walks parents through the same order: their kid's thing first and then their word, so a kid who did it there arrives with both.
Coaching Strategies
Open the week with five minutes, no change to the rest of your session. Name what the month is on, then ask each player: “What's your one thing?”
If a kid's stuck, two questions get them there: where does the game get hard for you, and what's the braver version of what you do in that moment?
Next time you're together, before anything else, call on each kid to say their thing out loud — including anyone who hasn't landed on theirs yet. A kid hasn't really claimed their thing until they've said it out loud to someone.
What to look for
Who reaches for the safe option, and who names something that genuinely stretches them.
Who goes for their thing once you are playing, and who quietly avoids it.
Who could not name a thing so that you can come back to them.
What to say
Put it to the whole group as a single question, and let each kid answer for themselves.
Give them a range to see themselves in, skills and behaviours alike, so that every kid can find their own version.
Keep every bit of feedback on the going-for-it, not on whether it came off.
Pick your one thing. Doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's yours."
How to respond
Picks something easy → nudge them to the braver one: "What's the one you actually avoid?"
Can't name one → walk them through the three questions there and then, and get them a thing too.
Goes for it → back it on the spot, whoever it is, however it lands.
Avoids it → no pressure, just restate the frame and catch them next time.
Drill Design
Nothing here replaces your session. These are ideas to support whatever you already had planned.
If it helps, lean towards sessions with a lot of individual moments so every kid gets repeated goes at their own thing.
Ideas to Borrow:
Build player confidence by shrinking the numbers, 3v3 over 7v7, so everyone gets more touches and more goes.
Give each kid a personal mission inside a team game, so a group drill still lets them chase their own thing.
Drills that suit it:
Small-sided game, 3v3 or 4v4, for constant touches and one-on-one moments.
1v1 to goal, the purest go-for-it.
Rondo, where each kid picks their thing inside it: a turn, a first-time pass, a risky ball
Finishing lines, where each player chooses the finish they want to work on.
Dribbling session: making your moves
Andy Somers, The FA’s national coach development lead, shares a session that helps players learn to move with the ball.
Tackling session: 1v1 challenging grid
Darren Grover, FA physical education and coach development officer, shares a session that helps players think about challenging for the ball.
On match day
Start a tradition: Brave of the Match.
A match carries its own pressure, so it is not the place to push kids into trying wild things mid-match. This comes right at the final whistle, and this week you start it as a tradition the team comes to expect all month and beyond.
It works like Man of the Match, but it goes to the bravest go, not the best player. Bring them in and, out loud, name one to three players who did something brave today. Something that took real confidence to go for, whether or not it came off: the shot they finally took, the player they went at, the ball they called for when it was tight. Say what they did, say it took some nerve, and back it in front of the whole team.
Make it your own. Brave of the Match is a name to get you started, but the best version is the one your team owns, so call it what you like and let it become your team's thing.
Keep it about the bravery, not the goals or the scoreline, and spread it across different players week to week so it is not always the same names. Run every week; this becomes the moment the team looks forward to, and it teaches them that going for the hard thing gets noticed here. It is the match-day half of the same thing you told them at the start: back yourself, and have a go.
What to say:
"Right, before we go: Brave of the Match today. [name], you took that shot on instead of squaring it. [name], you kept running at your marker even after they nicked it off you. That's the stuff."