What Should Coaches, Parents and Players Expect from Myself as a Coach?

   For those who haven’t met me yet, my name is Darrel Hayes (Tall, Slim, British and have braces) and I have been working with Challenger Sports for 5 years.

I’ve been coaching for 5 years now but have had an extreme amount of interest in soccer since the age of 7 years old.

   I began playing soccer competitively at the age of 7; a team was short on players for a tournament so I was happy to help out. I got a few goals and had a fairly good tournament; it wasn’t long after that I was playing for a semi-professional academy. This is where I spent the majority of my soccer career but eventually it came to an end when I was 14. I went on to play for local clubs, managing to play at my soccer team’s stadium (Bolton Wanderers) in a final. I kept on playing soccer through university, as a team we managed a couple of trophies. Nothing really interesting about my soccer career (sorry), I still love to play and I will be looking to play during my time in Arlington.

  I got into coaching soccer through friends of mine, I had finished high school and college A-levels but I wasn’t ready to go to university as I didn’t want to be a Geography Teacher :). Friends suggested I should go to another college to do coaching and here I am. By going to college, I got the chance to work with Challenger Sports in California which was an amazing experience.  Since then, I’ve worked with Challenger Sports in Chicago, Toronto X2 & now Arlington. Whilst at home, I did my Sports Coaching Degree at Leeds Beckett University and coached with a local company called Foot-tech Academy. We worked on developing player’s in order for them to achieve elite level at Leeds United, Manchester City and many more.

What should coaches expect from me as a Challenger Sports Coach?

    I hope I have shown the type of coach I am to those coaches who have already met me. Hopefully, I get the chance to meet as many coaches as I possibly can during my time with Arlington Soccer Club.

    I like to come across as very approachable, you will find me trying to have a laugh as much as possible but I am professional when it comes to coaching. I am here to help as many coaches as I possibly can, even if I don’t manage to coach your team this season then feel free to email me ([email protected]) with any questions or even for a chat, I will help you as much as I can.

    I’ve always loved helping people, so helping you with coaching is a privilege for me to have.  As I only have two sessions with each team, I will try to give you many ideas that you can use throughout the season for your sessions.

  I will be coaching grades 3 and below, as coaches you will notice very quickly that the sessions will be fun. If you see me pretending to be a princess then don’t worry it’s for the kid’s entertainment. Keeping the kid’s engaged is vital for me as a coach; I will everything I can to keep them engaged.

Hopefully I will see you around coaches!

What should parents expect from me as a Challenger Sports Coach?

   First of all, Parents please don’t worry, your child/children are in safe hands with me, and they will have a fantastic time.

  I’ve seen plenty of parents over the past couple of weeks, for those who haven’t met me; I bet you’re excited to meet me right? I joke.

  I will do the best I can to develop your child’s development in soccer, the kids will be there to learn and I will give them the soccer knowledge that they need from me.

  I will be a princess (as mentioned to the coaches) for your child if that means they’re having fun, or I will give them some soccer challenges for those who want to be tested. Basically, I will do everything I can to make sure they have the most fun session.

  I’d love to be a role model to them; I’m not just here to teach them soccer but also to help them with other things.

 And most of all, yes I will make sure that your child is extremely tired by the end of the session so that you’re able to get a peaceful night.

  See you around Parents!

What should the players expect from me as a Challenger Sports Coach?

  Simple question, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? I hope to make you as good as these players but we will see.

  I want you as players to show me new and different things, such as skills, turns, celebrations and anything you can think of. Remember, I am a coach and I need some ideas from you :).

 From me, I will show you as many different skills as I can, whether it’s dribbling, shooting or even balancing a ball on the back of your neck, cool right? Or not?

 I will give you a really fun session if I get to coach you; I have plenty of ideas up my sleeve. You never know you may get a chance to take a penalty shot on me, there’s only one winner though.

  My aim is to give you all a high five before I head off, if you already have then good, if not give me a high five on the fields.

  By the way, I hope you chose Messi!