Great Coaches - Ali's Words

We are currently in the process of interviewing coaches for our women’s team as well as our junior football team. Last year, we signed a partnership with a Scottish FA to help the people in the UAE qualify and produce more coaches. It was one of the best things to happen to us because just in this one year we’ve had around a hundred coaches qualify through this system. So naturally, when we look for new coaches, our first preference is to choose from our own coaching pool. But while we do open opportunities for them to avail, we only hire on merit.

In our interviews, we assess the candidate’s experience, knowledge, talent as well as values. One of the most important questions we ask is about the coach’s philosophy. The answers that different coaches come up with are quite varied and fascinating. Some of them don’t even have a philosophy; they’ve simply come for a job. Remember, the job is for someone who is truly passionate about the game and is willing to give it their all to teach and groom their team. So if you don’t have a coaching philosophy of your own, you need to develop one by reading, researching, and learning.

To become an educator in football, you got to have values and skills that can you can pass on to your team. You also need to have in mind a playing style that you wish your team to achieve and the strategies that you want them to employ in different situations. There should be a methodology behind the way you lead, or else the results won’t be fruitful.

A good coaching culture is one where you teach the values of hard work, fun, and independent thinking by leading by example. All these qualities and elements come together to nurture talent in a way that deepens engagement and delivers key results. In other words, the true measure of a good coach is how professional and successful their team is in the long run.