Today we were back at South Devon College in Paignton for our last day of Soccer School Easter Holidays.

I was “buddied” up with a child who has Epilepsy to ensure they were feeling okay for the whole day.

To begin the day. All age groups were grouped into 3 teams per age group. Us coaches then set up a huge circle consisting of 12 stations in order to create a football Olympic tournament. This lasted until lunch time (midday). Prior to starting the Olympic Games I ran a warm up for all age groups so they were ready for the “Olympic games”. I stayed with the younger age groups, helping them with all stations.

After lunch we then went into a sister tournament of football matches. Staying in the same groups as they were in for football olympics (Covid friendly), they played mini matches to add the scores to each coloured team.

During the sister tournament there were a couple of injuries that had occurred.

One athlete had twisted their ankle whilst playing football, I checked their range of movement, palpated the area and all seemed “fine” player was happy to continue playing.

Another athlete had grazed their knee on the astroturf after a slide tackle against their opponent. I had to clean the small wound however, there was no need for a plaster as it was not bleeding. Plus, the player did not want a plaster.

At the end of the tournaments/end of the day. We then went into a penalty shoot out game to determine winners for each age group. This happened by splitting all age groups off into separate groups as it was easy to maintain and control.

What Went Well

The aim of today was for all the players to have fun. I found that today went really well due to having next to zero injuries (only minor). Being able to feel confident and professional around the players, teaching them new techniques and how to play fair between each other.

Next Time

Next time, I need to ensure that all kids are warmed up after lunch ready for the second half of the day, and cooled down properly prior to leaving to go home. Being paired up with an athlete who I needed to keep an eye on was challenging as I was worried if they ran too much or got involved too much that they would have a seizure. So next time I need to be more prepared about how a seizure occurs, even though I know what the procedure is if the seizure occurred, I need to understand the signs and symptoms of why it occurs.