Team Selection Approach
Stage 1: U7–U10
At Bedhead Football Club, our approach to team selection at Stage 1 (U7–U10 age groups) reflects our commitment to holistic player development and a positive footballing environment. Our teams at these age groups are intentionally composed of players with mixed abilities. This inclusive structure supports our coaching philosophy, player curriculum, and long-term development goals.
When forming teams, we carefully consider the following factors:
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Player Personalities: We aim to create team environments where players can thrive both socially and emotionally. Understanding individual personalities allows us to balance teams in a way that promotes strong relationships, emotional intelligence, and confidence.
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Date of Birth: Relative age within the academic year can impact a player’s physical, cognitive, and emotional development. By acknowledging where players fall within their birth year, we ensure each child is placed appropriately to foster growth and engagement.
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Physical Development: We consider physical maturity to ensure players are neither overwhelmed nor under-challenged. Our goal is to create balanced matchups that help all players develop their coordination, strength, and game understanding in a supportive setting.
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Challenge Point: Each player is placed at their optimal challenge level, encouraging learning through manageable difficulty. We believe that carefully calibrated challenges are key to accelerating technical and psychological development.
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School Representation: While we aim to include a few friends together for social comfort, we also intentionally mix players from different schools. This ensures that:
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Teams remain viable during school event clashes.
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Players develop friendships outside of their school environment, strengthening their social adaptability and interpersonal skills.
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This approach ensures that every child receives the right balance of support and challenge, enjoys their football experience, and develops on and off the pitch. It also allows us to stay true to our core belief: that football at this age should be fun, inclusive, developmental, and team-oriented.
STAGE 2 – U11 – U12’s
This is our first stage of filtering teams into ability groups. We will start by creating two stronger squads and consider various factors such as:
1. Developmental Stage: Evaluating where each player is at, in their personal development at this age in relation to our curriculum.
2. Future Plans: Identifying players who have an ambition in pursuing a career pathway in football and those who will be leaving us to attend boarding schools or have other commitments.
3. Availability: Determining if players can participate on Sundays; as by U13, our strongest team will be playing on Sundays.
Additionally, we will form a development team aimed at nurturing players who can potentially move into one of our stronger team based on their progress. This structure ensures a continuous developmental pathway for all players, aligning with our curriculum, their individual growth, and circumstances.
STAGE 3- +U13’s
At this age, depending on the number of players, we will form one or two teams. These will be categorised as an A team and a B team, based solely on footballing ability, physical and psychological development. This approach ensures that players are grouped with peers of similar skill levels, allowing us to implement our curriculum which is linked to our philosophy.