It´s been two and a half weeks since I resigned at Pitt-Greensburg, and two weeks since I was offered the coaching job at Preston North End Women´s FC. I think that I might have everything sorted out that I am going to be able to make it across the pond and start working next week.
I´m hoping to get a lot out of the next three months: working in an English club environment will be miles different from working in US college or US club. In addition to working as senior coach with PNE Women´s, I expect to be able to at least observe some academy and COE training sessions of some of the clubs in the Northwest.
The Northwest of England is a football hotbed -- of course most everyone on the planet is familiar with Liverpool and Manchester United, but just in the football league, there are well over a dozen clubs within thirty miles of Preston. PNE, of course, Wigan, Liverpool, Everton, Man City, Man Utd., Rochedale, Bury, Accrington Stanley, Burnley, Blackpool, Blackburn, Oldham, Bolton, and more. Of course, the population density is high, but still the Northwest supports as many professional clubs and produces more professional players as the entire North American continent.
It´s not just a learning tour though -- I really think I have something to bring to the table. With three years coaching college women, and several more coaching youth girls, my experience and my education bring something to the club. The women´s game, while it has much of the same shape as the men´s game, the actual application of the principles of play is very different. As few women can hit the sixty yard diagonal ball, an emphasis is placed on combination play, defensive shape, and support of the ball. With the amount of women´s soccer I´ve been watching, I expect I can provide meaningful insight into the game.
Can I translate that insight into helping move the squad up from the middle of the table?
It´s still not certain I will be on a plane next week, but that´s the plan. Over the next three months, I hope to be tracking my progress as a coach, and sharing what I´ve learned. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of English coaches have made the trip to teach us in the States. Do I have something to return to the home of football?
