Pilot edition of ‘Living like an ADO Professional!’ completed

Pilot edition of ‘Living like an ADO Professional!’ completed

The past three Mondays (14, 21 and 29 March) ADO Den Haag visited HVV Laakkwartier for the pilot phase of the new project ‘Living like an ADO-Prof!’. The current under-14 team has the privilege to be the first team to participate in this new project. The three training sessions were all about ‘Setting Goals’. Last Monday, all participants received a certificate from the trainers, because they have completed the project well.

The boys and girls of Laakkwartier under-14 knew for several weeks that there would be trainers from ADO Den Haag in front of the group on three Mondays. Partly because of this, the entire 18-man squad appeared at the first training session, which was led by Ronald Samson (assistant coach ADO Den Haag under-18) and Kees Brouwers.

First training

The first training was all about “What are goals?”. During several exercises the participants had to set a goal for themselves or their team. This was immediately reflected in the first exercise. Within the allotted 1 minute and 20 seconds all players had to run one lap around the field. When the team amply achieved this goal, the goal was adjusted upward. Also, during the following warm-up and finishing exercise, the participants were continuously made aware of the importance of goal setting. “The number of good touches or playing on the strong leg of your teammate are already goals,” said head coach Ronald. At the end of the training, the players were given an assignment. They had to formulate three goals: one goal for themselves, one goal for the team and one goal outside of football. The completed form was discussed during the final training session in an individual interview.

There is more than soccer

Participants also arrived well in advance for second training. “For some players, arriving on time can already be a great goal for the season,” Kees addressed the participants. “One minute and five seconds,” shouted player Younes, even before he had put on his football boots. So there was some learning achieved in the team. All players also came to hand in the assignment forms neatly to the trainer. During the second training session, the focus was on a dribbling game in which participants had to categorise a named goal by the trainer by doing an exercise with ball. Participants could choose from school, work, social life or hobbies with the aim of making the youth realise that there is more than football, and that certain goals are connected. “You can’t function well on the field when your performance in school is very poor,” said the trainers.

Setting goals for your future

On Monday, March 29, the course was concluded. Head coach Ronald completed an intensive training on the field, while the children were called one by one for an individual conversation with Kees based on their submitted assignment forms. It was clearly noticeable that the young people had learned something from the training. There were many wonderful objectives. Many were about football, but for many participants a school career was an important part of their future. Many players also found out that you cannot become a professional footballer just by training hard. A healthy lifestyle, the necessary (social) distractions, focusing on school and other goals in life also contribute to your development as a potential professional football player! In the end, every participant completed the three-part course with more than enough points and received an ADO Den Haag certificate from the trainers!

With ‘Living like an ADO Professional’, ADO Den Haag and ADO Den Haag in de Maatschappij want to give children and youngsters from the region the opportunity to experience the unique experience of being a professional footballer in an optimal environment, to discover their talents and to develop their competences. During the pilot editions the methods will be tested in order to set up the projects at schools, clubs and in the neighbourhood from September 2021 onwards.

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