Park Sport Project is exactly that, a Scotland based charity creating a positive and fun environment for young people to learn through play. Huge lovers of small-sided-games, MatchPlay Cards©️ were the perfect fit for the the team at Park Sport Project. Here's coach Darren to share how he uses MatchPlay Cards©️ in his sessions....
"MatchPlay Cards©️ constantly create opportunities for players to learn through play"
❤️Love of small sided games
"We're massive on playing small sided games, because we want players to play and thats why we started using MatchPlay Cards©️, they really aid what sport is about, its play. Their eyes light up and they say "Are we using the cards tonight?!"
"We will use the cards as challenges in games to really get players thinking, the scores go crazy when we add bonus points into them, you will see them thinking with your own eyes. It is about facilitating the players conversations to ask even more questions of them."
"MatchPlay Cards©️ provide us as coaches with an opportunity to step in, we don't want to do it all the time but we can coach on what we see"
👾 Bonus points in games
"The ownership is on the players when you give them a challenge card. When the ownership is on the players, you see them thinking about the game.You put players in small groups and let them talk about their cards to develop awareness."
"It has really pushed me as a coach to better understand the game because I don't want to just stop the game with no purpose, I need to know why I am stopping it and what MatchPlay Card©️ I will then add in."
"The way I do it in a session is have a couple of constant MatchPlay Cards©️ that will run through the session for everyone and then we will add more MatchPlay Cards©️ for individual players or certain games."
⚽️ Holiday camps
"The coaches told the players we would have a constant challenge card for everyone throughout the day and then we would add more MatchPlay Cards©️ into games as we went. It keeps the speed of the game up and decision making improves"
"The response we get from the players when we add MatchPlay Cards©️ is incredible. Players keep asking for them!"
"We said up 8 pitches of different games, each with a MatchPlay Card©️, it maybe the players pick or the coaches pick as to what challenges are used."
"There is a huge social part this, they are playing with their mates, always making decisions and they are always engaged through the game, it's lots of 3v3, 4v4s"
"Kids are getting what they want with MatchPlay Cards©️, its games. They're never asking asking to play games anymore."
Become a real game changer and add MatchPlay Cards©️ into your sessions 🛒📦 https://www.thecoachinglab.org/shop