NOW CLOSED: Feedback thread for FA Tesco Skills Holiday Courses

[AnnMumsnet]

This is the feedback for the MNers based in Bristol, York or Burton upon Trent who attended the recent holiday sessions of the FA Tesco Skills courses.

The FA Tesco Skills football programme is held at venues across England - you can find one near you here. All holiday sessions are free, and coaching at weekly Skills Centres only costs £1 or £2 to cover venue hire.

So, if you attended the session please share with us...

~ Overall impressions
~ Coach: what your DC thought of the coach and how he/she compared to others you may have seen/ experienced?
~ Skills: what skills your DC learnt/ practised? How old is your child?
~ Plus anything else you or your DC thought about the session
~ Would you try to book again? Would you recommend to other parents? Why?

Everyone who adds a comment will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £150 to spend on England kit at the FA store.

thanks and good luck
MNHQ

[daisychicken]

We attended the session in Bristol this morning - 2 boys aged 11 and 8.

Initial impression was first of all where to go as there were no signs at the entrance of the sports centre but we soon spotted the FA skills logo. The coaches appeared to be well organised, polite and friendly. The group of 14 (I think) did a mix of combined tasks and split into two groups, one group had slightly older children and they played more football whereas the younger group did more tasks such as dribbling the ball.

Both my children enjoyed the session though my younger child would have preferred to have had a go at more football rather than the tasks. They had plenty of breaks for drinks and had fun chatting to the other children as well as joining in.

My only complaint that parents who stayed had to go to the viewing gallery - which was fine but there were no chairs! We spent 2 1/2 hours standing up! Not ideal for someone who really needs to sit down regulary and as I don't live close to the sports centre, I had no idea where else I could have gone while waiting for pick-up.

We would recommend the session to other children but we all felt that it was more suitable for younger children up to about 9 maybe 10 years of age, my 11 year old felt that he didn't learn anything new.

Thanks for the opportunity - it was a fun way for the kids to pass a few hours on a wet half-term day!

[spacemaster]

This is the feedback for the MNers based in Bristol, York or Burton upon Trent who attended the recent holiday sessions of the FA Tesco Skills courses.

The FA Tesco Skills football programme is held at venues across England - you can find one near you here. All holiday sessions are free, and coaching at weekly Skills Centres only costs £1 or £2 to cover venue hire.

So, if you attended the session please share with us...

Bristol Session attended today.
~ Overall impressions
Great, well organised, clean tidy environment, appropiate facilities.

~ Coach: what your DC thought of the coach and how he/she compared to others you may have seen/ experienced?
My two DC's attend Saturday football coached by dads. This was a little more structured, but the boys said it was good fun.

~ Skills: what skills your DC learnt/ practised? How old is your child?
Skills included scoring goals in a new way! Boys aged 8 and 9

~ Plus anything else you or your DC thought about the session
"Awesome!" "Breathtaking!"

~ Would you try to book again? Would you recommend to other parents?
Why?
Have attended Tesco Skills and tactics sessions for the last 2 or 3 years. DC's love them, they meet new kids, try out new skills.

Everyone who adds a comment will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £150 to spend on England kit at the FA store.

thanks and good luck
MNHQ

[eteo]

~ Overall impressions

My son love it and would want to go back again!

~ Coach: what your DC thought of the coach and how he/she compared to others you may have seen/ experienced?

They are all very friendly and well organise.

~ Skills: what skills your DC learnt/ practised? How old is your child?

They played football. He is 5 year old. I think he learn team work

~ Plus anything else you or your DC thought about the session

He is very happy and love the session.

~ Would you try to book again? Would you recommend to other parents? Why?
Yes, it benefit my son. I will recommend to any parents.

[LiveItUp]

~ Overall impressions : Good venue (We were at the Burton one), well organised on arrival, sign in easy, very prepared for the children's arrival etc. A good event that the DCs enjoyed.

~ Coach: what your DC thought of the coach and how he/she compared to others you may have seen/ experienced? : There were 4 coaches involved which was a good number for just 16 children. My DCs particularly got on with one of them, but the others were good too.

~ Skills: what skills your DC learnt/ practised? How old is your child? : I had two DCs there, aged 5 & 10. They did all their skills together as one big group and both really enjoyed that. They then split into two mini-games (older kids & younger kids), 4-a-side. They didn't learn new skills today, but I didn't expect them to. This is a new group to the coaches so I always thought they would just go through the main football skills.

~ Plus anything else you or your DC thought about the session : I was really pleased to find an activity that accommodated this spread of ages (5-11), and both got a good amount from it. Both kids doing an organised activity at the same time is surprisingly rare!

~ Would you try to book again? Would you recommend to other parents? Why? : Yes and yes. My DCs have already asked if they can do another one so I will look into finding the nearest centre for them. Lots of my friends have girls and this session was completely gender neutral which was great to see. I liked the length of session too. 2.5 hours is long enough for them to really get into something (and long enough to leave them to go and achieve something).

[hermancakedestroyer]

~ Overall impressions
We went to the Bristol session.
Brilliant! My DCs thoroughly enjoyed it! They loved it and said 'when can we go again?' We had an hour and 20 minute journey to get to Bristol and they talked about it all the way home! As a parent I felt reassured leaving them there as it was very organised and professional.

~ Coach: what your DC thought of the coach and how he/she compared to others you may have seen/ experienced?
The two coaches were Abi and Andy. They welcomed my DCs in to the session in a friendly manner and made them feel welcome from the start. My DCs said that they used their names throughout the session without the use of name badges (which we thought was quite impressive!). They kept the session moving at a good pace so that the children were interested throughout and didn't get restless or bored.
My DS thought the coach was more enthusiastic than coaches he's experienced before.

~ Skills: what skills your DC learnt/ practised? How old is your child?
My DD (10) practised shooting, passing and teamwork by playing little games and also playing matches. She said the games were fun and interactive and Andy was enthusiastic throughout.
My DS (8) was working in a smaller group with people his age and he played lots of games and mini matches. They played cat and mouse whilst dribbling the football along. He learnt about teamwork and got on with the people he was playing football with.

~ Plus anything else you or your DC thought about the session
My DD said that at the start of the session when they were waiting for the other children to arrive, they played a game of handball so that they didn't get bored!
My DS said that they got given yellow and orange circles to place on the ground. You had to put them in a space and move from circle to circle in different ways (ie forward, backwards, sideways, jogging and running).This was to warm up. They also played cops and robbers (which was really fun - quote!) There were 2 teams. There was a line in the middle to separate the 2 teams and each side had a jail (6 cones - 3 with and 3 without balls). You had to run and try to get the other team's football and bring it back to your side. You could get tagged by the other team and if you did, you went into their jail on their side. You could only get freed when another team mate tagged you again.

~ Would you try to book again? Would you recommend to other parents? Why?
YES! Definately because it was so much fun. It was great practising their skills and they loved it. I would definately recommend it to other parents and have advertised it on facebook in case any friends have families near football sessions. Personally the only downside for us is that there are no football sessions close enough to us in Amesbury. We are not close enough to a session to be able to get there in time for the start of the session after school. We would love to go back to Bristol but 1 hour and 20 minutes is quite a trek for a football session (however good it was).
I will advertise it at my DCs school but again it is a little too far to travel.
My DD has always loved football but my DS not as much. Since going to this session it has given him bags of confidence and he can't wait to play again.
Thank you for the opportunity

[oldsilver]

Hello, we too were at the Bristol sesh

~ Overall impressions Could have been a little better signposted - the building looked empty when we got there and had to ask when we got in, luckily we could see the signs from the corridor where we were greeted in a very friendly and professional manner.

~ Coach: what your DC thought of the coach and how he/she compared to others you may have seen/ experienced? DS thought "they were great" and how they seemed to respond "to our level". They seemed very professional to me, they stopped regularly for drink breaks and swapped over the coaches. I liked how the groups were split into two - those that could play well already and those that needed to learn. It meant that DS and the other non players actually got a chance to play - normally it gets hogged by those that can. The coaches actually checked if the children needed to take toilet breaks.

I agree with what was mentioned above - would have loved some seating in the balcony viewing area. I didn't notice a water fountain either and some of the children were running low on water.

We too felt confident enough to leave DS there while we did a bit of shopping.

~ Skills: what skills your DC learnt/ practised? How old is your child? DS is 7 and came away saying now he has learnt how to move with ball he would like to do more. As I said above other football sessions he's gone to, he's not had a chance to touch the ball as the "big kids" always have it.

~ Plus anything else you or your DC thought about the session He thought "it was great, I really loved it - I want to go again"

~ Would you try to book again? Would you recommend to other parents? Why? We might not book again - with DP not on holiday it would take two buses to get there. Would though if they ran sessions over in South Bristol. Yes definitely recommend it.

Our school tends to send out leaflets for various afterschool/holiday schemes, so if they have some I would be happy to take them into school. I'm also going to have a chat with the footie mums I know in the playground!

And thanks for this too Would never have known or done it if it hadn't had come up here


ps I did notice the Gloucestershire had disappeared from the morning reminder email Ta everso!

[PitstopPetunia]

My son attended the Bristol one.

My son really enjoyed it and has asked to go again. I will look around for opportunities for his specific age group. At 5yo, he was the youngest, by what looked like quite a margin, at the session and he was oblivious to the rules for most of the time (to the extent that at one point he was proudly trying to kick the ball into his own side's net!). I was worried that he would disrupt the experience for the older kids. He was so proud to be playing "proper" football though and the coaches made sure that he was included and had a go at everything.

I would like to thank all the other kids (they were a lovely bunch) for helping my boy feel part of it all and being so kind to him but I think I will leave it until he's a couple of years older before trying a session with such a wide age range again.

[oldsilver]

I second the lovely bunch!!! DS mentioned how he'd made loads of friends - forgot that bit

[escape]

We attended the York afternoon session today , Wednesday 29th.

Overall impressions
The location was rather 'traditional' - almost refreshingly so, a proper 'football club' house, that should have been knocked down years ago and lots of outdoor space! - luckily a working vending machine :) This didn't bother us in the slightest, as a shiny new sports centre wasn't why we signed up . Location wise, I can't really comment as we are not from the area - we had chosen to drive out of our area to let our sons take part as a holiday activity. I am not sure what other nearby facilities there are that may have been better.


~ Coach: what your DC thought of the coach and how he/she compared to others you may have seen/ experienced?
They were both really lovely. Dave and Gemma - friendly and welcoming after we arrived late ( got lost ), and the boys really enjoyed being with them. Since I have looked them up on the website, their credentials are super impressive. They were far more impressive to me as a parent than the ones who coach at our school from the local football club

~ Skills: what skills your DC learnt/ practised? How old is your child?
My sons are 7 and 6 years old. Football mad, their only experience so far is school sessions with qualified coaches. We arrived 20 mins late, and my sons said afterwards that they just 'played matches' - which was great for them, and I assume is wither a slight exaggeration, or no doubt they simply missed the warm up/skills part. Either way, they were happy, so so was I.

~ Plus anything else you or your DC thought about the session
My boys just love to play football and don't get enough practice locally - they were over the moon with their session and are begging me to take them to another one tomorrow ( but even further away , so no chance. They had such a good time , could be tempted if not for petrol costs!

~ Would you try to book again? Would you recommend to other parents? Why?
Absolutely would book again. The coaches were impressive, and the boys had a 'ball' literally :) I look forward to sessions closer than 15 miles away from home ( which are the nearest according to the webste - we went further away today ) The cost is very reasonable and I would recommend to all. Location facilities do not bother me as long as they are safe and have loos and shelter!

[AnnMumsnet]

PitstopPetunia - I think normally the FA sessions are split into 2 age bands - 5-7 and then 8-11 year olds.
Check out the holiday and after school session listings here

Glad you all made it for the feedback so far....

[AnnMumsnet]

For example Pitstop - here is one after school session listing for Barking tescoskills.thefa.com/SkillCentres/Essex/BarkingFC

[Nishky]

We attended the Burton upon Trent session: here are my children's views

Overall impressions: I thought it was really good but the start wasn't the best because all we did was stand around and wait for us to be signed in.

~ Coach: what you thought of the coach and how he/she compared to others you may have seen/ experienced? I thought the coaches were very good and were very nice. They were very good and was exactly the same to others I have experienced from the company.

~ Skills: what skills you learnt/ practised? We practised tackling, shooting and passing.

~ Plus anything else you or you thought about the session. It was very well worked out and had been very well executed.

~ Would you try to book again? Would you recommend to other parents? Why?
I would try to book it again because it was enjoyable and I really liked it. I would recommend it to other people because it was very good and I think that everyone should have a go at it.

My children both play regularly- my ds plays in goal for his team so enjoyed the chance to practice other skills. They both felt that there was a balance between skills training and little games.

We would definitely book again.

[MoodyDidIt]

firstly thanks mumsnet for giving my ds this brilliant opportunity, ds absolutely loved it and as a result we are going to sign him up for training in the summer

ok here is my feedback:

Overall impressions

we went to the one in burton on trent at the shobnall leisure centre. the start was a bit unorganised, and also the receptionist had a bit of an attitude

Coach: what your DC thought of the coach and how he/she compared to others you may have seen/ experienced?

this was ds's first time at anything like this but he thought the coach was really good

Skills: what skills your DC learnt/ practised? How old is your child?

ds is 7. he was in goal most of the time as far as he has told me

Plus anything else you or your DC thought about the session

he clearly really enjoyed it and has not stopped talking about it :o the only thing i would say is that the coach just said, oh your DS did really well but did not really elaborate much

Would you try to book again? Would you recommend to other parents? Why?

yes definitely, as ds got so much out of it. also its great for keeping fit and getting them mixing with other kids

[theroseofwait]

We went to the York session, thank you for a fab afternoon!

Overall impressions
Venue was basic but really easy to get to - we came from the East Riding and it took less time that I had thought. The other parents were lovely and the kids were great!

Coach:
Superb, both of them. Dave is brilliant with kids and is a gifted teacher (and I say that enviously as an experienced schoolteacher!)

Far better that the coaches I've seen more locally, sadly.

Skills:
DS is just 5 and was thrilled to score a goal in the two-a-side competition. It was the first time he's played football and he was far more confident by the end of the session.

Plus anything else you or your DC thought about the session
DS again loved Dave the coach, and I was impressed by the whole event, which takes some doing these days!

Would you try to book again? Would you recommend to other parents? Why? Certainly and certainly, in fact, I'm going to add DS's name to the hideously long waiting list locally. He loved the whole afternoon, it was very well planned with excellent coaches.

Thanks again, MN!

[BellaVida]

My 2 DS attended a Cambridgeshire session over 2 days near Ely.

Overall impressions: venue a bit out of the way, but good 3G pitches, equipment and easy parking. Different ages and abilities were all mixed on day 1, so it was not as structured as i had expected. Boys enjoyed it which is the most important thing!

Coach: probably too few coaches for the number of children there- I saw 3 coaches and there were over 40 children on the list.

Skills: from the feedback I had it sounds as though they played a mini tournament each day, so got good playing experience. They did about 20mins skills training during each session of 2.5 hrs, but I expected it to be more purely because of how it was marketed.

Any other feedback: the DS really liked the coaches and found them really encouraging and friendly. I reall don't know how they can do it without charging- they even gave them snacks and drinks on both days!

Would you book again? Recommend to other parents? Why? Absolutely. They had fun, practised their football and got to mix with lots of other children. They already go to the weekly sessions and will definitely carry on. I have already recommended to other parents!

[RosinaCopper]

Thanks for organising this, my ds attended the Burton session on Tuesday.

Overall impressions - good venue, easy to get signed in etc

Coach: Ds thought the coaching was good (I just asked if it was better or worse than Soccerstars and he said it was exactly the same and he asked me to put a smiley face on it! )

Skills: Ds is 7. He learnt shooting, being in goal and tackling.

Other thoughts: Ds enjoyed it and said he'd like to do it again.

Would you book again: Yes, because he enjoyed being in a different environment to the club he does at school.

[hermancakedestroyer]

Hi PromQueenWithin - have just read your comments about my daughter! Thank you so much She absolutely loves football and really enjoyed the session. Thanks for taking the time out to say such nice things - that's really made my day. Have a good one yourself!

[Elitewicked]

~ Overall impressions we attended the Burton venue which was a leisure centre that I had never been to before but was easy to find, the receptionist was helpful and told us where to go/wait. The organiser came to the reception and spoke to the parents/guardians about signing in and the importance of leaving a contact number and if we were willing to sign that the children could have their photograph taken for publicity purposes.

~ Coach: My son liked the coach/es and said they were very good and they learnt the names of the children attending.

~ Skills: My son is 9 and he played a match where he was the goalie and learnt how to tackle and shoot the ball.

~ My son fell over during the session and hurt his wrist, the coach told me this as I signed him out and said all precautions/first aid had been carried out. Fortunately it wasn't serious.

~ I would let him attend the sessions agains and recommend to other mums, my son loves soccer and this session was excellent for him.

[AnnMumsnet]

Hi - thanks for all the feedback and for attending.

Am pleased to say oldsilver has been selected as the winner of the £150 of kit. I will be in touch.

[oldsilver]

and

Thank you AnnMN that's made my day