What I felt in the three hours after becoming an assistant coach as a Class D instructor

At the beginning of this year, I participated in the Class D instructor training course and joined the ranks of instructors.

Following that, today I was allowed to be involved a little bit in the operation of the Challenge Game Day hosted by the prefectural football association.
What I thought after trying it was that I really do love this kind of field work.
And at the same time, it was a day that made me think about many things regarding how to interact with children and the atmosphere created by adults surrounding the football field.

Children change with just one word of encouragement

Today, there were several children who seemed a bit uncomfortable in what was probably their first time at this location.
For those children, I tried to speak to them as early as possible.
Instead of just watching, I would step in and say, 'Let's try it together.'
Then, I would show them a little mistake of my own. Then, the child would suddenly smile.
The atmosphere relaxes, and they can do one thing.
When they succeed, I give them a thumbs up👍️
Just by doing that, some children's expressions change.
With just one word from a coach, a child's look changes.
A child who looked anxious says, 'Watch me!'
Seeing that change up close might have been the most fun part of today.

When dealing with children, being a little familiar is just right

With adults, it's quite difficult to know how to close the distance.
But with children, stepping in a little can sometimes be a shortcut to closing that distance.
I think that somewhere, I interact with them with the feeling that 'every child is a relative's child.'
I'm a little close from the start.
But if I see their reaction and it seems like there's distance, I take a step back and say, 'Let me know when you want to try.'
I don't just leave them alone; I keep glancing at them, and if we make eye contact, I give them a thumbs up.
Step in.
Step back.
But keep watching.
I felt again today that this balance is probably what leads to a sense of security for children.

On the other hand, the field is also made for 'people with experience'

However, it didn't end with just fun.
This kind of volunteer site might be a 'common occurrence' in a sense, but there are parts where you are just thrown in and have to use your own initiative to move.
Do this at times like this.
Go near this kind of child and speak to them.
Call the parents at times like this.
Those judgments aren't properly shared, and experienced people do it based on their own intuition.
I have experience as a mother, and I've also seen things through my older children's football.
So, there were scenes where I could judge things somehow.
But I wondered what it would be like if this were a young person.
They come for the first time, don't know what to do, try desperately to move while watching those around them, and end up exhausted.
And if they end up thinking, 'This isn't for me' or 'I couldn't do it,' it won't lead to the next time.
That is a huge waste.

'Things that are done somehow' should be made into a model

What I thought again today is that things that experienced people do naturally could be put into words more easily.
For example,
Speak early to children who seem uncomfortable in a new place
Try doing it together first
Show a little failure to relax the atmosphere
If there seems to be distance, take a step back and say 'Let me know when you want to try'
Give a thumbs up when you make eye contact
I really think this much is enough.
It doesn't have to be a grand manual.
But just by being able to see a little bit of 'it's good to do this at times like this,' first-timers should be able to move much more easily.
What is natural for experienced people is invisible to those without experience.
That is why I think verbalization is important.

One more thing that really made me think today

Today, there was a child who was a little good at football, and the coach asked, 'Do you play somewhere?'
At that time, what came out of that child was,
'I don't want to join a sports club because the way the coaches and other parents talk to the children is scary, and it makes me shrink away.'
Moreover, it wasn't just the child himself, but the dad and mom who were with him felt the same way.
I thought this was a very heavy story.
It's not that they don't like football.
They have a desire to try it.
But before they play, the atmosphere of the adults has become a wall.
And the adults there probably don't have any bad intentions.
'I want you to get better'
'I want you to do it properly'
'We are a team'
The words uttered within those thoughts can become pressure for the children.
I felt that a lot when my older children were playing too.
Parents, coaches, and managers whose consciousness hasn't changed from a while ago.
I think there are still many.
And what's troublesome is that there are many cases where you can't notice that unless someone tells you.
You think you are supporting them.
You think you are doing it for their own good.
Therefore, it's hard to reach the idea that your own words and attitude might be making the child shrink away.
But if you don't hear the logical argument somewhere, you won't even get a chance to notice.
Maybe there should be time to convey it to parents
So I thought.
If there was time to separate parents and children a little during the game at a place like this Challenge Game Day, and time to talk to the parents for even 10 minutes, I wonder if things would change a little.
How to talk to children.
How to interact without making them shrink away.
Before 'growing' them, 'not making them shrink.'
If those things could be conveyed at an early stage, there might be some parents whose way of receiving it would change.
Of course, that won't change everything.
But it's much better than not knowing.

Things I saw precisely because I entered for the first time

Today, it might have been just a small involvement to call it my first battle as a Class D instructor.
But there were many things I saw precisely because I was involved in the operation in this way for the first time.
The moment a child starts to move.
That both security and shrinking are born from how adults interact.
And the importance of putting the 'intuition of capable people' in the field into words and passing it on.
It's fine to end it with 'it was fun,' but today I wanted to put it into words and leave it behind.

I hope I can pick up these small realizations, even if it's little by little.

Expanding the base of the sport means that the consciousness of the side that wants to expand it must also change. And it might mean that we have to move to change the existing old ways of thinking, consciousness, and common sense little by little.