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Carousel coaching: what, why and how?
Rotating players around stations – which could all follow a theme – can solve many a problem. Steph Fairbairn makes like a Stegosaurus to explain more.
A carousel session involves groups of players rotating around a number of different practices or stations.
There are a number of reasons why you might choose to run a session in the carousel format...
Having a large number of players
At some of my sessions this season, we’ve had 30 players in the care of three coaches. Trying to run an impactful session with that number in one group is pretty much impossible.
Splitting them up and rotating them around three different activities allows for much more coaching to take place. The activities are on the same topic, allowing players to solidify their learning on a theme in different ways.
Themed occasion
If it’s Easter, Hallowe’en, Christmas or any other religious or cultural festival, you might want your players to experience a fun, themed session.
Last Hallowe’en, we got three teams together to run a giant carousel session. I ran the ’Dinosaur Appreciation Society’ on one station, while other coaches led other spooky activities – players practised all sorts of soccer skills, captured under the umbrella of Hallowe’en.
Promoting integration
Besides giving players a fun evening, the Hallowe’en carousel session also gave my players a chance to get to know those in other age groups, and to meet other coaches and experience different coaching styles.
Whether you use this tactic at the start of the season, or at various points throughout the season, it’s a great way to get various teams, or even the whole club, together.
Whether running one for fun, practicality, or just a change, carousel sessions can be beneficial for players and coaches alike. Just make sure you’ve done the planning beforehand!
Five tips for running a carousel sessio
- Think about why you’re doing it: Whether it’s down to player or staff numbers, for an occasion, to get the club together, or any other reason, knowing the ’why?’ will help you frame how you set up your session.
- Consider how you split the group: If you’re using the carousel format during one of your normal sessions, think about the most beneficial way to split the group. Might it be by positional units? Or would players get more out of having a mix of positions in a group? If you’ve merged teams, or age groups, consider appropriateness and safety – you wouldn’t want an U8 playing against an U13, for example.
- Collaborate with your fellow coaches: Make sure you and your co-coaches are on the same page by co-ordinating beforehand. Consider how your activities differ (it wouldn’t be much fun for players to do the same thing on two stations!), but also how they might link together to reinforce learning.
- Manage logistics: Carousel sessions may need more equipment than usual, because numerous things are being set up at the same time. so make sure you’re appropriately stocked. Also, consider timings – how long is each group going to spend on each activity? How will the coaches co-ordinate timings? Will there be breaks? How will you ensure groups move between stations with minimum fuss?
- Offer points and prizes: A really great way to make a carousel session competitive is to think about a scoring system. Each group could be a team, able to earn points on each station. At the end, the points are added together to determine a winner.
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Steph Fairbairn
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