Samantha Griffiths: Learning on the job

The Plate is the secondary cup competition for National League teams, entered by those who lose in the first round of the League Cup.

“In an ideal world, it’s not the one that you want to go into,” admits Griffiths. “You want to stay, play and compete in the League Cup as long as possible. 

“As soon as we lost and we ended up going to the Plate, it was absolutely imperative that we went and won that.”

Of course, in tier three, the eyes of every head coach are on reaching the second-tier FA Women’s Championship, but Griffiths says there is no pressure on her or Derby County to get promotion.

At present, they are getting to grips with a hybrid model of operation – offering optional daytime training sessions for those able to attend, but also accommodating those players with stable full-time jobs who are only able to train in the evening.

“I think tier three is probably the most challenging league there is,” Griffiths said, of the National League. “Unless you’re privileged enough to be in a full-time [managerial] position with full-time players, every other manager and player is trying to juggle a full-time [day] job.

“Gone are the days where it just used to be a Tuesday and Thursday [training session] for a couple of hours. I can pretty much guarantee most teams in tier three are at least operating off three nights a week, most probably four nights a week. 

“We have a bit of a split within the team, of players that have good full-time jobs, and then we have the really hungry kids, who just want more and more [training]. Trying to balance two sets of players that have very different needs is quite a challenge.

“It’s about setting out expectations at the start. The ones that are coming [to the daytime sessions] see it as a benefit that they get an extra session, without putting the older players under pressure. 

“A lot of our players are teachers or work in the NHS [health service]. They’re not jobs where I would ever be saying, ‘You need to cut that hour of work,’ because, at the end of the day, they’re never going to be professional footballers. They play football because they love it.”

Griffiths is one of those who has a full-time job away from Derby, as the FA’s coach development manager for women and girls in the East Midlands region.

She recruits and supports new female coaches, from absolute beginners to professionals, and identifies talent in perhaps less orthodox ways.

She mentions, particularly, “those mums that stand on the sideline, week in, week out, every Tuesday, every Saturday or Sunday” as women she wants to encourage into more formal coaching roles.

“It’s not easy,” Griffiths admits. “It’s a cultural thing we try hard to break down. Typically, mums we engage with say, ‘I’ve never played. I don’t know enough to coach.’

 

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‘I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT THAT PLAYERS SEE STAFF ARE VULNERABLE’

One of Griffiths’ guiding principles is that coaches need to acknowledge what they would like to improve in their own practice.

She said: “I’m certainly one that will say, ‘I’m not great at this. I need to get better at it and this is my strategy for doing that.

“I think it’s important that players see staff are vulnerable, and that we can hold our hands up when we get stuff wrong, or not approach things in the right way.”

There is also subtlety in the language around how Griffiths approaches improving her players, with emphasis on the role of the coach, not the individual concerned.

“Our main focus is on the players’ strengths and ‘super-strengths’,” she said.

“We do a lot about what you bring to the team, and then identifying areas for improvement – [it’s about] what you need help to get better at, as opposed to ‘You’re not very good at this, what are you going to do about it?’.

“It’s my job to improve their weaknesses. If I don’t, I’ve not done my job to the best of my ability.

“That’s a challenge for me every year. I’ve always told the players: ‘It’s my job to help you get better’.

“That’s the way we sell it, and the way we talk about it: areas for improvement, as opposed to weaknesses.”

 

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‘THE EMPATHETIC SIDE OF THE GAME IS HUGE – AND IT’S NOT JUST A FEMALE THING’: SAMANTHA ON HOW TO HAVE DIFFICULT CHATS

Samantha says she would love to see more coaches empowered and confident in broaching tricky or uncomfortable conversations.

Her previous job as an FA mentor taught her a lot about the skills required for that, and she emphasises that knowing your players as individuals is key.

“Build relationships with your players and understand how to approach the conversations, because they’re all very different,” she said. 

“Some will be just black and white – ‘Just tell me, I’ll be fine’. Others need a bit more of a softly-softly approach.

“We work a lot on it at Derby. It’s not just about on the pitch. A lot of it is off the pitch, in how we create an environment where players are comfortable to come and have conversations with us. 

“It might not be with me. Someone might have a better relationship with a different coaching staff member that they can go to.

“The empathetic side of the game is huge, and that’s across the boys’ and the girls’ game. I don’t think it’s just a female thing. 

“I think the boys need it just as much, and that’s why I am so passionate at the FA around trying to get more females into coaching. 

“Sometimes kids just need an arm [around them] or someone to talk to.”

 

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“But the little ones, especially, don’t need too much around tactical strategies. They just need to go and have fun. 

“We need players at that age just to fall in love with the game. And if you look at a lot of the skillsets that the mums have, in terms of the empathetic side, they know how to create a safe environment, they’re approachable – that’s a skillset we try and lean on to convince them.

“Research is now telling us that younger females around the adolescent phase are dropping out [of soccer] because they’re not feeling comfortable with things that are changing in their bodies and to go into that [with the] male coach stood on the side.

“There’s a real drive around trying to get more female coaches at that age group, to make those players feel more comfortable and that they’ve got somebody to go to and understand what they’re feeling.”

And, from this coming season, Griffiths has another responsibility – working with the England under-16s.

She will be assisting the head coach, as part of the FA’s drive to give talented coaches experience within the international set-up. 

It’s a new challenge and a fantastic learning opportunity, something Griffiths is always keen to snap up. 

What’s more, having been involved in the game in England for so long, she’s thrilled to see the chances that are now available for new coaches to progress.

 

“It’s about supporting and helping people. Not footballers – people. People come first...”

“The opportunities are out there, especially around coaching and the funding that you get now. It’s there for people who’ve got heart, desire and determination,” Griffiths said.

And, of course, there’s a support network available via Griffiths and her colleagues at the Football Association, for any women of any age who want to take the plunge, regardless of their own soccer playing experience. 

For her own part, Griffiths’ coaching journey is something like the one she would have dreamed of as the teenage girl who led the sporting activities at the local leisure centre.

“I’m pretty happy with where I’m at,” she reflects. “I get a little bit of a mix of everything – what the FA teaches me helps me with Derby, and what Derby teaches me helps me with the FA. It all comes under the same banner. 

“To me, [coaching is] about helping people. It’s as simple as that – whether it’s helping people to achieve something or helping people to get better at something.

“It’s all about supporting and helping people. Not footballers – people. People always come first.”