Footballer’s Goal Setting
All athletes will have short, medium and long term goals throughout their career. The player
and their coaches will identify targets in order to reach their goal.
Short term goals – These goals should be set for every training session as it might end up
beiti the same goal for a period. The player will want to have more game time, the obvious
reason for that is that they aren't played often. This is because there has been a major
decrease in the player’s performance level, mood, and commitment levels. Usually, in order
to play more the player should improve his performance during training, or work on
improving his relationship with the coach.
Medium-term goals - These goals of the last several months and may reflect a section of
training during the year that lead into key phases within the football season. They can be
different lengths of time to suit the individual. The player wants to improve their technique
and attackive attributes, this might highlight to us that he is not very composed and clinical in
front of goal. To improve this, they could start with a dead ball situation which involves taking
shots at the goal where the ball is still. After time, to challenge himself they can add 3
mannequins to act as a wall.
Long term goals – These goals are described as athlete’s dream goals, something big that
they want to achieve in their future. They typically will take a place over a season, or even a
few seasons. The athlete’s long term goal is to become a professional footballer. This is
presented as a dream goal that youth players want to achieve. This will involve a lot of hard
work, as well as a lot of sacrifices in order to achieve his long term goal.
2nd Career Goal Setting
Short-term goals - Their short-term goal could be to finish their Education, with a Distinction
in their Level 3 BTEC Sport Qualification. This is because it can lead to many further
opportunities in sport. If they don't succeed in their long term goal as a footballer, or if they
will have to cut their career quicker than expected due to injury. This can be recommended
to any athlete that would like to do anything in sport. In addition they can do their sport
related coaching qualification, in football it would be FA Level 1 Coaching Badge.
Medium-term goals - To go to University and study Sports Coaching, along with completing
further coaching badges in football. This gives a real boost to the individual's CV, as the
experience they are likely to gain whilst being on the course, such as coaching abroad. This
degree with some coaching badges are vital if an individual is looking to become an
academy coach.
Long term goal - To become an academy coach in League 2, or a higher ranked club in
England. We can highlight that if the athlete’s original plan doesn't work out, he can use his
experience as a good player and all the qualifications that he managed to gain to transform
into an academy coach that can teach all youngsters going through teams in the academy