Arsenal Academy's child-first approach to player development

As part of their leadership groups, players from the under-nines all the way to the under-21s on the fringes of the first team work together on projects, covering sustainability, racism and knife-crime in London - all to help young players with their wider development.

A first-class reputation for producing talented and exciting footballers, Arsenal's academy is also setting the standard ensuring their young player’s voice, choice, and journey is championed at every stage of their progression – and as part of the new Duty to Care campaign, want to inspire more coaches to take this inclusive approach to coaching.

The academy have been highlighted by UK Coaching as an outstanding example of inclusive practice, and are now working together to see clubs put their duty to care above all when developing players.

To support coaches at all levels, UK Coaching, the lead body for coaches in the UK, have released a Duty to Care Hub, covering the topics of Safeguarding, Safe to Practice, Diversity, Inclusion, Mental Health and Well-being and Physical Well-being.

Lewis Goater, lead foundation phase coach at Arsenal Academy, reflected on the processes the club have implemented to provide the best environment for their young players, and the role of coaches across the nation to inspire young people to enjoy sport.

“We need to make sure that we’re not always top-down controlling with our coaching process, sometimes we need to guide the learning process, so we have to ensure we include the children at all times," he said.

"From a practical sense, that includes asking questions, rather than ‘telling’ all the time, and making sure players are part of the process when we create their individual development plans. It’s a wholly collaborative approach, where we are focused on helping our players have a voice as part of their journey.

“It’s a two-way process, not only involving players but also the parents wherever possible. We have to ensure we align expectations with parents, and ensure we take on the responsibility to be that support mechanism and give them the information and help they need.

“Our vision is to create simultaneously the most challenging and most caring football academy in the world. We started our Leadership Group around five years ago, because we wanted to give the players a voice in their academy – because it is their academy as well – but also a platform for them to share their views, give feedback to us, and help us work together.”

Whilst the success of the first team’s home-grown stars shows a clear pathway to top-level football, the academy believe firmly that success takes many forms – making a child-first approach even more valuable.

“We as coaches choose players from the ages of under nines to under 21s for our leadership group," added Goater.

"On occasion we might opt to put forward a player who is more introverted, if we feel it would be beneficial for their development and give them more of a voice.

“As adults, we have a duty of care to ensure the children have a voice and a platform to express themselves. Our overall vision is to develop what we would call 'strong young Gunners' which could be Bukayo Saka, but it could equally be someone who isn’t playing professional football but has progressed to achieve the best they can, having come out of our academy with key life skills.

“If you give players a voice in their development, you’re also giving them a really important responsibility. Sometimes your instinct as a coach is to top-down control everything, but co-creation is vital to help young people develop, which starts with putting the child first.”

For resources on how to deliver on inclusive practice and a duty to care in sport, visit: ukcoaching.org/duty-to-care