Mark Lawless

'If we want kids to participate in sport, we have to cater for all children. There is a "drive towards elitism" and that we overly invest in the top 1% of talent too early and push the others to the side.’ Dr Colman Noctor newstalk.com/news/if-we-wan…

“The [IOC] statement questioned the validity of early talent ID programmes, while also referring to the problematic nature of early specialisation, parental pressure, coaching styles, media sensationalism and the view of youth athletes as commodities” footblogball.wordpress.com/2019/11/12/the…

Enjoyed this with @David_synapse. Spoke about all things coaching, min 37 we discuss early specialisation which is topical. Children are not mini Adults: Insights and Advice for Youth Coaching - Episode 89 ft. Shane Smith episode of Synapse Performance open.spotify.com/episode/52P9c4…

This is a great piece by clinical psychologist and specialist in child psychology @Coleman_David If you coach kids read this. m.independent.ie/life/family/pa…

Some Good insight From @jasd1974

Young lads having the craic... 20 years ago Vs Today

Chris Waddle on grassroots ⁦@CoachingFamily⁩ ⁦@FA⁩ bbc.com/sport/football…

Designing a Learning Space- Football Interactions, Linking theory and practice footblogball.wordpress.com/2018/08/17/des…

@SportStrategyIE @FAIreland @dpfxcrann

The best youth coaches look to create an environment where young players learn to understand that they will never stop learning what they can do with their skill. footblogball.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/coa…

Dr Ed Coughlan: Decoding the coaching message @DrSkillAcq irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/dr-e… (SG)

“Success at this young age is unrelated to longer-term achievement” rte.ie/eile/brainstor… rte.ie/eile/brainstor…

A lot of talk now about building “Mental toughness” & “Resilience” - enjoyment every day & developing skills are often overlooked - if you’re happy & have confidence in your skills you are more likely to be “Mentally tough” & show “Resilience” twitter.com/ImSporticus/st…

A call to action, research piece on football specialization within the forthcoming national u13 league. talentdevelopmentinirishfootball.com/2018/03/04/foo…

“When I first came to England to play I saw coaches having a go at players when they made mistakes. They would... fb.me/6KtQw8MKu

Great article on Dortmund Youth Academy ft.com/content/da604a…

I love this from our coaches: Football careers are built on the street, fine tuned on the pitch. Put down Snapchat and the PlayStation, get yourself outside.Get to love the ball, know the ball, use your imagination.

Icelands rise: "No player gets released so every player is allowed to go through every step of their development... fb.me/7h8gGrhyO