Frequently Asked Questions

In order to help coaches, parents and players with the application of the 7SC the following questions and answers are listed.

How much does it cost?

Nothing except your honesty, If you chose to use this system, even if you adapt it, please credit the 7SC. If you wish to purchase the wrist bands from me then contact me directly.

What is the top tip?

Learn how many of your normal sized paces make 5m. Nearly all the challenges use multiples of 5m as distances and progressions. You can carry a tape measure around with you but you won't. You don't have to be precise as long as you are within 50cm either side of 5m and are consistently that size. If you are going to make a big thing of 'grading' then you will probably want to use a tape measure for the main event. 

What ages should players be at each colour?

Irrelevant, the 7SC are designed to be based around experience not age. So if an U6 player does the shooting challenge it will be in a goal and on a pitch sized for U6 players. If a player comes to the game late, say U13, they will still have white grade standards but on a full size goal and penalty box. Players should progress to the next level when they are ready and not to some externally enforced schedule.

If a players age results in a change of pitch size then I ask them to retake their current level on the new pitch. Your choice though.

What about defence and attack?

Good question. How a coach decides to teach the shape, nature and priorities of attacking and defending are solely down to his or her philosophy. A player cannot perform the 7SC challenges unless they have a ball, if you have a ball you are attacking. If every player on the pitch is a 'skilled' goalkeeper then they will be aware of shooting angles and zones of probability. How players relate to one another spatially when their team is in possession or not, can be addressed in the application phase of training. I cannot imagine any attacking or defensive strategies that will suffer from having players skilled in all seven of the areas covered.

One of the main aims of the 7SC is to make the assessments quantitative. I find it hard to imagine how any form of attacking or defensive statistics can be gathered that do not then get processed via someones philosophy e.g. completed passes; If a player has only 25% of completed passes this is poor, unless they are specifically attempting a type 3 penetrative pass. In which case if 25% of their passes are resulting in getting the ball behind the defence then this might be a good statistic...

What is the youngest a child can achieve black grade?

Don't know, but passing grades without learning how to apply the skills in a game is pointless. The players often want to hammer through the grades, collecting wrist bands. It is the coaches job to make application the focus of the whole process.

Can players be different grades in different skills?

No or yes. Personally I use the 7SC to encourage players to become completists. So they cannot take the next grade in one skill until they have completed the all seven in at their current level. This works for me and my coaching aims. If your aims are different and would allow a player to have progress in one skill above another then use it your way.

Why no different standards for boys and girls?

Because they are unnecessary, in my experience much of the reason that girls might play slower or with less aggression is because they get treated differently by the adults around them. If it is always clear when a girl has grown up playing amongst the boys, then this indicates that a) girls are just as capable of developing the same skills, speed and fluency as the boys, b) that something is desperately wrong with the general girls development programs.

What specialist equipment is required?

None, it is all done with cones, bibs and explanations. The only piece of equipment that does not come in every coaches bag is a rope to stretch across the goal. I have made a bungee cord with hooks on the end, but only because I got bored of re-tying the rope during training. If you want me to supply a goal bungee contact me directly.

How much coaching experience do I need in order to deliver the 7SC?

None. One of the many accidental side effects that I have come across is the way the 7SC not only aids the players but that it also works as a wonderful introduction to coaching for parents. The biggest fear parents have is that they don't know enough to help effectively. By asking them to keep records on the 7SC they immediately become useful. Once they have been shown how to set up the challenges and to explain them they are effectively coaching. One of the biggest fears coaches have of letting go is that the parents will start to coach differently, the 7SC ensures a core common vocabulary for the team, players, coaches and parents. 

Is coach education available?

The website is intended to cover all questions you may have, to encourage you to go and try the 7SC out and see what works for your players. If you are a head coach you may wish to use them as framework for your coach education curriculum. I have my own which works for me and the people I have been helping. If you want more information on this aspect then please contact me directly.

How do the 7SC fit into coaching qualifications?

They don't. They are a tool. In no manner or form do they, or should they be used to, replace official governing body coach education programs.