Hinckson: I love the challenge of coaching players this age

In a wide-ranging interview, Adrian Clarke speaks to Arsenal Under-13s academy coach Josh Hinckson, covering the following topics:

- Transitioning young players from nine v nine to the complexities of 11-a-side football.
- Balancing individual coaching with the development of a team’s style of play.
- Increasing tactical awareness.
- Empowering teenagers to become more self-sufficient on and off the pitch.
- Teaching life skills.
- Demanding passion and time, without neglecting schoolwork.
- Dealing with an increase in outside influences.
- Educating parents.

Josh Hinckson

These are just some of the skills an academy U13 coach needs to juggle, initiate, and ultimately try to master. It’s not easy, it’s all encompassing, but Arsenal’s Josh Hinckson wouldn’t have it any other way.

Nine seasons into his coaching career at Hale End, the last seven of which he has overseen this key age bracket in the Early Youth Development Phase, Hinckson radiates enthusiasm for the role.

“I love the challenge of coaching players of this age because there’s a lovely mix," says 35-year-old Hinckson. "You can build on those foundation level skills and help to mould them further, but as a coach you’re also required to introduce higher level work and valuable tactical information.

“Personally, I also really enjoy the life skill side of what we do, helping these talented kids grow as people too. As they enter their teenage years this is such a key responsibility.

“While I’ve always held ambitions to move through the age groups, the balance is excellent for me at U13. I guess it’s a bracket I specialise in now.”

Adapting from U9-U11

We begin to talk tactics, and specifically the adaptation from nine-a-side to 11-a-side football.

During the Under-12s season, players are exposed to this change in pitches, but at U13 level around "90 per cent" of Arsenal’s work revolves around full-sided matches.

It is a passageway that suits some young players better than others, particularly physically robust teenagers - and that factor isn’t lost on Hinckson, who says: “We have a message in our changing room that says, 'Be the best 11-a-side version of yourself.’ And that is an important mantra.

“It is a big change that needs adjusting to and it does not click overnight for some.

“What I need to do as their head coach is to always remember to coach the individual and not just the tactical framework of the team that will help us win matches. There is so much for the kids to absorb, but you can’t only hone in on tactics all the time.”

The former Brentford and Watford academy coach tells us next about some past experiences of players, who initially struggled with the transition from the Early Youth Development phase (EYDP) to the Late Youth Development phase (LYDP).

Bigger pitch struggles

Hinckson reeled off several nine-year-old pre-academy players who were coveted by all the top Category 1 academies, before signing for Arsenal where they continued to excel throughout their foundation phase seasons.

Described as "Golden Players" with high potential, they struggled to be as impactful with the change of bigger pitches and the game formats of nine-a-side and 11-a-side football.

These players were accustomed to high levels of success and performances were now unable to be as match effective in the larger game formats. These outstanding prospects were now faced with the frustrations of failing and in some circumstances, not starting for the first time in their academy journey.

“No players’ journey through academy football will be linear,” says Hinckson, who went on to say how parents, players and the club react and adapt to the downs of the academy journey will often separate those who are successful at the end of the journey, to those who unfortunately aren’t."

Delving deeper into specifics, Hinckson adds: “In these circumstances this is where we as coaches have to be skilful as well as patient to support these players during their dip, find tactical and technical solutions to help them fulfil the potential of why they were signed as nine-year-olds.

“The majority of these players just need a little more time to connect with the 11-a-side game and to learn how he can impact matches in that environment.

“You’ll always get this type of fluctuation where some players kick on unexpectedly and others you had high hopes for drop off a bit. I compare it to American collegiate sports where some athletes go to the pros, and it just doesn’t click. It can happen the other way around with last picks flourishing too.

“Here at Arsenal, you see it with players going up from Hale End at 16 to London Colney, where full-time football is a big change that isn’t easy to adjust to.”

Thinking back to the youngsters who levelled off in the LYDP, Hinckson admits: “This is something I'm trying to still master. How can I, or we as a club, help a player more with that transition, not just from a performance point on the pitch, but also from an emotional point?

“I do wonder, should we have praised them as a nine or 10-year-old as much as we did? It feels normal at the time to do so but what happens now when that praise doesn't come at 12? It can affect you a lot emotionally, can't it?

"Maybe we as coaches should temper things early on in their academy experiences.”

Engaged with all age groups

The Gunners’ U13 head coach, who fell in love with his vocation at north west London coaching courses funded by the Jason Roberts Foundation in his late teens, describes the age bracket he works in as "the bridge" between developing outstanding young talent, and the pathway towards a successful scholarship.

Working closely with Foundation phase lead Lewis Goater and U12 head coach Kieron Lewis, he shares regular conversations about the performance and behaviours of the players coming through.

As part of his coaching education, Hinckson has also assisted in the Under-14, 15 and 16 age groups at Arsenal and taken sessions with the Under-18s and 23s at London Colney.

Seeing tremendous value in being across the standards being set throughout the club, he says: “I’ve always got to be engaged in what’s happening below and above me, and what trends we see with players who are thriving as scholars.

"What can we learn from that? How can I influence that with the sessions I put on and the behaviours I instil in my players?

“In my spare time I watch a lot of the U18 and U23 football, and we have a lot of CPD’s where coaches come in and speak. I try to tune is as much to that as possible.

“I must get it right with the 13s in terms of how I stretch them, or in turn knowing which things I need to leave alone.

“Here’s an example. I’ve got a central defender who’s not dealing with direct play very well but he’s excellent on the ball. Is it my job to spend more time working on him heading and clearing the ball, or should I carry on strengthening his quality at intercepting, tackling, and playing out from the back?

“Instinct tells me he will get more experience at dealing with direct play at 15 and 16, so I must decide to let him organically develop that area in training sessions and matches and focus more on his strengths.

"If I try to do everything, he’ll end up mastering nothing.”

A typical week

In a typical week at Hale End the Under-13s will work with the coaching staff four times. On Tuesday evenings, they have a two-hour session, Thursday’s double session starts when the players get "day release" from their schools to arrive mid-afternoon, with coaching sandwiched between classroom work, gym sessions and analysis.

On Saturdays, they train for 75 minutes, before playing matches on a Sunday.

One change that Hinckson has witnessed during his nine seasons with Arsenal, is the influx of players employing one-on-one development coaches outside of the academy programme.

He reveals: “I’m not one of those people who advises players against doing that. I believe every player’s journey is different and their own, but at 13 years of age, we are training four times a week and you must be very aware of loading.

"If you don’t get it right, injuries will follow. This is something I’ve become increasingly aware of as a coach.”

Spaced-out feedback

In his own one-on-ones with the players’ parents (and occasionally their "advisors", too) Hinckson’s vast experience in this age group has taught him that spaced-out feedback is more effective than constant dialogue.

“When the children are 13, I think you can be slightly more open with player feedback compared to when they are a bit younger. I think you must be very, very honest with what you say to parents. That’s why I will never give parents feedback on a weekly or bi-weekly basis,” he explains.

“Too many things can fluctuate in the short term at this age. There are many variables. One week I might be telling them they have a future pro on their hands, and the next I may be warning them it’s not going to happen.

"This is why as a club we have players and parent meetings four times a year about every eight weeks, so that I can provide balanced, detailed, and honest feedback, thought-out reviews.”

Turning our attention back to life skills for a moment, we discuss the value of taking teams overseas for international tournaments and how it can build confidence and self-sufficiency in teenage players.

Challenging the kids to become autonomous and less coach/parent-dependant, Hinckson’s vision is for everyone in his squad to grow as a person and to drive their own journey towards a professional career.

Future ambitions

Looking at his own future, I wrap up our conversation by asking where his own ambitions lie, and his take on the situation was thought-provoking.

“When I go into a room and people know I am Arsenal's U13 head coach I know I get a different reaction to when I was an Under-8s coach," he adds.

"It’s viewed as a step above, that I am more of a ‘proper coach’, and I think that’s a real pity because there is a lot to be said for being an absolute specialist in a certain area of player development.

“I feel we need to try and change the culture, and alongside that the pay structure too. When coaches know their salary rises when they work in a higher age group, it naturally encourages them to move up, when in reality, for some, their skillset may be better suited to the younger ages. In turn, the children will sometimes lose a quality mentor,” he continues.

“I believe there is a Dutch club, the name escapes me, who pay the same salary to coaches from U23 to the U9, and that’s something I’d love to see replicated in the UK at some point.

"Quality coaching in the younger age groups must never be undervalued."

Also in this series

Part 1: Academy coaches enjoy study trip to FC Nordsjaelland