How Sheffield United are equipping their academy players with greater self-awareness in order to ‘out run, out fight and out play’ opponents
Coach | Relationships | Sally Needham | 08.04.2022
Sheffield United academy are equipping players with greater self-awareness in order to ‘out fight’ opponents, explains Academy Human Development and Performance Culture Lead, Sally Needham (pictured above) Image: Sally Needham/Sheffield United Academy.
Learning:
- Helping players understand their own behaviours in order to be more competitive in games
- Providing players with techniques to go from ‘red zone’ to ‘green zone’ thinking during games
- The importance of communicating effectively with teammates
Sheffield United academy are preparing players to ‘out run, out fight and out play’ opponents by helping individuals gain a better understanding of themselves, explains Academy Human Development and Performance Culture Lead, Sally Needham.
“At Sheffield United we have a mantra: ‘out run, out fight and out play’ and I oversee the ‘out fight’ aspect,” explains Needham, who joined the Yorkshire club in December 2020, after working at the English Football Association and Doncaster Belles for over a decade.
To ‘out fight’ the opposition, players need to be in control of their emotions and be aware of how their behaviour impacts on teammates, explains Needham, who describes her role at the academy as ‘providing a different voice’.
