The nine-year-old looks perplexed. He moved to the UAE only nine months back and his grasp of English isn't very strong. The commands being hurled at him are confusing him. But head coach Andy Dixon is not perturbed by the boy's confusion. He knows that once the effect of international language takes over, he will do just fine. The language in question is, of course, football.
Ten years of working with the reputed Manchester United Soccer Schools (MUSS) has made Dixon a connoisseur of both the sport and the coaching technique. Today as head coach of MUSS in Abu Dhabi, he aims to share his expertise with the children of the UAE for the first time. As I walk up to him for our chat, Dixon is struggling to set up the football mannequins which keep falling over in the wind. "Our defenders are just not behaving today," he jokes.
Setting an example
Hailing from Newcastle, England, football has always occupied a major part of Dixon's life. The social environment and the camaraderie with his teammates are the things he loves the most about football.
"When I was nine, I played my first official match," he says. "It was really exciting to be selected to represent my school. I was playing as a striker and we managed to win the game.I remember the exhilaration I felt when my friends and classmates cheered for me from the crowd. Those are the moments that linger in your mind for a long time."
When Dixon realised that he didn't have the mettle to excel as a professional player, he resorted to another avenue which would keep him close to the game - that of coaching. "Initially I had my reservations [about being a coach], but I began to realise that coaching was a better way to enhance your game. You can put in a lot of ideas and improvise your technique. Coaching also imposes on you to be a role model for the kids so eventually you end up being a better person."
Dixon has a BA in Economics and is licensed as a Uefa B - the Union of European Football Associations, where A and B are grades - coach. He is currently celebrating his decade-long tenure at MUSS. Since 2006 he has served as the head coach/project co-coordinator in many countries including China, Singapore, the USA, Paris, Australia and now Abu Dhabi.
Among the qualities a coach has to possess, Dixon thinks a sense of humour is the most imperative. "Mostly you say something and each kid interprets a different thing. It doesn't help anybody if you lose your temper. So you have to keep the humour handy. You also have to be a good communicator as well as a listener. You have to know your audience well and be approachable…
"You have to deliver your sessions in such a way that every child is challenged to excel."
Dixon names Wayne Rooney as his favourite player. "His technical ability is fantastic. His decision-making ability while on the field is impeccable. Any aspirant striker can learn a lot just by watching him play."
United we stand
MUSS courses aim to create a positive learning environment while emphasising that fun is inherentin all activity. The MUSS programme for the UAE kicked off in October last year and will run for two years. The venue is the custom-built indoor football ground of the Dome@ Rawdhath. The courses are for the age group 7 to 16.
The courses have attracted players from over 25 nationalities, and an impressive number of girls have signed up for this male-dominated sport too.
"[At MUSS] we want the kids to feel comfortable expressing themselves so that they can interact and ask questions," says Dixon.
What MUSS aims to create is the atmosphere of an ‘international classroom' where children imbibe necessary skills which complement their personalities and make them better individuals, while playingtheir favourite game.
The course also includes health education as an integral component. "The kids are initially very surprised when we start talking about nutrition and fitness, but slowly they come to the realisation that football and nutrition are connected. They realise that they can train their bodies to top physical condition through a good diet which will help them makea good pass or score that winning goal," says Dixon.
However MUSS's agenda is not all play and no work. It helps create awareness of issues that could affect a child's well-being off the field. For instance, to raise awareness of the benefits of physical exercise in the management of diabetes, childrenand coaches from MUSS participated in the ‘Walk UAE' diabetes awareness campaign last November. (WalkUAE is part of the award-winning public health awareness campaign ‘Diabetes. Knowledge. Action' under the patronage of Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the UAE General Women's Union. It is an annual event organised by Imperial College London Diabetes Centre with the support of The National Insurance Company, Daman.)
"At MUSS, we always try to promote healthy living to all players and parents on our courses. We were delighted to support this initiative and encouraged to see so many youngsters involved," says Dixon who led the battalion of MUSS students and parents for the walk.
Six degrees of preparation
One of the core approaches to teaching kids the art and strategy of playing football is allowing them to use the game as a means of all-round self-development.
It's a play-and-win ethos that underpins the whole effort. MUSS trains kids to develop a positive attitude in life in order to achieve positive results in any field and not just in the game.
A six-point code of conduct is taught to the children based on the following key factors.
1) Attitude: Children are taught to be positive and always strive for the best.
2) Behaviour: This propagates good manners in the face of victory/loss and team spirit.
3) Communication: Keeping anopen mind to your surroundings is strongly promoted.
4) Discipline: Where punctuality and mutual respect are encouraged.
5) Enthusiasm: The goodwill to encourage others as well as give your best at all times.
6) Fair play: Learning the artof winning and losing with thesame dignity).
"When children come onto the field, our code of conduct helps them to integrate quickly into the team environment, which is essential for building their game," says Dixon. "For instance, punctuality and fair play are not something children of today are used to. But when we enforce it in them, we see them take it up with amazing grace and eagerness. The development of the child is the foremost priority, both inside and outside the pitch. We hope that the lessons they learn in our international classroom will teach them to be more than just good footballers."
Meet the parents
For Elizabeth Campbell, a homemaker from the US, the MUSS courses have been a blessing. "My son, Thomas, has football in his head 24/7. We were thinking of sending him to London for the Easter break where he might get some coaching." That's when she came to hear about the MUSS courses starting in Abu Dhabi, where she has been residing for the past five years. Within the first month of his training, she felt she began to see positive changes in Thomas. "His skills and moves have improved and he has become more confident. I am sure [by the end of the course] he will become a very refined player."
Jamal Haddad, a project director for Parsons International, has a similar tale to tell. His son Khalid, has been kicking the ball since he was two. "He is so passionate about the game, he wants to take it up professionally. I am hoping he gets into ManU so that I can retire gracefully!"
Abdul Ghadir from Somalia has been working with Etisalat for the past nine years and his son Abdul Rizaq too has the game as his top priority. "I hope the MUSS can hone his skills so that he can be a professional player. I like the fact that they are teaching the kids to use their brains and think on the field. With these techniques I am sure we can produce a professional team fromAbu Dhabi. The only complaint my son has is that one hour of coachingis not enough."
On the pitch
For Dixon, it was love at first sight when he arrived in Abu Dhabi. "I have been here for only a month but I love the mix of cultures this country has to offer. And I also love the weather!' He is not in the least fazed by dealing with children of such diverse backgrounds as, after all, they all share an amazing factor - their love of football. "The main thing about football is that it transcends the language barrier," he says. "Wherever you go, whatever you may do, if a match is on, everybody is in front of the TV set, automatically communicating the same message."
One of Dixon's strategies that invariably yields good results on the field is his habit of equating situations on the pitch with the kids' favourite players. "When I tell them, ‘This is what Rooney would have done,' or ‘That's how Beckham scores,' it finds more resonance with them," he says. "We have a technique called ‘Learn to Control and Create the United Way' which highlights the signature moves of current Manchester United midfielders Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher." Clearly, the technique leads to winning moves, always!
It's time for Dixon to return to the practice session. A quick warm-up and the match begins. The nine-year-old baffled by the quickfire commands is braving it on the field. His moves are coming along nicely. The coach is powering him on with words of appreciation. The boy is on his way.
