We dedicate episode 42 to a very elementary area, the running school and young talent development.
We invited the Young Talent Trainer of the Year, Daniela Wiedemann, from Augsburger EV.
Daniela, who played in the regional league for Königsbrunn for ten years, consciously decided to become a running school coach. Daniela's main job is as a kindergarten teacher, which she benefits from as a trainer in the running school and can incorporate her expertise. “Working with little people is very enriching,” she answers when asked about her full-time job.
In Episode 42 we explicitly address the topic of running schools and try to dispel some myths.
It is extremely important to Daniela to convey joy and fun to the children. When she has a bad day herself, she tries not to let the children on the ice feel it. Rather, she finds working with the kids very enriching and draws her energy from it.
We also find out what everyday life is like in the AEV running school, how much rental equipment is available, how the trial training units are structured, how the recruitment of children and trainers works and how they deal with the kids' pain from separation.
In addition to topics such as dealing with parents, the abilities and skills of a running school coach, we also gain insights into the approach to teaching skills such as braking or arching.
For example, working with children at a running school cannot be compared to a session with a U15 team. Daniela tells us how physically and especially mentally demanding a 60-minute session on the ice can be. She always comes back to the fact that it is primarily important to give children the joy of skating and exercise, rather than rigidly sticking to ready-made exercises, as some parents demand.
Young children have different needs than teenagers or adult players. More and more trainers who work in the lower years have recognized this. Daniela sees the development in the area of running school coaches as positive and would be happy if running schools received even more recognition in clubs.
We hope we have aroused your interest in our current podcast episode. Listen in to find out what other topics we talked about with Daniela.
Click here for the new podcast episode of “Coach the Coach”. here.

