Van der Haegen to speak at TGG event on youth development
Van der Haegen has been Director of Coach Education for the Belgium FA for the last seven years
Written by Simon Austin — March 18, 2019
KRIS VAN DER HAEGEN, the Director of Coach Education for the Belgium Football Association, will head a special TGG conference on youth development in June.
The one-day event is being held at the AJ Bell Stadium in Manchester on Wednesday June 5th and there will be a limited number of tickets available.
A number of other top speakers will be announced in the coming days - as well as practical elements. A range of themes will be discussed, including the neurology of the teenage brain, the pathway from Academy to first team, player empowerment, and how to bring back the spirit of the streets.
The event should be of interest both to those involved in the professional game and coaches at amateur levels.
As Director of Coach Education for Belgium the last seven years, Van der Haegen has led a revolution in the way Belgium teaches its young players.
The changes have led a rise from 66th in the Fifa World Rankings to top spot, as well as a place at the semi-finals of the World Cup last summer. Van der Haegen explained the philosophy in an in-depth article on TGG last year.
“One of the main principles is that the main actor is the player - not the coach, not the team,” he said. “Then it’s very easy to understand that in children’s football we have to do what they like.
“We call it the tailor-made approach. Who is in front of me? Look at the characteristics of the player and then adapt the environment to fit them.”
There will be more information about the event on our website and social media channels over the coming days, as well as the opportunity to buy tickets.
Our first two Cohesive Coaching events were sell-outs and places will again be limited for this Youth Development conference.
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