Thomas Engesser
@thomasengesser.bsky.social
Ex-Sydney University FC Technical Director, Ex-Marrickville FC Technical Director - Interested in how we learn, how we become, and how we thrive.
Author Tim Winton on the disabling constraints imposed by the desire to win, “The need to win drains him of power”.
May 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Author Tim Winton on the disabling constraints imposed by the desire to win, “The need to win drains him of power”.
Winning as THE purpose of competing?! Not according to McKeown: I’ve made it my mission to not be processed around medals or medal tally or anything like that. I’ve come to the Olympics to a) have fun b) do the best that I can c) just enjoy the atmosphere....
May 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Winning as THE purpose of competing?! Not according to McKeown: I’ve made it my mission to not be processed around medals or medal tally or anything like that. I’ve come to the Olympics to a) have fun b) do the best that I can c) just enjoy the atmosphere....
“My feeling is to get everyone engaged in the team. They have to play regardless of the competition. Do it.” This from a coach working with professional, adult players. How then to justify youth coaches having ‘bench players’ in a development environment?!...
May 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
“My feeling is to get everyone engaged in the team. They have to play regardless of the competition. Do it.” This from a coach working with professional, adult players. How then to justify youth coaches having ‘bench players’ in a development environment?!...
Gary Lineker on how parents shouting at kids playing sport interferes with how kids develop a love for playing and disrupts their ability to learn: “99.9% of what they say is wrong, damaging their children and instilling fear into them.”...
May 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Gary Lineker on how parents shouting at kids playing sport interferes with how kids develop a love for playing and disrupts their ability to learn: “99.9% of what they say is wrong, damaging their children and instilling fear into them.”...
Fàbregas: ‘Task of the coach: Teaching players how to change their posture; how to look 2, 3, 4 or 5 times.’ This means eyes OFF the ball. How to learn this in games when failure is not tolerated, and fear of a mistake makes players look ONLY at the ball?...
May 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Fàbregas: ‘Task of the coach: Teaching players how to change their posture; how to look 2, 3, 4 or 5 times.’ This means eyes OFF the ball. How to learn this in games when failure is not tolerated, and fear of a mistake makes players look ONLY at the ball?...
Had the privilege to be asked on @abcnews by @davymark1 to discuss why capitalising on the Matilda’s success is not as easy as it seems. At stake is how we value grassroots sport and our concerns for drop out rates of kids from the...
May 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Had the privilege to be asked on @abcnews by @davymark1 to discuss why capitalising on the Matilda’s success is not as easy as it seems. At stake is how we value grassroots sport and our concerns for drop out rates of kids from the...
Why actively funnel kids into formal, specialised sports environments when studies have found that athletes who engaged in a diverse range of sports during their youth developed superior decision-making skills, physical literacy, and overall athleticism?...
May 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Why actively funnel kids into formal, specialised sports environments when studies have found that athletes who engaged in a diverse range of sports during their youth developed superior decision-making skills, physical literacy, and overall athleticism?...
Research has shown that coaches who focused on the process rather than outcomes developed athletes that had a “higher level of self-esteem, were more resilient, and were better able to handle setbacks than those who were solely focused on winning.”...
May 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Research has shown that coaches who focused on the process rather than outcomes developed athletes that had a “higher level of self-esteem, were more resilient, and were better able to handle setbacks than those who were solely focused on winning.”...
“Competition, failure and struggle…don’t have to be negative experiences for children. The problems occur when it is all based on adult demands and values….The adult and the child, do they have the same motives?” @markstkhlm @PlayerDP ...
May 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
“Competition, failure and struggle…don’t have to be negative experiences for children. The problems occur when it is all based on adult demands and values….The adult and the child, do they have the same motives?” @markstkhlm @PlayerDP ...
Lillo: “Teaching does not exist. What exists is learning.” And learning happens when we stimulate pupils by “walking alongside them asking questions.” Direct instruction? That creates a place “where a footballer’s imagination goes to die.” @TheAthletic...
May 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Lillo: “Teaching does not exist. What exists is learning.” And learning happens when we stimulate pupils by “walking alongside them asking questions.” Direct instruction? That creates a place “where a footballer’s imagination goes to die.” @TheAthletic...
Dr Joe Baker on the problematics of why labels, such as ‘elite’ and ‘better’, and talent ID systems that invests in those ideas, have been so damaging to children. https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/way-of-champions-podcast/id1223779199?i=1000589554549
#302 Dr. Joe Baker on Talent, Why We Should Ignore it, Ho...
Podcast Episode · Way of Champions Podcast · 09/12/2022 ·...
podcasts.apple.com
May 3, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Dr Joe Baker on the problematics of why labels, such as ‘elite’ and ‘better’, and talent ID systems that invests in those ideas, have been so damaging to children. https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/way-of-champions-podcast/id1223779199?i=1000589554549
“Messi can look as if he is not doing anything, as if he has stopped, but although he may have pulled over he has not stopped. Instead, he is watching, calculating.”...
May 3, 2025 at 6:26 AM
“Messi can look as if he is not doing anything, as if he has stopped, but although he may have pulled over he has not stopped. Instead, he is watching, calculating.”...
Japan has a population of 120M and only 253K registered junior football players. We have a population of 28M with 1.3M registered players. Is it strange that Japan continues to produce quality teams and players with about 20% of the 'formal' participation compared to Australia?
May 3, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Japan has a population of 120M and only 253K registered junior football players. We have a population of 28M with 1.3M registered players. Is it strange that Japan continues to produce quality teams and players with about 20% of the 'formal' participation compared to Australia?
Wayne Goldsmith - Talent vs. Commitment in Young Athletes https://youtu.be/N6m81hkbb5M via @YouTube
May 3, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Wayne Goldsmith - Talent vs. Commitment in Young Athletes https://youtu.be/N6m81hkbb5M via @YouTube
What’s the solution to 85% of kids dropping out of sport by 14-16?“Create environments and provide opportunities for kids to fall in love with sport and participation - when they love what they do - they will do what they love.” @WayneGoldsmith...
May 3, 2025 at 6:26 AM
What’s the solution to 85% of kids dropping out of sport by 14-16?“Create environments and provide opportunities for kids to fall in love with sport and participation - when they love what they do - they will do what they love.” @WayneGoldsmith...
Sports science research confirms that Federer’s story - different sports sampled, no early specialisation, play before practice - is typical of those who develop such expertise. Why then do so many kids spend so much time in formal training regimes? ...
May 3, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Sports science research confirms that Federer’s story - different sports sampled, no early specialisation, play before practice - is typical of those who develop such expertise. Why then do so many kids spend so much time in formal training regimes? ...
Erling Haaland developed where “Football was understood as a social environment for learning, and keeping the social group together was a priority.” Why? Friends play WITH rather than against, and encourage risk taking - a fundamental tenet of learning. ...
May 3, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Erling Haaland developed where “Football was understood as a social environment for learning, and keeping the social group together was a priority.” Why? Friends play WITH rather than against, and encourage risk taking - a fundamental tenet of learning. ...
“When the stakes are high, humans sometimes exploit the leeway of the rules. Good rules counteract this, change behaviour in the desired direction, shape people, put the good of all in the foreground.”...
May 3, 2025 at 6:26 AM
“When the stakes are high, humans sometimes exploit the leeway of the rules. Good rules counteract this, change behaviour in the desired direction, shape people, put the good of all in the foreground.”...
70% of kids who play sport under the age of 12 drops to less than 20% once they emerge from their teens. WHY? "[Sport] moves away from having fun, and being engaged, and being a participant, to seriousness, to winning, and to not having fun."...
May 3, 2025 at 6:26 AM
70% of kids who play sport under the age of 12 drops to less than 20% once they emerge from their teens. WHY? "[Sport] moves away from having fun, and being engaged, and being a participant, to seriousness, to winning, and to not having fun."...
“English see football as a game of conflict…space as an absence…the Dutch see it as full of possibility”. How to teach the value of space, to see it as part of a creative process that affords opportunity, when culture constrains the value placed on it?...
May 3, 2025 at 6:26 AM
“English see football as a game of conflict…space as an absence…the Dutch see it as full of possibility”. How to teach the value of space, to see it as part of a creative process that affords opportunity, when culture constrains the value placed on it?...
Guardiola: “Cruyff told me that when a winger can play at left back they will be the best left back”. A central tenet of expertise development is diversification. Players who experience a range of positions gain capacities that early specialisation denies....
May 3, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Guardiola: “Cruyff told me that when a winger can play at left back they will be the best left back”. A central tenet of expertise development is diversification. Players who experience a range of positions gain capacities that early specialisation denies....
England Lionesses’ coach Sarina Wiegman: “You perform better when you’re in an environment where you’re safe, where you will not be judged. Because when you’re on the pitch you’re being judged all the time and that’s uncomfortable and unsafe.”...
May 3, 2025 at 6:31 AM
England Lionesses’ coach Sarina Wiegman: “You perform better when you’re in an environment where you’re safe, where you will not be judged. Because when you’re on the pitch you’re being judged all the time and that’s uncomfortable and unsafe.”...
“How you play [is] conditioned by environment…creativity…is pausing time to turn the routine into the unexpected.” In environments where coaches/parents demand players, GO! RUN! KICK IT!, imagine trying to teach this definition of creativity....
May 3, 2025 at 6:36 AM
“How you play [is] conditioned by environment…creativity…is pausing time to turn the routine into the unexpected.” In environments where coaches/parents demand players, GO! RUN! KICK IT!, imagine trying to teach this definition of creativity....
"If I give you the ball and I tell you…..you do not think anymore. You are just in mechanization.” Xavi on the debilitating effect of direct instruction on player capacity to think, make decisions and ultimately player autonomy....
May 3, 2025 at 6:36 AM
"If I give you the ball and I tell you…..you do not think anymore. You are just in mechanization.” Xavi on the debilitating effect of direct instruction on player capacity to think, make decisions and ultimately player autonomy....
Greg Chappell acknowledges the significance of informal training environments: ”The stuff we learned playing against our mates at the park, learning to compete, making decisions in real time, they were the important lessons. Technique is an outcome.“...
May 3, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Greg Chappell acknowledges the significance of informal training environments: ”The stuff we learned playing against our mates at the park, learning to compete, making decisions in real time, they were the important lessons. Technique is an outcome.“...