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The Trial - Arton's Take

I'd like to say a big thanks to Andy for taking the time to come and support me at the trail and taking some time out of his busy schedule to write the blog that followed.

Let me give you my brief version of events as they went down over my trial at Luton.

The days were scheduled to go as follows:

Day 1 would include a morning of technical assessments followed by an afternoon including a specific battery of fitness tests and some preparation for the trial games the following day. Day 2 would be all about playing trial games and receiving feedback from the coaches about our performances throughout the trial.

The frame was established before we began. Luton were looking for individuals who displayed the requisite skills to play in their first team squad without any further nurturing and through all their previous open trials had found one such individual who they signed on a two year contract. We would be compared directly to guys who get paid to play Conference football but have played and aim to play in the Football League (some players have played as high as the Premier League and some of the coaches have experience at this level too). If any of our performances were to sufficiently impress the coaching staff, we would be invited back to trial with the first team squad.

It was also made clear that the importance of our performances on day one was negligible to that of them on day two. To perform extremely well in the matches on day two was the priority.

I went into day one in a more relaxed state than I had anticipated I would be in. After saying the thank yous I had so dearly wanted to say and having an utterly demonic final gym session, I felt fairly good (there was none of the trembling, heat or empty legged feeling I get when I do performance anxiety) despite my lack of football in the immediate run up to the trial (more on that later).

As it turned out, day one was radically altered. The group I was put in was given fitness testing (not a test on the list we had been given) to do before our technical sessions. The change in schedule was fine by me. I figured with all I have done I am prepared for most things! I set out steadily before easing off to put in an average performance on the test so that my legs would be saved for the coming sessions and the next day's play. I managed to get cramp in both calves during the process. I have not had cramp of that nature for around seven years and I can only put my rare experience down to a mix of dehydration and nerves. Luckily, the tight sensation that lasted throughout the rest of that day didn't impede my performances.

We then went on to three technical drills covering possession, shooting/one-on-one defending and game play before an afternoon of 10-15 minute long full size games.

Instead of giving you a blow by blow of all of my performances, I will cut to the stats that would usually be most noted of any striker. In around 40 minutes of full play, I scored none and assisted one directly. I think I played a part in at least another assist and I missed what I would class as 4 good chances, one of which I would almost label "a sitter".

I found day one odd. I didn't know how much effort to exert given the importance that had been attributed to it by the coaches but one thing was for sure; I had to give everything I had the next day.

The Trial - Andy's Take

Andy Nelson is a good friend of mine who I met on my NLP trainers' training course in 2006. Today, Andy takes over the blog to give his account of what happened at my trial last week. I will provide you with my version of events over the coming days.

I�m no football expert... I played as a lad, to an average level, playing in the school team, but never excelling and until recently I played weekly in a 5-a-side knockabout - for fun. it�s a game I enjoy. I watch the occasional Premier League or FA cup game, and I watch most of the World Cup matches, but by no means am I an authority of any kind.

When Arton told me a couple of years ago about this project, I wasn�t sure what to think... I notice the difference between my ability, and that of the more skillful players on the pitch around me, and they�re a long way from professional standard, so to get there from nowhere is a big task.

I�ve never been to a football trial before either, but a few weeks ago I got a text that would change that... and on Wednesday I headed over to Baldock to watch the second day of Luton FC�s open trial, which Arton was participating in.

The day consisted of a set of 25 minute matches, putting four squads of hopeful players onto the pitch to show what they could do in a live situation, and the first thing that struck me was that despite being far from a professional pundit, the variance in the quality was apparent.

What really struck me though, was that once I�d discounted the players that were trailing in on the ball skill (by which I mean they�d be considered good by my mates and I on a Tuesday evening, but not so good we�d ask them not to come back the following week), the rest were differentiated not just by how well they connected with the ball, but how the connected with the movement around them... what they did off, and around the ball.

Simply put, here was a beautiful demonstration of how some very skilled footwork is wasted on players who don�t look up, don�t get themselves in the spaces, and don�t read what�s going on around them, holding possession when a perfect set-up was available, going for the glory goal with no hope of achieving it, or choosing a badly placed player to pass to were some of the glaring mistakes that no fancy footwork could make up for...

Then there were a few that stood out, not because they were always on the ball, but because they were consistently in the right place, displaying an awareness of the game in play that extended beyond their personal involvement.

Ah, but what you really want to know is where did the lad Arton fit into this mix? after all, he�s been working on this project for a while now so what has the process he�s been following brought out in him? I�m getting to that bit, so hold your horses and let me continue.

The deal was, that at the end of the trial, the coaches would give feedback based on their assessment, and in line with the level of players in the professional game, so it was apparent that, given the variable quality of players on the pitch, there would be some disappointed faces at the end.

Speaking to Arton after his first stint on the pitch, he expressed disappointment indeed as to his performance... citing the mistakes he�d made, but glossing over what he was doing well, and I gave him my assessment of what I�d seen... Playing Centre forward, he sat, from where I was sat, firmly in the camp of those who could read the game around them, and somewhere in the top quarter of ability to play the ball. Yep, the boy can play, and more than that, he can play with others. Of the three goals scored by his team, two were down to very nice set-ups from Arton.

He seemed (to me) to be playing with a level of finesse that was missing in some cases, but there was something lacking when he was in a direct man-on-man situation... almost as though he was holding back, or playing down to the level of the defender... he wasn�t displaying that drive, that passion, that will to get the ball in the back of the net at any cost which we expect from a truly great attacker. Simply put, he didn�t seem to be getting stuck-in enough.

I wondered if that might be down to a lack of time in live games... recreating the abilities of a great player in abstraction is one thing, doing it in the context of a win-lose situation is another.

I could regale you with more details about the gameplay, but you�re probably more interested in what people who get paid to assess footballers thought than what an occasional viewer did, so let�s move on to the end of the day

Perhaps predictably, from the 64 hopefuls, none were offered the chance to trial with the first team that may lead to a contract to play for Luton... and that includes our intrepid adventurer, so was this the end of the journey? Perhaps not.

The feedback sheet from the assessment wasn�t the dismissal report that I suspect Arton was waiting for, but neither was it the whole picture.

He scored average or above in all of the marked categories, with an assessment that they coaches present would place him at the semi-professional league squad player level for the 2010-2011 season. That�s not too shabby for someone who still doesn�t play in a regular team.

I had the opportunity to listen in as Arton asked for a bit of one-on-one verbal feedback from the coach assigned to his group. What the tick sheet didn�t tell was that they�d placed him in the top four or five players in terms of potential. He has the right attitude, and demeanor to play in a team, which despite the tabloid depiction of top flight footballer�s lifestyle is an important factor - ignoring raw talent for a moment, it�s an important quality for anyone who wants to make it at a high level to be coachable.

The discussed some of the specifics of his game, and the long and short of it is that whilst Arton wasn�t happy with his performance, and thought the assessment a little generous if anything, the man who gets paid to tell players how good they are was of the opinion that Arton has some ability.

When he asked what he could best do to improve, the coach asked a question that took the conversation down an unexpected path....

�What level is the team you play for at the moment?�

Now, if you�ve been following Arton�s journey you�ll know that the answer to that one, but the reaction to Arton�s answer was telling...

�I don�t play for a team at the moment.�

�Ok, so what level were you playing at?�

�I never really have.�

�Come on, local league, Dog & Duck, you must play for someone?�

Now this was where, as an observer, things got interesting, because the expression on his face was a picture...as was that of his two colleagues...they genuinely struggled to comprehend how he played at that level without a regular game, expressing deep surprise that without having played regularly, he was anywhere near the level he is. After exclaiming that if he were a member of Arton's family or friends he would have kicked his arse for coming to a professional trial with so little competitive play of any type under his belt, he strongly recommended one course of action...

Their advice?

An NLP coach would probably have termed it,

�Find regular opportunities to express and embody the patterns you�ve been modelling in a viable and authentic context, parallel to that of your chosen exemplar.�

The football coaches just said it plain and simple....

�Get out there, join a team, and play some bloody football.�

Me, I just think that that not to do so, at this stage, would be a waste.

Slaying The Dragon

There is a book that has repeatedly came to mind over the past few days. When I was 16 I was lucky enough to pick up a first edition copy of an out of print autobiography by the outstanding American sprinter, Michael Johnson. Its title is Slaying The Dragon and it details his career through to his incredible double gold medal winning, 200m world record smashing performance in the '96 Atlanta Olympics.

Johnson had suffered a major bout of food poisoning in the follow up to Barcelona '92 and consequently performed poorly and went home with none of the medals the world had expected him to win at a canter. '96 was his chance to redeem himself in his own eyes.

After winning the 400m gold, Johnson felt a huge sense of relief that he had emphatically dismissed the niggling doubts he had regarding whether he would be the guy who an individual Olympic gold would always elude. In the 400m medal ceremony, Johnson shed uncharacteric tears, each one letting out more excess tension derived from the necessities and wants he had placed on himself for many years.��The pressure was now off and he talked about going into the 200m with a sense of freedom, joy and destiny. He WAS a 200m runner and this would be his day.

As he crouched in the blocks, all was left behind except for a check list of performance pointers for the race ahead and the state that he called "the zone". It seems that men who travel lightly run quickly.

My starting line is Tuesday morning at 10:00 and my race - an open trial for a conference club - will last until Wednesday, 15:00. Come Wednesday evening, I plan to have left it all behind...every unit of focused energy I can muster will be expended during those trial games on day 2.

Before that, there is something else I would like to leave before the start - my gratitude to all of you who have helped me get to this point.

When you come to this page all you really see is my ugly mugshot but that tells the tiniest part of the story of this incredible journey.

To all the experts I have listed as part of TBA, my family, my friends and those of you who have diligently followed this project. You have done incredible things to help support my dream. Without your knowledge, your support, your belief, your time, your kindness, your company whilst training and through the other parts of this and your dedication to my cause, I would not have made it this far. Rarely have the words "thank you" represented so much. I leave those words for you with a promise that I will be there to support your dreams with the same verve you have supported mine with.

In around an hour, I will perform my last conditioning sessions before the day. I will give everything I have in the hope that it will give me the tiniest bit more in the tank come Tuesday, Wednesday. Some concentrated ball work may take place today and tomorrow and then it will be left behind. I will go into Monday without anything on my mind, free to perform on the following days. If you are in London on Monday and would like to meet up and discuss anything other than the following days, let me know. I would love to spend that day amongst friends.

All the hard work has been done. Now it is time to shut up, nut up and slay the dragon.

The Summer Countdown

Hello y'all. Once again, it has been a while!

Since I last posted a few months back, a lot has happened. Even since Monday, a lot has happened! The life I have chosen to lead to get TBA off the ground has been extremely variable and has most definitely kept me on my toes. I have not blogged recently because I have been scrambling around to get finance to keep going (a familiar story) and it has not tied in with the objectives of what I am doing. I have heard from and met some wonderful people as a result of blogging the beginning of this journey which kept me encouraged me to keep blogging but even that was not a good enough reason to. The blog's intention was to attract the resources to keep this going through til the end...it didn't do that...I didn't find a way to make it. Blogging for bloggings sake is not what I want to do. That said, I hope that you have been somewhat interested and entertained along the way. I hope that ultimately this interest in the concept that I am investigating will motivate you to perform a small, quick action that might have significant effects in creating more opportunities to test out the work of the last 18 months.

I have entered a competition in which a number of people will be granted the opportunity to trial with a League One club. The best trialist will win a year long contract. Basically, the more people I get to click on and comment on my profile (click through to it here), the more chance there is of me getting a place at this trial. If I get this trial, I will certainly have two opportunities to test out my progress (the May trial I last wrote about was rearranged for August). Two trials is better than one for a number of reasons, therefore I'm keen for this to be the scenario.

I am training hard. I have put a lot into this. I hope you like the idea of what I have been exploring here from the outset and regardless of my lack of commentary still support that and can take the time to click through and comment and find ways to get others to do the same (word of mouth, Facebook, Twitter, etc).

I appreciate your continued interest. Thanks for reading.

The Test In May

TBA has not been on the track�I'd initially envisaged�since July but thanks to a message from somebody that's been following the project from it's early days (thanks, Mark), I have got it back moving towards the same end point.

In May, I will be attending trials with at least one club putting my modelling so far to the test. My work with Nick throughout my period in the wilderness had kept me at the fitness level of a top pro (it'll take a week or two for my game specific endurance to pick back up after not running due to treacherous weather conditions through most of December and January) and I visited Gary the week before last. Now I will build further on all of that and turn my concentration to restarting modelling practice with the aid of John, Carmen, Daryll, Martin and a few good friends.

For the next three months, I will be looking to play as much football (all sized sides upto 11-a-side, with this being particularly valuable at a time in the season when it will be hard to come by) as possible of any standard so that I can put my modelled skills into practice.

If you know of any football that I can get involved in, be it 5, 6, 7, 11-a-side competitive or practice games preferably in the north-east of England, please let me know. Also, if you know of professional clubs anywhere in the world that I may be able to trial with come May or beyond, please contact me.

Before I go today, I'd just like to thank you for your continued support over the past few months. Hopefully I can make May a rewarding month for us all!