Interview with Duncan Micallef

by Jonathan Spiteri - 2nd September 2012

For this week's interview we decided to interview one of the youngest coaches in our Nursery, and a passionate supporter of Birkirkara FC, Duncan Micallef.

Duncan, can you start by telling us something about yourself?

Well, I am 20 years old and I live in the small village of Manikata. My main hobbies are swimming and playing all kind of sports. I have just successfully completed a Diploma in Sports and just returned from a 15-day scholarship in Greece, to learn more about the Olympic values and about values in sports in general, thanks to the Maltese Olympic Committee.

We know you are a passionate Birkirkara FC supporter. How did this passion kick off?

As I said I hail from Manikata and I am a big supporter of Birkirkara FC. This passion started when I was a kid, and a friend of our family used to take us to the stadium to watch Birkirkara playing. Since then I never stopped following the Birkirkara FC team and I can proudly say that I form part of the BU 97 group.

How come, at a relatively young age, you opted to start this coaching adventure?

I always loved football and I also used to play football from a very young age. However I decided to stop playing competitive football and opt for coaching when two years ago I started a Diploma in Sports at MCAST, where one of the topics was football coaching. I really liked this topic and I was always eagerly waiting for football coaching lessons. As I completed this topic and got a distinction grade, I wanted to start coaching and do the Coaching Young Footballers license. Now I have also applied for the C License.

What age groups have you coached so far, and with which ones do you feel most comfortable?

So far I had the opportunity to coach Under 5s and Under 9s. However this year, besides coaching again the Under 5s, I was appointed as assistant coach with the Under 11s squad. To be honest as long as I am coaching kids I don`t bother which age group I am assigned to, but I have to admit that coaching young innocent 5-year old kids is priceless.

Which are the things that you think a nursery coach should continuously stress upon when dealing with the young ones?

Apart from focusing on the football skills and making sure that all kids are learning them the right way, a coach must also stress about transferring to the kids the real values of sports, sportsmanship and respect for the opponents. By this a coach would be ensuring that the future generation of players would be respectful to the opponents and the game of football would be played in a fair play athmosphere.

Looking at yourself, what do you think are your best qualities and where do you think you must still need to improve quite a bit?

If I had to analyse myself I can say that I have a very good voice projection and I am able to demonstrate skills to kids in a very good way. Besides, I think that I have a lot of patience with kids and this helps me to ensure myself that all the kids are understanding the exercises and tasks given to them. However I am still young and one thing that I think that I have missing is experience. As I started coaching at an early stage, I am sure that I still have a lot to learn.

What kind of rapport do you have with the Head Coach and with your fellow nursery coaches?

The rapport that I have with my head coach and the other coaches is excellent. Between the coaches there is a strong bond where together we discuss certain issues about training. I think that this season is going to be the beginning of something big. The new head coach brought with him a fresh air of energy in the nursery and thanks to this all the coaches are motivated and eagerly waiting for the season to kick off.

As from this season, you have been entrusted with managing the ball boys when Birkirkara FC have a 'home' fixture. What does this involve?

As you said, this year I will be managing the ball boys when Birkirkara FC would be playing ‘home'matches. This work involves calling all the ball boys from well before the match in order to have everything sorted out. Generally I aim to have 12 ball boys in every match as I would place 3 ball boys after each line of the ground. This is a great experience for me as I can feel the tension, joy and unfortunately despair that there would be on the bench when sitting next to the players and coaches during the games.

What ambitions do you have with regards to coaching?

My personal ambition in coaching is that one day I would be coaching in the Premier Leaue. Every coach aims to be successful in his career and I am not an exception. However I believe that experience is the key of everything and I should take things easily in order to achieve my dream.

Is there something you would like to say to the children and their parents?

The season is going to start soon and I urge all the kids to come and join and have a good season in every aspect. However I urge all the parents to support their kids and give them positive feedback. Parents should not hesitate to contact coaches if there are any problems. Together we can reach targets and create an environment where the kids would learn in the best way.

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