On the first of May, over 100 youth football coaches from across the state of California participated in a 49ers/USA Football Coaching School at Santa Clara High School.
"USA Football is extremely pleased and proud to have partnered with the San Francisco 49ers for a clinic exclusively designed for youth football coaches," explained USA Football's Northwest Regional Manager, Bassel Faltas. "This was the fourth year we have conducted the event with 49ers and together we have made an impact on the youth football community."
The clinic began with a comprehensive overview of the many different youth development and football training programs offered by the San Francisco 49ers and USA Football – enrichment opportunities given at low or no cost to Bay Area youth. The 49ers also introduced the newly launched "49ers First Down Fundraising Program," developed to help youth football teams raise money for their programs.
The first theory session of the day was presented by Steve Henderson from the Positive Coaching Alliance. During this session, coaches were provided with techniques on how to build a players confidence and positively motivate them to succeed on and off the field.
That session was followed by one led by head coach Jeff Mueller of Monta Vista High School, who outlined the steps for building an effective and organized practice.
From there, the coaches split up for a variety of "chalk talk" sessions with topics such as "stunts and fronts" for 4-3, 4-4, and 5-3 defenses and offensive run and passing games from the "Wing-T" and "pro" formations.
After a break for lunch, the entire group reconvened for a keynote speech from 49ers Alumnus Guy McIntyre. McIntyre focused his presentation on conveying the importance of coaching players on how to find success both on the field and in life.
"You have these kids' attention more than their parents or teachers do during one of the most influential periods of their lives (ages 7-13)," McIntyre said, "What are you going to teach them aside from how to block, catch and throw to be successful at football? You need to teach them how to be successful at life."
Following McIntyre's speech, the coaches went outside to get hands-on training at different position drills. Participants were split into seven groups and spent close to 20 minutes at each station. The goal of this section was to not only give the coaches new ideas for drills and skill refinement, but also to provide them with an opportunity to actively participate and gain a better understanding of what they are asking their players to do during drills.
Coaches at the clinic included:
-Jeff Mueller
-Dan Lefeber
-Scott Portera
-Nick Alfano
-Darrel Lutz
-Dan Navarro
-Nick Navarro
-Mark Krail
The 49ers are grateful to Santa Clara High School, Shinichi Hirano and the SCHS Coaching staff for their support throughout the day and for opening their doors to the 49ers.
