In an interview, the heads of Dynamo Secondary School in Odintsovo, Anton Schmidt and Vladimir Kulichkov, told about their path, the specifics of working in the Moscow region, the principles of teaching children, as well as the immediate goals of the school.
– Tell us about your school.
– We have been looking for ideal conditions for football lessons for our children for a long time. There are a lot of excellent schools and interesting projects, but there was something missing everywhere. Unfortunately, there is a lot of commercial component that hinders development. So the idea was born to create a unique space – Dynamo Football School in Odintsovo, where children develop not only as athletes, but also as individuals, and also reveal and improve their strengths, where the coach is a mentor and the team is a family. We want to grow smart players who think on and off the field, not overloaded with responsibility and the result on the scoreboard. We received the support of the first parents, so the Odintsovo Dynamo project appeared.
– What is the specifics of the work of a children's football school in the Moscow region?
– The work of a children's football school in the Moscow region is always a balance between the desire to develop children and a number of objective difficulties. On the one hand, there are a lot of interested parents, talented guys and coaches who are passionate about their work. On the other hand, you come across things that slow down development. For example, there are not enough quality fields, especially with year-round access, there are no playpens or they are all full. Often it is necessary to adapt to the free "window", and not to the needs of children.
– What is the ideology and main goals of your school?
– We adhere to several principles. No pressure on children and games for the result. No crowded groups. Everyone has the right to make mistakes. We want to keep the children interested in the game for many years and reveal their identity in each of the children. Let someone become a professional, and someone will just play for the soul. The main thing is that football becomes a part of their life, a support, a place where character is formed. And without false modesty, we are ready to declare that we are succeeding.
In the training process, we experiment, try new techniques, follow global trends. We play a lot, for this we even increased the duration of training sessions so that the guys would have more time not only for the training process, but also for live, real football. The way we all love him. All this resonates with children and parents.
– Tell us about the success of your teams.
– We are a young school, we don't have much gaming experience behind us. There are first and prize-winning places in one-day tournaments. Recently, the FootBiG Winter Championship came to an end, where we took third place. For some young players, this is the first such experience of a real table, points and pressure.
Medals and trophies are not the most important thing in children's football. Why do you need a medal for the first place where your child played two minutes in a match? We would rather lose, but every child will spend the maximum amount of time on the field.
From the very beginning, we set ourselves, among other things, a simple but important goal – to give children the opportunity to play football as much as possible. With emotions, mistakes, excitement. It is through the game that the love of football comes, the character is formed and a real athlete grows. We do not put the "scoreboard" above the process. The result is important, but not more important than development. Our pride is that all the players spent the same amount of time on the field.
– In the spring, all schools returned to outdoor classes after the cold season. How big is the difference in terms of the training process?
– The difference is really serious, both physically and emotionally. For children, this is a real breath of fresh air in both literal and figurative senses. After months in a confined space, being able to go out on a spacious field is like re–breathing football. Naturally, on the street the coach has much more freedom in building the training process.
Also, do not underestimate the emotional side – children in the fresh air are more active, they have higher concentration, they get involved in the process faster. And this directly affects the quality of training.
– What role does Dynamo play in the development of your school?
– For us, Dynamo is not just a brand with a long history, it is a pillar and a landmark. We are pleased to realize that we are part of this global system that has given the world a whole galaxy of great football players. The letter "D" is a valuable knowledge, methodology, support and philosophy that we pass on to children.
The club is always in touch, you can ask for advice, get help on methodology and organization. Recently, a curator from Dynamo came to us – this is an important sign of interest from the club. We discussed the coaching approach, development plans, and received feedback. It is very valuable that Dynamo does not move away from its schools. We can always ask for advice on methodology, organization and get an expert point of view. And it really works.
Now a more systematic work is beginning on the interaction between the coaching staff of the school and the Dynamo Academy. This is not an easy and delicate process, because it is not just about knowledge transfer, but about the exchange of experience, synchronization of approaches, the formation of a common philosophy of training.
For us, this cooperation is a path to growth. We want the children who start with us to know that they have a club with a name behind them, and unlimited opportunities ahead.
– Do you do anything with students that is not directly related to training and tournaments?
– Yes, we believe that a real team is formed not only on the field. We have a rule – to hold a non-football event at least once every two or three months. It could be anything. We went to the cinema with the whole school, attended a drawing workshop, were at hockey. There are a couple more surprises in the plans for the guys, we won't reveal them now.
Such activities are very important, they reveal children from the other side to themselves, bring them closer, form a sense of shoulder and trust. The child begins to feel that he is part of something bigger, that he directly affects the atmosphere in the team, and behavior on the field, and overall progress.
Our goal is not just to grow football players, but to educate personalities. And these "off-field" moments play a serious role in this process.
– What prospects do you see for your school?
– In the near future, our main goal is to create our own infrastructure. We want the school to have its own football field, indoor arena, locker rooms, recovery areas, everything you need for a high-quality training process all year round. This is the basis for stable and long-term operation.
In parallel, we plan to increase the number of age groups so that both younger children and teenagers can study here. We also plan to participate in major tournaments: to reach the regional and all-Russian level. This will give our guys more practice and opportunities for growth.
Any great journey begins with the first step, and we have already made quite a lot of them. No matter how cliched it may sound, but we are building not just a football school, we are building a place where football becomes a part of life, where children grow up as athletes and as individuals, learn to win, and not only on the field. And so far everything is working out for us. Not all our plans and dreams have been realized, but there is a long way ahead.