Get To Know Your Coach - Madeline McLennan
Maddy McLennan has been connected to Guelph Soccer for most of her life. The 24-year-old Guelph product admits that her initial involvement in Timbits soccer at the age of four was motivated more by a love of snacks than trophies. But McLennan quickly began to feel passion for the sport, which made sense given her family’s unique connection to Guelph Soccer.
Her grandfather Ken, a product of Scotland and massive supporter of Glasgow Rangers, moved to Canada and became a coach for the local organization. Ken coached McLennan’s dad Rob, who in turn coached his daughter.
“They never forced me to play, but I drew some connection to the game through them,” McLennan of Ken and Rob. “When I first played rep on the B team at the age of 10, I really began to understand the sense of community. I made a lot of great friendships and continued to love the game through those connections with other people.”
McLennan, a current graduate student at the U of G in Animal Biosciences, will coach the Guelph Soccer Academy’s U15 girls’ side this season. She knows exactly what it’s like to be a young player in the organization. McLennan began her U10 year as a striker. She found the back of the net in her first ever rep game, but when the goals dried up, she transitioned to the backline where she would play for the rest of her career.
McLennan would evolve into a varsity-level player with the Gryphons program, and eventually went on to secure a spot on Guelph Union reserves. Both were incredible experiences for her and that time with the U of G women would play a big role in McLennan’s desire to coach.
“The biggest thing that Coach Shayne Campbell instilled in our group, which I believe made the program successful, was that sense of community,” she says. “There was always an opportunity to give back and I enjoyed that. I always wanted to get into coaching and one summer, Shayne and a couple of our captains helped put together groups of us coaching in Guelph Soccer U9 house league.
“When you play soccer at a high level, it becomes a part of your identity. When you get to a point where you’re pretty much done with your soccer career, it’s hard to find that piece again. The game was so important to me that I wanted to stay a part of it in other ways.”
McLennan plays when she can these days, or as much as a banged-up knee allows her. She’s more focused on working with the Academy’s U15 side, a group of players she worked with last year, and recent Ontario Cup champions. McLennan appreciates the stable environment created by the open collaboration and communication between all the Academy coaches and technical staff.
“In terms of the developmental part of the game, I like everything to be game based,” says McLennan. “There is a time and place for getting technical touches, but it’s important to create scenarios where players are finding themselves in game situations, where they have to make a decision. You can make passes with a partner in training, but I want them to ask questions like can I make that pass at a different angle, and how do I make that decision?”
“Soccer is a complex game and there is so much decision making. Allowing the players to figure it out and solve problems inside of game-like activities is how I like to coach training sessions. I want them to have the skills so that they’re able to assess situations on the field and make their own choices.”
Tactics and formation are obviously crucial, but McLennan knows her role extends farther than what she teaches on the pitch, particularly for this specific age group. She is very aware that the social and psychological elements are often neglected in women’s sport.
“I like being involved on that side of things with the players,” McLennan says. “The biggest thing for girls in this age group is if they’re returning to sport in any capacity. That’s important.
“If each of those individual players, from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, has either achieved a team goal or an independent goal, then it’s a success. Maybe they’ve improved their confidence on the ball or communication.
“On the social, emotional, and psychological side, if those players enjoyed the environment and still love the sport, that’s a big piece for me.”
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Written by: David DiCenzo