A Day In The Life Of The Football Coach
Meet Manisha Tailor: Teacher, Sports Personality, Football Coach
From pimary school teacher to professional football coach, Manisha Tailor has successfully combined her love of teaching and the beautiful game to educate and inspire players of all ages. With an impressive background of qualifications and experience, the swaggarlicious sports enthusiast now works in all areas of fitness, football and education.
You have vast experience in teaching both academically and sports related. What do you love most about teaching?
I love being in a position to positively impact and make a difference to the lives of young people. Being able to empower them to achieve their goals and desires is an amazing feeling. Nothing can beat seeing them develop and the smiles on their faces.
Was it easy embarking on a career in football being an Asian woman?
Leaving financial stability and a field that you have been working in for more than 10 years is never easy, being Asian or not. My decision to work in football though came as I realised it could aid my twin brother’s recovery from depression. There is a strong connection between me, my twin and football. So, when I did face any challenges, what helped me was the very reason WHY I decided to work in the game, the moral purpose behind it, and that’s my brother.
I have been brought up in a very diverse part of North London and feel this has influenced the way I think and perceive myself, as well as experiences of course, and my skin colour or gender was never something I really thought about. I am not by any means saying it has been easy as my journey is no walk in the park. Much passion, purpose, resilience and determination is needed when working within football, regardless of race or ethnicity.
I am fortunate to have many mentors within the game who guide and nurture my development. For that I am very grateful and will continue my journey with the same passion and dedication.
What is your goal for the future of football?
I would like to continue to grow as a coach and FA tutor and learn as much as possible from those around me. My long term goal is to have a coaching role at a professional club and grow my company, ‘Swaggarlicious Ltd’ which is focused on football and education.
Manisha takes us through her average day.
5:30am: Working in football and running our own company means an ‘average’ day in non-existent! On a day that I am delivering a workshop for Show Racism the Red Card, as we work nationally, this would be the time I would wake up!
6:30am: Leave home to travel to the school or college that I am speaking at.
9:00am: Deliver an assembly to the whole school with the rest of the Show Racism the Red Card team.
9:30am: Deliver an anti-racism education workshop to the year group/class as specified by the school. This may also involve football coaching with the students. Sessions would be based on moral responsibility and respecting differences as well as team work, rather than on technical football ability.
10:30am: A short break and feedback/meeting with the rest of the team
10:45am: Continue with the delivering of an education workshop or coaching. The year groups/classes may change. This is dependent on the school schedule that we are given.
12:30pm: Lunch break where we usually discuss the delivery from the morning and use this as evaluation to feed into the afternoon sessions.
1:30pm: Delivery of education workshops or coaching.
3:30pm: End of school day.
5:00pm: Football coaching session at Middlesex Girls Centre of Excellence (CoE). Sessions are planned in advance and progressive. I would make evaluations at the end of each session through player observations as well as overall session evaluation. These would be recorded and kept in my planning portfolio for the centre. We have a direct link with the FA talent identification pathway for England Women and can be audited by talent ID officers, our Middlesex CoE Centre Manager, Charlotte Edwards, or Technical Director, Peter Augustine.
6:30pm: End of coaching session.
7:45pm: Reach home from coaching. Make some dinner. Record my session and player evaluations and use this to inform my planning for the following week. I usually eat whilst I am working!
8:45pm: I would go to the gym and train in the evenings on days I am delivering workshops. Otherwise I’d train in the morning. I mix this with exercises at home using my good friend Corey’s Creative Body Dynamics (CBD) system which is amazing! A real focus on mind-set and mental-wellbeing which I have found instrumental in my life.
10:00pm: Catch up on emails and other work
11:00pm: Go to sleep! The time can vary though.
The football coach answers some of our quick fire questions.
Drink that gets you through the day? Lots and lots of water. I am huge fan of warm water with a slice of lemon.
Person that gets you through the day? Corey Donoghue, he is a very important part of my life and has been instrumental in my growth both as a person and within football.
Gadget that gets you through the day? My car!!! As I could work in many different places in one day my car is essential!
Song that gets you through the day? Oooh my favourite song at the moment is ‘Tina – by Fuse ODG’ and I’d also listen to ‘Gibberish’ by almost Ryan Leslie every day!
Food that gets you through the day? Anything wheat, dairy and gluten free! I love the wheat free pasta from Tesco’s Free From range. I made changes to my diet following The CBD system and couldn’t be happier!
Favourite time of the day? When I am with young people and my group of girls at Middlesex. I absolutely love coaching them!
Visit Manisha’s website at www.swaggarlicious.com
Follow Manisha on Twitter @ManishaTailor1 and Facebook at Manisha Tailor
For more information on the CBD system visit www.cbdsystem.com
