ASCA Podcast #55 - Perry Stewart

Perry Stewart is currently the lead academy S&C coach (U9-U16) at Arsenal Football Club and was previously head of academy sport science and medicine at Queens Park Rangers FC. He has spent almost a decade working exclusively with development age athletes (from 6 to 21 years old) from various sports including, football, rugby, tennis, fencing, track and martial arts. Perry is accredited with the UKSCA & NSCA and also a chartered sport scientist. He is also lectures at the London Sport Institute, Middlesex University and has recently authored three book chapters. QUOTES “If you want to work in Academy football, you have to be prepared to work unsociable hours” “Whether it is a 16 year old or a 12 year old, if you can move well, we have no trouble in loading that athlete” “There is a disproportionate growth that happens from distal to proximal in adolescence and that impacts what injuries are more likely to occur” “Growth and maturation are lumped together interchangeably but that’s not always the case” “If a child is emotional and mentally mature enough, they can start strength and conditioning” “We don’t want every day looking the same, we don’t want every week looking the same from a training volume and intensity standpoint” SHOWNOTES 1) Perry’s journey from community health to English Premier League soccer clubs 2) The foundation and youth development stages of the Arsenal FC Academy 3) Maturation stages and hormonal development over adolescence and combing that with a competency based program 4) The different ways of assessing peak height velocity 5) When should kids start training? 6) More on the structure of the Arsenal FC Academy structure and the use of cooperative and multipart games 7) The importance of maintaining mobility, stability and motor patterns during growth spurt, monitoring growth and maturation and knowing what kids are doing outside of the Academy for injury prevention 8) How gym and speed sessions look in the Arsenal FC Academy 11) The benefits of coaching sports and not just coaching in the gym for strength & conditioning coaches 12) The Kaizen principle and taking time for yourself as a coach