From Kick-a-Ball to Purpose-Led Practice: How SEDA College Uses Custom MatchPlay Cards

SEDA College partnered with The Coaching Lab to make sure no practical session is ever just "kick a ball". Together we designed a custom set of MatchPlay Cards that give every session a clear outcome, with multiple ways for students to get there.

The result is a practical programme that staff can deliver with confidence and students genuinely own. Here is how it works, and what has changed.

"Our collaboration with The Coaching Lab is about making sure our practical sessions aren't just a standard kick-a-ball session. Each session has purpose and meaning, with a designated outcome and multiple different options." Matt Wood, SEDA College WA, Head of School

Built around SEDA's Engage, Explore, Apply model

SEDA College walks side by side with its students. Learning happens through practical sessions built on a simple model: engage, explore, apply.

Off-the-shelf drills rarely fit a school's own pedagogy. So rather than asking staff to bend their model around a resource, we designed the cards around theirs. Each card is a quick, short, sharp action that sits inside a game and pushes students to:

• Engage with a clear challenge the moment the card is revealed
• Explore different solutions with their team, guided by discovery rather than instruction
• Apply what they have learned in live, game-based decision making

"We have the opportunity to extend challenge through our engage, explore, apply model, with the quick, short, sharp actions of a card enabling quick decision making that is guided through discovery."

The impact on staff

For SEDA's staff, the biggest win is differentiation across multiple sports. One set of cards works across their programme, and every card can be pitched up or down to suit the group in front of them.

"What we love about the Coaching Lab MatchPlay Cards is the ability of differentiation across a number of our sports. We're able to provide an inclusive environment for all of our students, no matter what their ability."

That matters for any school or organisation with mixed-ability groups. Staff get:

• Purpose in every session, with a designated outcome built into each card
• Built-in differentiation, so every student is included and the more able are stretched
• One shared resource across sports, so practice looks and feels consistent whoever is leading it

The impact on students

The change staff notice most is ownership. When students play the cards, sessions become student-led, and students take far more accountability for their own learning.

A favourite way to use them is first thing in the morning. Students head outside for team challenges, are handed a MatchPlay Card, and have to think on the spot about how to strategise.

"When we use the MatchPlay Cards, we notice that the kids have far more accountability for their own learning, and it's more enjoyable because it becomes far more student-led. The intensity increases and the kids have a sense of excitement once they reveal the card and play it."

SEDA's staff see three clear shifts:

• Accountability: students drive their own learning instead of waiting for instructions
• Decision making: each card forces quick thinking and team strategy under pressure
• Intensity and enjoyment: the reveal of a new card brings energy and excitement to every game

Above all, it delivers the hands-on learning experience SEDA wants for its students: playing sport while building skills that help them in the future.

Why custom-designed cards work

Generic resources ask staff to adapt to them. Custom MatchPlay Cards are built the other way round: around your pedagogy, your sports, your language and your students.

For SEDA College, that meant cards anchored in Engage, Explore, Apply. For a professional club academy, it might mean their principles of play. For a state body or school network, it might mean a shared coaching language across hundreds of coaches and teachers.

Custom decks have been co-designed with partners including Auckland FC, Melbourne Victory FC, West Ham and the England Football team. The process is the same every time:

1. Discover: we learn your philosophy, curriculum and the outcomes you care about
2. Co-design: we turn those outcomes into short, sharp, game-based challenges
3. Brand: the cards carry your identity, so staff and students see them as your resource
4. Embed: we support your staff to use the cards with confidence from day one

Bring purpose to your practical sessions

Whether you lead a school PE department, a sports academy, a club or a governing body, custom MatchPlay Cards can give your staff a consistent, inclusive and engaging way to deliver practice.

To talk about a custom deck for your organisation, visit thecoachinglab.org