Trusted at the top level

Arsenal use MatchPlay Cards in two places that matter: on the grass with young players across Arsenal in the Community, and in the room with the coaches who deliver those programmes. We recently ran a session with Arsenal coaches to take that work further.

When a Premier League club invests in a coaching resource, it is because it solves a real delivery problem. For Arsenal, that problem is scale: lots of sessions, lots of coaches, lots of young people, and one shared standard for what good practice looks like.

Across Arsenal's community programmes

Arsenal in the Community reaches young people in very different settings, from school sessions to community and holiday programmes. MatchPlay Cards give every coach the same toolkit to make those sessions game-based, inclusive and purposeful.

Each card is a short, sharp challenge played inside a game. A coach can reveal a card and instantly change the problem players are solving, without stopping play for a long explanation. That means:

  • More time playing, because the card does the talking
  • Every player involved, as challenges can be pitched up or down for mixed ability groups
  • Consistent quality, because every coach works from the same resource, whoever is leading the session

Inside Arsenal's coach development programme

The cards are not just a session resource for Arsenal. They are a coach development tool. Using them well asks coaches to design better games, ask better questions and step back so players can solve problems for themselves.

That is why we recently ran a session with Arsenal coaches focused on getting more from the cards. The session covered:

  • Designing games with purpose, so every activity has a clear outcome
  • Using MatchPlay Cards to shape the challenge, adding constraints in the moment instead of stopping play
  • Questioning over telling, using Reflection MatchPlay Cards to help players think about their own learning
  • Coach Challenge MatchPlay Cards, where the card sets the challenge for the coach, not the other way round

Arsenal in the Community has a long-standing commitment to developing coaches through practical experience, education and opportunities to work across a wide range of community programmes.

The club's Community Coach Development Programme provides aspiring coaches with a structured development experience based at The Arsenal Hub, next to Emirates Stadium. Coaches combine practical and online coach education with opportunities to support and deliver sessions across Arsenal's community projects.

"The kids have a sense of excitement once they actually reveal the MatchPlay Card. They have to think on the spot on how to strategise."

The programme also includes opportunities for mentoring, individual development and relevant coaching qualifications, helping coaches build the experience and confidence required to progress in their coaching journey.

What other organisations can take from it

You do not need to be a Premier League club to work this way. Arsenal's approach comes down to three things any foundation, club, school or governing body can do:

  1. Give every coach the same tool. A shared resource creates a shared language and a consistent standard across all your programmes.
  2. Develop the coach, not just the session. Cards are most powerful when coaches are supported to use them well.
  3. Keep players playing. Short, sharp challenges inside games beat long explanations and lines of players waiting for a turn.

MatchPlay Cards are loved in 75+ countries and used by clubs including Arsenal, West Ham and Crystal Palace, alongside foundations such as Arsenal in the Community and Crystal Palace Foundation. Custom decks can also be co-designed around your own principles of play and branding.

 

Bring MatchPlay Cards into your programmes

If you lead coaching, community programmes or coach development, we would love to show you how MatchPlay Cards could work for your organisation.

Working with organisations like Arsenal reinforces what we believe at The Coaching Lab: the most effective coach development happens when education, practical experience and the right tools come together. Our role is to help coaches turn ideas into action, creating better sporting experiences for the young people they work with.

Book a MatchPlay Cards discovery call, visit thecoachinglab.org

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We’re here to make you a game changer.

After launching in 2018, The Coaching Lab's MatchPlay Cards were quickly recognised by Richard Branson's Virgin Startup as a “bright idea”, accelerating our reach to impact teachers and coaches across the world to improve their coaching, strategy and gameplay.

MatchPlay Cards are now loved in 75+ countries, used at the games grassroots and with the world's elite.

Our cards were designed to engage the kid at the back; to help the coach who is short on time and the teacher looking for an innovative way to engage a mixed ability group, MatchPlay Cards are the solution.

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