V.V. Schaesberg

Coach

I was involved with several teams either as an assistant (U15s, Girls and Women's) or as a head coach (U11s and U13s). One of my main accomplishments was with the U13s during the 2009-2010 season in which the players' development was immense and winning the league was a nice bonus for the players after working hard for a whole season. This got us promoted to the third national league.

Here is an overview of my other key tasks:

 - Designing individual training programs based on their own developed goals to improve tactical and technical skills.

 - Developing a tactical team periodization based on our own style of play and age specific factors.

Fontys University of applied sciences

Bachelor in Sports and Movement

Whilst being active as a player and as a coach I wanted to qualify myself as a teacher but my focus switched to Sports and Movement during the four year study. The courses were vary varied with event management, marketing & finance on the one hand and social, medical and biological sciences on the other. I learned a lot about didactics and training methodology in relation to the motor learning process of children specifically. My other favorite courses were exercise physiology, fitness testing, sports rehabilitation and training & nutrition. 

Coerver Coaching Belgium / Total Soccer Method

Coach 

Coached male and female football players (age 6-14) according the Coerver Method which later evolved in the Total Soccer Method. I coached at different locations in the Netherlands and Belgium. Whilst being active as a coach, I also participated during the coach education program focusing on Motor Learning and Control.

KNVB

UEFA C license

Learned how to analyse football games according the four main moments of the game. I also picked up how to plan sessions with a focus on player learning and how to develop an age specific training methodology following my style of play. Eventually, I am succesfully qualified to go for the B license. So I am now looking to upgrade my coaching qualification.

Roda JC Kerkrade

Bachelor Research Internship

Done my major project at the academy of Roda JC Kerkrade looking at the effect of periodizing football conditioning training sessions on the recovery capacity of male youth professional football players (age 14-15) who train four times a week and play in the First division.

VU University

Master of Human and Movement Sciences, specialization Sport & Exercise

After I finished my bachelor degree, I was looking for more in-depth knowledge of the human body in relation to movement. So that is why I specialized in Sport and Exercise Sciences. Motor learning, sport psychology, pathology, anatomy and muscle physiology were subjects during my three year study but my main interest was in talent identification and development. Other topics in which I was interested were maximal neuromuscular performance and fatige, aging and disuse. Also focused on social sciences like sport & society and group dynamics. I have followed courses containing statistics as well, to be able to collect and analyze data before I moved to Liverpool to complete my research internship. 

AFC Ajax

Intern performance analysis

I have been trained to install, encode and on-line manage the tracking system of the First team. This data was then used by the sport science staff to give feedback containing a physical match report. This report included data of the physical and technical match load. It was an informative experience but I was more interested in the physical match report than actually collecting the data.

Science + Football

Conference

I got in touch with Barry Drust from Liverpool John Moores University because I wanted to do my Master research internship abroad and in Liverpool in particular due to their Science and Football department. So I travelled to London for the Science + Football conference to speak to him in person about the possibility of doing an internship with LJMU and to learn from all the other presenters at the event.

Ajax Kids Camps & Clinics

Coach

I coached male and female youth football players (age 5-16) according the Ajax philosophy. Got officially certified by AFC Ajax and promoted to head coach during the summer camps.

FC Blauw-Wit

Head Coach U17

I have had a very informative time whilst coaching male youth football players with a multicultural background (aged 14-16). We played in the 4th national division at that time and it was my job to keep us up in the league but I thought we were better than that. I tried to do this via a tactical team periodization based on individual condtioning goals taking the age specific factors like the growth spurt and the Ramadan into account. However, there was no improvement concerning player motivation, willingess to learn and respect at player level. Combined with a lack of organization, clear structure and good communication at club level, made it iimpossible for me to enjoy my work. So that is why I decided to leave the club after hanging in there for half a season. I could never imagine that someone would quit coaching but I now know why and I will take this experience on to the future; I learned loads even though it was not enjoyable at times. Eventually, the team were taken out of the league and never finished the season.

Guido Seerden FC

Sport coaching consultant

Set up a coaching consultancy to educate football coaches on motor learning, coaching, talent identification and development. One of my projects was a workshop with the youth coaches of VVV-Venlo and Helmond Sport. Click here to view my presentation.

Seattle Sounders FC

Field visit & Sport Science Mentorship

Traveled to the United States to visit the Seattle Sounders FC for two weeks and to attend their Sport Science mentorship where I joined the discussion panel about soccer specific periodization alongside Jan van Winckel, Jan Willem Teunissen, Steve Tashjian, Nick Winckelman and Chris West. I also did a workship about Motor Learning and Control with the Academy coaches and discussed current issues in sport science and football with the Sport Science staff (Dave Tenney and Chad Kolarcik) on a daily basis. This is one of the trips that contributed to my current philosophy on sport science.

Liverpool John Moores University

MSc Research internship at the Science and Football department

Major project - The role of feedback within the use of key practice activities in English professional youth soccer. 

Liverpool John Moores University FC

First team manager

I have been training, coaching and managing adult semi-professional football players who studied at LJMU. Also used interactive presentations to show the players different settings in playing formation and style of play. The main thing that I learned was that each country has its football specific culture and I had to adjust my approach as a result of that. I also used some motivational speeches and videos 'to get the players going'. Hence, team building was a key factor during the season and we won the league, unbeaten.

FC StartSoccer

Coach U7

Tranmere Rovers FC

Sport scientist, strength & conditioning and fitness coach

I moved from an intern position working within the academy only to work full-time with the First team within two months. I was mainly responsible for the initial phase of daily training sessions and weekly match days, as well as monitoring training load and adjusting sessions based on individual player needs.

During his time working with Tranmere Rovers first team, Guido showed good diversity in his routines and also a thorough knowledge of fitness, strength and conditioning, diet and nutrition. He was well liked and respected by the players and staff.
- John McMahon - First team coach Tranmere Rovers FC 

Here is an overview of my other key activities:

• Providing strength and conditioning sessions for academy players, setting up individual programs and assisting the academy head of sport science and medicine whenever needed.
• Designing and implementing post-game recovery protocols to maintain freshness and fitness.
• Designing and implementing nutrition diaries to improve match day performance.
• Liaising with coaching staff on a daily basis regarding session plans.
• Liaising with medical staff on a daily basis regarding injured and rehabilitating players.

Real Madrid C.F.

Field visit

Spent nine days at Real Madrid C.F. to attend training sessions of the B team and the Academy teams, had daily discussions with the fitness staff about training load monitoring and discussed current issues in talent development in football with the coaches. This trip made a big impact concerning my coaching philosophy.

Al Ahli Saudi FC

Head Coach U9-U10

I coached the under 9s and under 10s at the Academy (U9-U15) during the 2013-2014 season and I was also responsible for developing the players of the Soccer School, aged 5-7 years. In addition, I coached the under 11-14s on a regular basis as well, either as a head or as an assistent coach. Moved up with my under 10s during the 2014-2015 season towards the U11s and also moved up to the U12s whilst coordinating the U7-U10s.

Here is an overview of my other key tasks:

• Deploying a style of play according to an age specific training methodology: 'implicit learning for the win'. Click here to see some videos of my sessions.
• Working with an individualized periodization based on the players' biological age. 
• Developing individual training programs based on the players' goals to improve tactical, technical, physical and mental skills.Thereby giving ownership to the players.
• Improving the talent identification and selection process of the U7-U11.
• Assisting injury prevention, speed, agility, quickness and strength training sessions of the Academy players.
• Involved in several research projects, sports science and performance testing. To keep a longitudinal record of the players' long term athletic development. 

Academy Sport Sciencist & Fitness coach

During my second year at Al Ahli Saudi FC, I was also working as the Head of Academy Sport Science (U9-U15) and responsible for the physical development of the under 13s, under 14s and under 15s. My main responsibility is monitoring the training load (sRPE and HR) of the U15s and the provision of strength and conditioning sessions for the U13-U15s based on players' biological age and individuals needs.

Here is an overview of my other key tasks:

• Involved within the development and implementation of an age specific testing battery for the academy players (U9-U15). Collecting and analyzing test results. Looking at within-subject, within- and between-group variances.
• Monitoring training load (sRPE and HR) and pre-training freshness levels (RPF) with the U15s.
• Main responsible for the provision of strength and conditioning sessions for the U13-U15s, based on players' biological age and individuals needs.
• Responsible for the initial phase of daily training sessions (U13-U15).
• Liaising with coaching staff on a daily basis regarding session plans.
• Liaising with coaching staff on a weekly basis regarding planned and actual training load.  
• Liaising with coaching and medical staff on a daily basis regarding injured and rehabilitating players.

BeNeVoetbal

Coaching Conference

Hosted a coaching conference for the first time in 2013 for mainly Dutch and Belgium coaches in which we tried to bridge the gap between research and practice (www.benevoetbal.com). We had the pleasure to have Rhys Carr (head of academy sport science at Cardiff City FC at that time), Scott Miller (assistant technical coach at Fulham FC), Lennard van Ruiven (Head of youth at Sparta Rotterdam), Roger Bongaerts (TSM and head of youth at VVV-Venlo) and Aad de Mos (former manager of PSV, Ajax, KV Mechelen, Anderlecht etc.) debating about nature vs nurture.

2015

The BeNeVoetbal coaching conference was organized for the second time in 2015 but this time in cooperation with Ruben den Uil and FC Utrecht. The main topic was: 'the coach as a specialist'. Four specialists were invited to present at the event: Sjors Ultee (First team assistant coach FC Utrecht), Bob Browaeys (National team coach Belgium Under 17), Michel Hordijk (coordinator foundation phase AFC Ajax) and Bastiaan Riemersma (Coordinator foundation phase PSV and Head coach U13). 

2016

The third edition of the BeNeVoetbal coaching congress was in cooperation with Sparta Rotterdam and the main topic was 'playing with resistances'; how to manipulate physiological, psychological, tactical and technical elements within a training session in order to achieve his individualand team goals. Marvin van der Valk (video-analyst Ado den Haag First team), Pieter Schrassert Bert (head coach Sparta Rotterdam U19), Bjørn V. Stenersen (fitness coach FC Copenhagen School of Excellence) and Bart Heuvingh (mentor Topsport AZ Alkmaar Academy) were invited to host workshops and presentations. 

Fitness in Soccer

Whilst working at Al Ahli Saudi FC, Jan van Winckel asked me whether I would like to participate with his book Fitness in Soccer. So we wrote the following chapter together with: 

McMillan, K., VanWinckel, J., Seerden, G. & Helsen, W. High-intensity interval training (with special reference to Small-Sided Games). In van Winckel et al. (2014). Fitness in Soccer: the science and practical application. (pp. 83-108).

Click here to view my presentation about this topic.

4th World Conference on Science and Soccer

Short oral presentation

Al Shabab Al Arabi Club

Lead Academy Fitness Coach 

In order to develop my social skills, I moved to Dubai as it felt the right thing to do after living in Saudi Arabia for two years. The fact that I did not get a scholarship to do a PhD in Sport Coaching at the University of Sydney contributed to this move as well. So I started working as the lead academy fitness coach at Al Shabab Al Arabi Club. I was responsible for the physical development of the academy players (U6-U19) but also assisted with U19 training sessions and analyzed the opposition during their games. 

Cape Town City Football Club

2nd assistent First team & Head of Sport Science and Performance 

The second application for the PhD Scholarship with the University of Sydney was unsuccessful too. Nevertheless, it was time for a new challenge at a different continent. Hence, I decided to leave the Middle east behind for a job at the newly formed Premier Soccer League club in Cape Town, playing in the ABSA premiership in the Republic of South Africa. This experience made a huge impact on my football philosopy and how to create your own football identiy. The challenge was to build a club from scratch and to compete on the highest level of South Africa and my goal was to build a sport sicence/performance department and leave a legacy. I had the opportunity to be in charge of the first part(s) of training sessions and take the U23/reserve training sessions, and grow into a 2nd assistent role with the First team.

I am extremely proud to have been part of this club, the prize(s) we won and the challenge we have overcome. 

FFA

AFC B coaching course

I have tried to get on the UEFA B coaching course but, unfortunately, living or working circumstances did not allow me to do it as yey. However, I really want to keep developing myself on a tactical and technical football level too. So, even though this course is not recognized in Europe, I started the Asian Football Confederation B licence coaching course with the Football Federation of Australia. During the course, they even asked me to deliver and present the fooball conditioning part and I really enjoyed doing that. 

Fortuna Sittard

First team Performance coach

Assistent coach U19

Head coach U13-14

Head of foundation phase U9-12

After living for almost six years abroad, it was time to go back home and live closer to family and friends. Also, I was looking to coach more and enrolled onto the UEFA B coaching course with the KNVB in the 2018-2019 season, which I completed at the end of it. During my time at Fortuna Sittard, I have completed several roles. Starting as a performance coach of the First team and assisting the U19 for my coaching license. During this season, I got a better understanding of the high performance environment in the Dutch league and the application of GPS in relation to position specific data. However, I really felt the need to go into a fulltime coaching position, to apply the lessons learned; from a tactical and physical perspective. I am a big fan of tactical periodization and I was able to implement this with the U14s during the 19-20 season and the U13s in '20-'21, I am proud of the development the players have made on an individual level but also on a team level; showing a clear identity in games. 

At the end of the 20-21 season, I left the club to be open for new coaching opportunities in the future.