KNVB and GITP Collaborate on Innovative Online Feedback for Coaches

The KNVB might not be the first client you associate with GITP/PiCompany. Business service providers, retail organizations, and healthcare institutions might come to mind more readily. However, the KNVB does much more than 'just' organizing football matches. For example, it also trains the new generation of trainers and coaches. And it does so in a way that fits a professional organization: contemporary, efficient, and innovative.

For some time now, the KNVB and GITP/PiCompany have had an innovation contract. Within this partnership, GITP/PiCompany and the KNVB jointly develop state-of-the-art digital tools that are used in the training of their trainers and coaches.

Feedback Scan Specially Developed for KNVB

The first result of the collaboration between KNVB and GITP/PiCompany is the KNVB Reflector, a feedback scan specifically developed for KNVB. This KNVB Reflector is used in the UEFA PRO training program (formerly Coach Professional Football). Participants in this program receive 360° feedback from four different 'parties':

1. Their fellow participants
2. Their instructors (often former trainers, such as Gert Aandewiel)
3. The technical staff of the club where they intern
4. The players they train

The KNVB Reflector includes questions that delve into testing and measuring performance during training, player workload, and the use of different training methods. This customization was specially developed for this training program. Sander Roege, Technical Affairs at KNVB, adds: "The KNVB Reflector from GITP helps participants generate even more awareness of their own learning and development process and thus contributes to the individual customization that KNVB aims to offer within its training programs."

Providing feedback is tailored, which is why the scan is as well. The questions are specifically adjusted to the group giving feedback: players are asked different questions than instructors and the technical staff. This differentiation is intentional, as players experience the 'trainer in training' at different moments compared to instructors or fellow participants.

Dirk Kuijt and Johnny Heitinga…

Sander Rooken, an account manager at GITP/PiCompany, is involved in this project. As an enthusiastic football fan, this is naturally a dream assignment. "The first pilot, or to stay in football terms, the kickoff of this project, took place last September at ADO Den Haag’s stadium. The training was conducted by Virgilio Teixeira, one of the fourteen participants in the UEFA PRO training program. Besides Virgilio, other participants include Dirk Kuyt (Feyenoord), Johnny Heitinga (Ajax), Willem Weijs (NAC), and Kristof Aelbrecht (Fortuna Sittard). Working with these kinds of participants is not something you do every day.

Based on this first pilot, some changes were made to the KNVB Reflector, which were implemented during the second pilot in December at Sparta, where Aleksander Rankovic conducted the training. All parties were so satisfied with these changes that we expect the other twelve participants in the training to start using this feedback scan after the next session in February. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this tool is also used for Coaches-Trainers A, the level directly below UEFA PRO."

Customization Delivers the Best Results

"As far as I'm concerned, it's a very successful start to the innovation contract. We have described the competencies relevant to KNVB in behavioral examples that are recognizable for them. This is truly customized. It requires an investment from both sides, but it results in feedback that participants can genuinely use."

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