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At the age of 78, Dutch football manager Dick Advocaat has led the Caribbean island of Curacao to the men’s Fifa World Cup finals for the first time in their history. It’s the latest achievement in a career that’s seen him win league titles in four different countries, and manage teams from the Netherlands to South Korea – and it’s set us wondering about the links between age and coaching ability.
Aston Moore has coached some of the UK’s best track and field athletes, including world champions Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Phillips Idowu. As he approaches his 70th birthday, he tells Ed Harry about how his coaching approaches and philosophies have changed over time. He explains why the knowledge he’s banked over that time has helped inform his methods, how he’s adapted to evolving technologies, and the importance of working out an individual athlete’s best way of learning. He also reveals the athletes who’ve taught him the most about his own job, and why he believes it’s best to encourage the people you coach to work out ways to improve for themselves.
Ed also talks to journalist Anthony Wootton about how age and experience are seen in American football. With coaches such as Andy Reid leading some of the NFL’s major franchises, and 73-year-old Bill Belichick coaching college football after his successes with the New England Patriots, is experience something that’s valued differently in American sport – and could the rest of the world learn from their approach to giving coaches time to establish themselves?
More than the Score is the BBC World Service’s daily podcast exploring stories from all over the world of sport. Every Monday to Friday, we’re telling stories beyond the scoreline, from tennis to football, boxing to bobsleigh, and rugby league to the NFL. We’ve got interviews with extraordinary athletes like pole vault titan Mondo Duplantis, boxing royalty Cecilia Braekhus and tennis legend Boris Becker, as well as the experts working behind the scenes, from top football scouts to physios who keep NBA stars in peak condition. Plus, we’ve got the expertise of the BBC’s top journalists, who share their insights from decades of covering sport at all levels.
And if you’ve got your own take on the stories we cover, we’d love to hear from you. Email morethanthescore@bbc.co.uk, or WhatsApp us on 0044 800 032 0470. You can find more information, along with our privacy notice, on our website: www.bbcworldservice.com/morethanthescore
