Peak Performance: Cymru U18 coach Craig Knight on embracing change
The player development expert - the first coach to lead Wales into the European U17 Championship finals - is the guest speaker at the next Peak performance seminar
Cymru under-18 men’s football coach Craig Knight will be the speaker at Coleg Llandrillo’s next ‘Peak Performance’ seminar.
Craig is a player development expert, and was the first coach to lead Wales into the European U17 Championship finals.
His talk, ‘Coaching in a National Elite Environment’ (Tuesday, May 13, 6pm), will be the fifth in the Peak Performance series, featuring guest speakers from the world of elite sport.
The event is open to the public and is free to attend - you can book your place here.
Pictures: FAW
Craig will shine a light on his experience working within national squads, and will also draw on his own experience, from going to university as a mature student to carving out a career in elite coaching - with the message ‘never be afraid to embrace change’.
“I made a change when I left my job to go to university,” Craig said. “I had a break from football, and ended up doing a job which I didn’t really enjoy.
“So I went back to university quite late, when I was about 30 - and that’s how I got back into football coaching.”
Craig began his football career as an apprentice with Wrexham, before having a spell in Northern Ireland and then playing for local clubs in North Wales.
As he neared his 30th birthday, Craig wanted to work in football again, and enrolled on a Sport and Exercise science degree.
After completing his Masters, Craig didn’t look back, working as a coach at Kidderminster Harriers and then Wrexham, before becoming U18s head coach and U13-U17 pathway lead for the Football Association of Wales.
His role now focuses on talent identification from nine years of age through to pro level, and developing players to feed into the national squads, as well as coaching the U18 team.
In 2023, he led Wales into the European U17 Championship finals for the first time since the competition’s inception in 1982, repeating that success the following year.
Looking ahead to his seminar, Craig said: “I’ll be talking a bit about what an international camp looks like, and giving a couple of case studies of what we’ve done within the FAW at a developmental level.
“I had to be prepared to make changes personally and professionally, and that’s something I’ll be talking about in the seminar - that you shouldn’t be afraid to embrace change.”
Craig’s talk will be the fifth in the ‘Peak Performance’ series, hosted by Coleg Llandrillo’s sport programme area.
The series opened with world record-breaking endurance athlete Sean Conway, before sessions with FAW performance coach and Coleg Llandrillo lecturer Sam Downey, referees’ head of coaching and development Neil Cottrill, and leading sports performance nutritionist Felicity Devey.
After Craig’s talk, the series will conclude with the visit of GB wheelchair basketball player Alex Marshall-Wilson on June 26.
‘Peak Performance - Coaching in a National Elite Environment’ takes place at the Coleg Llandrillo University Centre, Rhos-on-Sea campus, on Tuesday, May 13 (6pm). To book your place, click here.