Its never nice telling a player that they hasn’t made the squad, says Joe Bradley head coach of Great Britain U16

We pay the most attention to the fitness of the players

Joe, at the end of June will start in Hradec Králové the World Championship. You will lead the Great Britain Under-16 team at the championship. What stage of preparation are you?

The Great Britain squad and staff have been selected for a while now and I’m happy with, what we have put in place. We have a handful more sessions to iron out small kinks within the squad. But overall I’m happy with progress so far.

You were appointed head coach in 2024. How have you managed to get to know the players so far?

Been a head coach to one of the junior local teams already, I was aware of the majority of the players as I have seen them all perform during numerous qualifiers throughout the year.

What will your final program look like before the tournament itself? What are you with the coaching team planning for the players?

We have prioritised fitness to be one of the key factors throughout our programme. We have brought a sports therapist in to really put the team through their paces. As I need the team to be able to move at full pace on their first shift all the way until their last.

For every coach, the final nomination for the tournament itself is always the most difficult. How do you see it from your position? Do you have most of the players selected who will form the core of the team? Or will it be much more complicated?

Its never nice telling a player that they hasn’t made the squad, when they have likely been working hard behind the scenes to try and be selected, but it’s come with the job of being a head coach. Our squad has been selected and I believe, that players I have selected will be the most efficient in adopting systems the coaching team have put forward to them throughout our team training session.

I am more than satisfied with all the coaches

How challenging is it to watch players in the leagues? Do you try to see them all with your own eyes?

Luckily all of my selected players attend numerous qualifiers through the year at the same venue. There can be over 10 game per qualifier so it was relatively easy to watch and review players.

Regarding communication with coaches in the clubs, do you like the way you work together? And how does it work?

I am more than happy with the coaches and staff that are in place for the upcoming junior world championship. The majority of us have come from different junior teams around England and we have all been transparent with each other in the build up towards the tournament. The managers have been instrumental in organising everything from flights all the way to the planning of dates for training, which then lets myself and the other coaches put our full attention to actually planning the sessions.