Tom Oldaker is a talented, dynamic football coach who is carving out a new career as a popular children’s author. After stints in his native UK, Australia and India, it was his time in Bahrain which really set him on the creative path. Kristian Harrison spoke to him to find out more about how the Kingdom inspired his first book, The Adventures of Alex the Pirate: Treasure Island, and his plans to write more stories in the future.
“Writing a book is not something I had ever intended to do!” Mr. Oldaker exclaims. “The idea was more spontaneous based on my experiences as a football coach. The concept of using animation and storytelling when delivering coaching sessions started while working for Little Kickers in the UK but developed and became more refined during my stint in Bahrain.
“This snowballed during my time working for Tekkers Academy in Bahrain. Part of my role involved taking sessions for the tots and U6 classes and I had to find ways to maintain engagement for long periods. Tekkers used a weekly theme which allowed coaches to animate the games and bring them to life which provided more meaning to each game.”
Mr. Oldaker quickly realised that engagement was much stronger if children were asked, for example, to follow a space theme and fly their spaceships through Outer Space rather than just dribble the ball around cones. Similarly, during pirate week, children were pretending to sail their ‘pirate ships’ across the pitch and collect their bounty – cones – and thus, Alex the Pirate was born.
“Seeing how successful these sessions were, I decided that writing a book linked to coaching would be a great way to encourage children to read more and become active,” Mr. Oldaker states. “I did some research and found a publisher called Rowanvale Books who allowed me to self-publish the story. I also had an amazing illustrator called Chrissie Yeomans who was amazing at bringing my visions to life.”
Key to The Adventures of Alex’s success is that it appeals to children of all ages, not just the youngest ones. Whilst ostensibly aimed at children ages two to seven, the games are merely a guide and can be modified to suit the age, ability and number of children present. Mr. Oldaker himself has performed them to both a class of 30 beginners in a PE lesson and high-performing academy players alike.
The book combines learning through reading and physical, technical, psychological and social development through games. The book is multi-purpose and can be used as a PE lesson, coaching session or as a book read at home between child and parent and then playing the games in the backyard where they can let their imaginations run free.
Mr. Oldaker’s journey does not stop here either. His next career step is taking up a coaching position with the Singapore Football Association, but he will also be publishing his second book, The Adventures of Alex the Astronaut: Alien Invasion, and he has an entire series planned out to cover more of Alex’s escapades.
“The best way to purchase the book is via Amazon, which also delivers to Bahrain”, Mr. Oldaker concludes. “People can also follow my Instagram account @tomoldaker, as I provide content on how to modify the games to suit the age, ability and number of children. I look forward to bringing you more of The Adventures of Alex in the near future!”
