Joel Cressman @JoelCressman Twitter profile

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Joel Cressman

4 months

Erling Haaland is a generational talent. He was the product of an outlier youth program in Norway. Researchers investigate his team cohort, this is what they found:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

Brazil develops the world’s most skilled soccer players. The development culture revolves around “Pelada” or informal games. Researchers interviewed top coaches, here’s why Pelada is so valuable:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

In 1946, the Soviet Union aspired to become a world hockey power. The problem was no Soviet had even played hockey before. What followed was the greatest coaching masterclass ever:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

Researchers followed 102 elite youth soccer players for 5 years. Players that made it pro as adults: • Started sport at 5 years old • Spent 700 more hours in unorganized play • Rarely specialized in soccer (<10%) • Spent 1-3 hours a week in other sports Play and early

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

Lionel Scaloni, after his Argentina side won the World Cup in 2022: “If I’m constantly telling young players to play two-touch football, I’m taking away their inventiveness – that’s the best asset.” “Our football culture is about mischief, taking on players, doing nutmegs and

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

When a sport select players for elite teams before puberty, they are more likely to choose: • Players who have more sport-specific practice • More biologically mature players Problems spiral from there:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

What separates adult world-class athletes from successful juniors? Researchers did a meta-analysis on 6000+ athletes from 15 countries. Here’s what they found:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

In a study of elite U16 football players from seven countries, Average hours per year during childhood was: • Competition = 28.9 hours • Soccer-specific practice = 185.7 hours • Soccer-specific play = 186 hours Country comparisons had unexpected results...

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

Highly creative pro footballers spend more time in free play from the ages of 6-15. “Players who can retain a sense of spontaneity, ‘mischievousness’, and creativity at the top level of their sport are more likely to shape a game than those who are ruthlessly well-drilled.”

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

A meta-analysis of elite Olympic athletes (top 16 in the world) found: • They started their sport at an avg age of 10.6 • They focused on their sport at an avg age of 15.6 • Sports where athletes sampled the longest were: 1. skiing (7.6 years) 2. football (7.5 years) 3.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

How are creative footballers developed? Researchers analyzed the playing history of pro players from the UK. Here’s what they found:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

“Elite” youth teams are an invention of adults, for adults. When kids are selected young, it causes: 1. More sport-specific practice for the few 2. A false sense of early growth 3. A “radiating effect” of needing more sport-specific practice to get picked 4. Coaches to judge

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

Article source here: (Thanks again @chasmahoney ... you've got great taste in articles!) Image credit: The Sun

“As Many as Possible for as Long as Possible”—A Case Study of a Soccer Team That Fosters Multiple...

The personal assets framework suggests that dynamic elements of (a) personal engagement in activities, (b) quality social dynamics, and (c) appropriate settings will influence an athlete’s long-term...

journals.humankinetics.com

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

1 year

@Olympics @TomDaley1994 @mattydiver @TeamGB @WorldAquatics Pairs diving is an underrated sport for the level of technical difficulty it requires

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

1) Youth practices were age-appropriate Players entered the team at 6 years old. Until the age of 10, there were 1 or 2 training sessions a week. Training focused on skill development, specifically teaching activities they could do on their own.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

The Bryne FC 99 team produced more professionals then they had dropouts. Are these lessons universal? No. Bryne 99 were an outlier in their own program. The groups before and after disbanded in the teen years. But it shows the power of limiting adult ambition in youth sport.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

How are elite soccer defenders made? It is not the amount of practice they get or how much film they watch. It starts earlier than that 🧵:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

Bryne FC 99 (players born in 1999) was unique for several reasons: • 6 of the 40 players became professionals • 35 of 40 players kept playing into adulthood • Grassroots-focus with no cuts or selections Here’s how they did it:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

Playing multiple sports as a child leads to higher-end skill development as an adult. Researchers surveyed 3090 high school, college, and pro athletes. Pros: 1. Specialized later and less often than high school athletes 2. Were selected later, but showed higher skill ceilings

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

2) Tactics and position-specific training were delayed From ages 11-13, players trained 2-3 times a week. From ages 13-19, one group practiced twice a week while the other practiced 4-5 times a week (based on choice, not skill) Tactics were introduced at 11 years old.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

6) The community supported freedom Bryne is a small town of 12,000 people. When players were 6 years old, a soccer dome was built in the center of town. The dome was left unlocked and players could enter at any time. A parent reflected: “The cohort we talk about here was

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

3) Fun and learning were the focus The team didn’t play in their first tournament until age 13. They played weekly matches from the start, but competition came from in the group: “We had a lot of competitions during practice. A lot of skill development, and a lot of

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

5) The Head Coach put people over results The Head Coach was a former pro. He had the knowledge to be an authority. However, his greatest success was how he connected with players. He talked to every player at each practice. He treated skilled and lower skilled players with

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

Ecological dynamics is the future of sport coaching. The key principles are: 1. Practice is variable and game-like 2. Player, not coach-centered 3. Promotes exploration, not prescription 4. High skill transfer to games 5. Less early specialization, more athleticism The reality:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

4) They put in lots of hours of informal play Players regular weekend routine was to play a pick-up game they called “World Cup.” Teams were always made across skill levels and inclusive. They used small breaks in time to play: “At elementary school, we played soccer each

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

7) Time in the system was the success marker The coaching philosophy was: “As many as possible, for as long as possible, and as good as possible.” Players were given the choice to train more after the age of 13, they were not selected. Future elite players noted: “they had

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 years

PE teachers: what untraditional sport or activity have you tried recently that your students loved? Looking to finish the year off with some creativity... @PEbyMrE @Physed_Pomeroy @the_PE_project @physed @PEgeeks #pe #pechat #physed

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

Coaches have limited time with their athletes... How can you give the best feedback to maximize their learning? Here what the science says 🧵:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

Pavel Datsyuk was known as “the Magic Man.” He pulled off moves so unique they earned their own name: Datsyukian. This is how he became so creative:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

The authors concluded: “Only after the age of 12 should the volumes of deliberate practice increase so that an athlete can specialise in one sport.”

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

5 developmental lessons I will pass on to my kids: 1. Skill development starts at home, not at practice 2. When you're young, play everything, play free 3. Growth is not linear. Acknowledge ebbs 4. Internal motivation is your greatest weapon 5. Real growth happens in your teens

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

A simple way to break the cycle? Save selection until the teenage years. It’s possible, Norway’s been doing it for years:

Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

Erling Haaland is a generational talent. He was the product of an outlier youth program in Norway. Researchers investigate his team cohort, this is what they found:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

Steve Nash did not play basketball until the 7th grade. Despite starting late, he became a two-time MVP and master of on-court creativity. Here’s the story of his creative journey:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

The Anxious Generation is the most important coaching book of the year. It indirectly identifies the greatest issue facing youth sports. Here is the story on the death of the “play-based childhood”:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 years

Top 5 books of the year for the PE teacher/coach 1. The Culture System @JpNerbun 2. The Score Takes Care of Itself- Bill Walsh 3. How We Learn to Move @ShakeyWaits 4. The Best: How elite athletes are made- Mark Williams & @timwig 5. The Coach's Guide to Teaching @Doug_Lemov

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

11 years

From The Globe and Mail: http://t.co/M6UcJJYwJN Via The Globe and Mail's Android app

Mystery of magic hockey hands starts and ends at the head

What makes hockey players so skilled, especially scorers? It’s not strictly about their sticks or the strength and flexibility of their limbs. And it’s not just about their hands, or their hand-eye...

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

Study link here:

The developmental activities of elite soccer players aged under-16 years from Brazil, England,...

The developmental activities of 328 elite soccer players aged under-16 years from Brazil, England, France, Ghana, Mexico, Portugal and Sweden were examined using retrospective recall in a cross-sec...

www.tandfonline.com

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

This is a master coach at work: “He asked questions and did not always give us the answer… we played a match in the regional series, and there was a striker we couldn’t handle. The coach told us that he knew how we could handle the striker, but he wanted us to figure it out

Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

Erling Haaland is a generational talent. He was the product of an outlier youth program in Norway. Researchers investigate his team cohort, this is what they found:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

Athletes from the Olympics’ big 3 invasion games were found to sample sports the longest. The multi-sport sampling periods lasted: • Football: 7.5 years • Basketball: 7.4 years • Ice Hockey: 7.2 years Focusing only on these sports in childhood is not the most efficient

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

This creates a “radiating” effect: 1. Selected players get more practice ⬇️ 2. More likely to get junior success (at the cost of senior success) ⬇️ 3. Coaches and parents see immediate success as a sign practice is working ⬇️ 4. Specialized practice gets reinforced as the way to

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

Deliberate practice in Invasion Games vs. Target Games: 🏒Invasion Games: “Kucherov starts by taking 60 rimmed pucks off the boards, often on his backhand. He’ll make 100 passes. Then comes 40 zone entries. Rinse. Repeat.” - on NHL leading scorer, Nikita Kucherov

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

1) He used concepts from multiple sports. Tarasov started as a soccer coach. He apprenticed in Hungary in the 1940s, studying innovative football with fluid positioning. Tarasov stole concepts from soccer, basketball, handball, and weightlifting. His brand was novel to the

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

8) At the heart of Pelada is natural learning. It is the past of Brazilian soccer, and may be embraced as the future… Quotes from this study: Image credit: NBC News

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

The game is not the teacher. It’s about designing an environment to search, explore, and exploit opportunities. An effective coach does not tell players how to exploit an opportunity. You guide them to do it on their own.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

You can spend hours planning a practice... But how do you know if players are learning? Here are 5 practical ways to check for player understanding:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

7) It may be the future of academy development. Some of Brazil’s top coaches are moving back to informal games. Academies have started to use headbands instead of bibs for teams, so players must scan more. Or they use rugby instead of soccer balls to purposely be

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

Vasily Stalin, son of Joseph, assigned one inexperienced man to build the program: Anatoly Tarasov Tarasov had never seen a hockey game. In under 20 years, the Soviet Union became the greatest team of all time. This is how Tarasov did it:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

1) It encourages ball control. Literally translated to “nude” because play happens on bare surfaces, Players learn to play on uneven ground. “We played all bare foot. This makes you kick the ball in a different way, to protect yourself. Until we learned, we lost a lot off the

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

6 months

Elite athletes pass through 3 stages of participation on the road to becoming experts: 1. The sampling years (5-12) 2. The specializing years (13-15) 3. The investment years (16+) Young kids should be encouraged to: Sample. Try. Quit. Reflect. Re-focus. That extra off-season

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

6 years

PE teachers: what new resource, unit or app did you try in 2018 that was the most successful? @PEbyMrE @Physed_Pomeroy @physed @PEgeeks #pe #pechat #physed

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

10 years ago, I read a series of books that changed my perspective on talent. I moved abroad to a country with an extremist view on sports. I dreamed of writing a book to tie those two concepts together. In November, that dream became a reality. Now, that decade worth of

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

5) Play in childhood was even more important than structured practice in teen years. In times where players would be getting high-quality coach feedback, It wasn't making up for the neural connections players made on the playground.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

9 days

This is Nico Williams. He scored for Spain in the Euro Cup final. He got his start kicking a ball against the wall, then moved to the streets with his older brother. Here are 7 ways street soccer helps young athletes learn:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

5) The system allowed for free play and experimentation. Tarasov’s philosophy guided all school teams. But he also was responsible for developing rec-focused “yard teams.” Yard teams were community-based, informal, and played for fun. He launched the Golden Puck tournament in

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

1 year

@JoePompliano @MaxPreps What do their classroom budgets look like? 😯

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

The study examined 2838 athletes from 14 different countries. Study link here:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

2) He valued aesthetic and creative attacking. Tarasov’s goal was to create “beautiful aesthetic hockey.” Canada was the best hockey nation in the world. But Tarasov saw their style as simplistic and primitive. In a 1969 book, Tarasov wrote: “Someone has to mastermind a pass.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

24 days

Is Leo Messi a born genius or a product of his environment? In his biography, author Guillem Balague states Messi is not a born prodigy. Here’s why:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

Adult world-class athletes (compared to youth elite athletes) are more likely to: • Play multiple sports as kids • Start their main sport later • Have less main sport practice • Initially progress slower Long-term athletic development requires diverse experiences and

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

1 year

@BlaineMcKenna77 A phrase I often think about is ‘inattentional blindness.’ To much structure and direction can actually make players see less on the field. It’s negatively related to creativity

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

4) Players learn to “play small”. You play smart or you get injured. A former pro footballer reflected: “We know that football has 17 rules. In my street there was just one. "That is, if you don’t see blood there is no foul… This makes you develop the ability to think quick

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

3) He was endlessly curious and hardworking. Tarasov woke up at 4am everyday and sat down at his desk to write. Tarasov’s daughter recalled: “He was always working… He sat at his table and wrote for two hours. He wrote exercises. He wrote books. He wrote forty books.” He took

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

Traditional teaching methods do not represent team sports. Learning in practice is stunted by: • Tasks that are out of context • High amount of instruction not available in game • Problems are different than what emerge in a game Reading a game is complex. Learning needs to

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

A silent killer in the death of street play: safetyism. Safetyism is: • Valuing safety above all else • Removing any risk for physical or emotional pain • Limiting outdoor play under the guise of increasing well-being Transformational coaches must now battle safetyism in

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

15 days

Coach education keeps kids in sport longer: -5% of kids playing for a trained coach drop out -26% of kids playing for an untrained coach drop out From Aspen Institute’s Project Play

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

5) It encourages creativity. Winning in Pelada has no external benefits of trophies, getting scouted, etc. So players go for flair: “Brazilian players like to ‘showboat’ their individual skills and try to tease or even humiliate their opposition as well as score ‘beautiful’

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

1 year

@EilishMccolgan Fantastic book about Japanese running culture here:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

1 month

In the 3rd grade, Son Heungmin approached his father with an important question. He wanted to play football. His father, a former pro, said no. The elder Son was forced to retire at age 28. In the process, he developed a fiery distrust of Korea’s youth system. The boy kept

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

How do successful football defenders learn how to read the game? The number of hours in soccer-specific play (not practice) was the highest predictor of defensive anticipation. Play helps athletes make good decisions.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

3) Age doesn’t matter. The challenge level is higher for younger players. They often play against older teens and adults. A respected goalie coach stated: “I was younger and played with adults and also with my mates of my age. But age was not a problem. Whoever was present and

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

6) It promotes a national style. Top academy coaches noted a movement away from the Brazilian style of “ginga” or body sway. Many believe it’s caused Brazil’s recent lack of international success. After the 2016 World Cup loss, Pelé said, “Brazil needs individual ginga to

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

29 days

“Structured and formal environments aﬀord the children a more rigid and less representative learning environment, which could potentially inhibit the development of creativity and adaptability among these young players.”

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

Study link here:

Developmental activities and the acquisition of superior anticipation and decision making in soccer...

We examined whether soccer players with varying levels of perceptual-cognitive expertise can be differentiated based on their engagement in various types and amounts of activity during their develo...

www.tandfonline.com

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

4) He developed a systematic approach that was non-prescriptive. The Soviet system created sports schools that focused on specialization. Tarasov promoted early recruitment and training. However, the system embraced open coaching. In school teams, coaches promoted individual

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

2) It doesn’t discriminate. Pelada is credited for developing many future stars from underprivileged areas. One coach noted players from larger cities were behind in abilities like balance, agility, and postural control because of lack of pelada.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

Tarasov's Soviet national teams changed the way hockey was played. Many of Tarasov’s methods are now standard in the hockey world. His legacy to the game is best represented in this quote: “An outstanding athlete cannot belong solely to himself.”

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

4) The researchers found: • Average hours of soccer practice from 6-12 years of age did not significantly predict anticipation • Average hours of soccer play in childhood had the largest effect

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

7) He loved his players and advocated for them. After the 1972 Olympics, Tarasov allowed players to be paid for two exhibition games in Japan. He went against warnings from his superiors. It got him fired. He was replaced by Viktor Tikhonov. Tikhonov brought a dictatorial,

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

6) He used outside motivators to achieve greatness. The first breakthrough on the world stage was in 1954. The Soviets first beat the Canadian team. From 1963 to 1972, the Soviet national team won nine straight world championships and three Olympic gold medals. Tarasov

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

1 month

NBA MVP Steve Nash estimates he spent 90% of his free time in his teens playing or practicing basketball. He was the master of what researchers call “spontaneous practice”: Self-organized reps aimed to improve performance.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

Study link here: Image of Helen Glover, the first golf medal from the UK's 2012 talent search scheme (Credit: Getty Images)

What Makes a Champion? Early Multidisciplinary Practice, Not Early Specialization, Predicts...

What explains the acquisition of exceptional human performance? Does a focus on intensive specialized practice facilitate excellence, or is a multidisciplinary practice background better? We invest...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

When working with passionate young players, Guide them on the skills to succeed and take a step back. Kids need space to grow.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

In research on highly skilled volleyball players, Players stated that unstructured play against older peers: • improved their technique • increased motivation • caused them to adopt new tactics Learning doesn't only happen through practice.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

1 month

At 14, Cristiano Ronaldo decided he needed to lift weights to advance his game. His coaches disagreed. The Sporting Lisbon academy had a golden rule: No children in gyms. Ronaldo started to sneak out of his room at night to weight train. His coaches caught him and gave him

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 years

Daily Reading Reflection (from The Passion Paradox by @BStulberg and @stevemagness ) Love this lesson on path dependency. Many of us, young & old, pigeonhole ourselves too early in life by staying closed-minded on growing interests. Highly recommended read. 5/5 #PassionParadox

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

Sport specialization for kids is the ultimate short-term thinking in coaching. Be the voice that broadens young athletes' experience, not scares them into training more.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

This seemingly positive progress was deceptive though. It was the late bloomers and transfers from other sports that found success as adults. Quick success doesn’t mean long-term success. Play the long game with kids.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

Play and quality of coaching were more important than hours spent in training. 229 of the 328 players also played two or more sports.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 years

Top 10 reads of 2019 for the PE teacher/coach: #1 -5 1. Range @DavidEpstein 2. Atomic Habits @JamesClear 3. Coaching Better Every Season @WadeWgilbert 4. The Passion Paradox @BStulberg & @stevemagness 5. Astroball @BenReiter #physed #books #coaching

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

We are about to enter a creativity epidemic in sport. This quote offers a window into why: “Now and again, you’ll get a player who goes outside the box, with a coach who allows him to do that stuff.”

ESPN NL

@ESPNnl

4 months

Dat wordt een nachtje niet slapen... 👀🥜 #FutureCup

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

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What can we learn from this? Development is a long-term process that doesn’t benefit from a narrow focus. Those that peaked in their junior years: • started their main sport earlier • had more practice in childhood • reached milestones faster

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

Free play isn’t just for fun. It’s directly linked to offensive creativity in all invasion games. And there is evidence that it makes players better defenders too:

Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

3 months

How are elite soccer defenders made? It is not the amount of practice they get or how much film they watch. It starts earlier than that 🧵:

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

1) World-class athletes started their sport later Successful junior athletes started early and showed high performance levels. However, starting later was associated with high performance in senior athletes. Senior world class athletes started their sport significantly later

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 years

Students go crazy for our Striking & Fielding Unit. My have no outdoor facilities so are limited to the gym. Use soft t-ball bats and floorballs to keep it safe. ‘Home run porch’ is anything above the white molding! #PE #PEgeeks #tgfu #PhysEd #baseball

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

1 year

@SahilBloom As an alternative, you could wake up early to work on that marketable skill. Pay yourself first before doing work for others.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

5 months

Coaching and playing are different skill sets. Once critiqued for never playing professional soccer, Italian manager Arrigo Sacchi replied: “I never realized that to be a jockey you had to be a horse first.”

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

Starting a sport young is vital. But focusing solely on that sport is not. Before they are teens, more successful elite adults: play more & play other sports. Skip the skill sessions and buy a couple more balls for the backyard.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

2 months

I gave a Start-Stop-Continue to my grade 9 PE classes this week. Their top suggestions: 1. More full game play (compared to small-sided games) 2. Make your music more current 3. More video analysis of exemplars 4. Let us choose our own teams (sometimes, but not all the time)

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

4 months

The countries analyzed were: Brazil, England, France, Ghana, Mexico, Portugal, and Sweden. Soccer-specific practice was significantly greater in Mexico and Sweden, compared to talent hotbeds of Brazil and France.

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Joel Cressman

@JoelCressman

20 days

My top 5 books on talent development in sports: • The Talent Code by @DanielCoyle • The Sports Gene by @DavidEpstein • Outliers by @Gladwell • Range by @DavidEpstein • The Talent Lab by @owenslot I love reading these types of books... My life goal is to write one in

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