The philosophy of the program started in 2013 through a group of innovative coaches, namely Mark O'Sullivan, Brad Porter, Andre Gumprecht and Matthew O'Neil.

The purpose of the program is to create a fun environment where kids learn by simply playing games - something they naturally love - rather than be given confusing or monotonous drills.

Learning and educating children has evolved significantly over the years and there is plenty of research that supports the theory behind GPL.

Peters, who played over 100 games for Australia and has coached Australian youth national teams, admitted the program has changed her philosophy on coaching.

“Traditional coaching focuses on the sport, improving players, improving performance, being an expert and imparting knowledge on how to play, how to perform and how to improve,” explained Peters.

“GPL however focuses on the person, what they want and how they would like to do it.”

In GPL the traditional ‘coaches’ are called facilitators and that is exactly what they do. Rather than tell kids what they should do and how they should do it, a facilitator’s role is rather to provide encouragement and guidance while letting children work out solutions for themselves.

It's a controversial style for many traditionalists, but Peters insists the program focuses on the participants rather than the coaches.

“It’s the player’s experience, not the coach’s that’s most important,” she said. “It’s a facilitative approach, ‘facil’ is the Latin derivative which means ‘an unobtrusive guide’.

“Another saying from world coach development leader, Mark O’Sullivan, that is a GPL mantra is ‘if we’re going to step into the learning process, we’d better add value’.

“As facilitators, we get the privilege of sharing in each unique one’s journey and it’s always to support and offer help not control and demand from them.”

The old school method of coaching, where coaches tend to dictate, yell and provide on-the-spot criticism, has long been dismissed as antiquated and unproductive.

Peters was quick to point out that GPL was more than just about learning to play a particular sport, but rather it is designed to create a holistic environment where children learn crucial life skills at an age where they are easily influenced.

“From a child’s perspective it becomes even more important to ensure coaching is ‘Age-appropriate’ and is serious about the rights of the child protecting them from adult pressures and values such as hard work, commitment, performance, but rather valuing the dynamic of play and it’s role in not only learning and development, but social, psych, and cultural importance.”