Weller in Tights Posted 16 May 2012 Share Posted 16 May 2012 I got invited down to the Academy tonight with a number of other coaches of kids and youth teams. The purpose was to show 'Sunday coaches' the philosophy of what they are trying to do down there and also view the facilities. We got to watch some of the training sessions with the younger lads( 8 - 12) It looks a great set up. I have been involved in Sunday league football as a player back in the 70's and as a coach for a number of years now. I have also been involved in schools football for over 30 yrs. I got to say things have really moved on, not just since the 70's but also in the last 10 yrs. The facilities are brilliant and they are still developing down there (As far as I know, money spent on your academy is not part of the FFP restriction). The whole philosophy was very much about developing players as footballers, not the old way of 'Biggest Strongest Fastest', you know, the 'just hoof it up to the big guy' approach. I left after one and a half hours, uplifted as someone who coaches kids teams and also as a City fan. If you coach a team, get in touch with them and have a look, it's really worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 16 May 2012 Share Posted 16 May 2012 I've been down there a few times with my lad and it's a superb set up. Top notch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nationwider Posted 16 May 2012 Share Posted 16 May 2012 The youth set up at our feeder club, Manchester United, is also world class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramadaone Posted 17 May 2012 Share Posted 17 May 2012 I know a couple of under 9 managers that went to a visit before Christmas and they too thought it was great - watched a coaching session and got some sessions plans plus a got a good look round the whole ACademy set up that included the physio rooms etc that the first team use They enjoyed it and were really suprised that more kids managers/coaches hadn't taken up the offer to go in and have a look round - they came away with a load of new ideas that they could use with their lads Was there anything you picked up on Weller in Tights that you will take back to your team ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambert09 Posted 17 May 2012 Share Posted 17 May 2012 The youth set up at our feeder club, Manchester United, is also world class. It was quite funny in Delatt's interview, they were trying to get him to praise our facilities and you could see he was just like 'well Uniteds is better' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Hanky Posted 17 May 2012 Share Posted 17 May 2012 If you don't mind me asking, how do you go about arranging such a visit - contact details etc. Ta very muchly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weller in Tights Posted 17 May 2012 Author Share Posted 17 May 2012 The bloke I know down the academy says e mail [email protected] if you coach a under 8's to under 14 team and they will try to arrange a tour when the academy is open Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmfox Posted 17 May 2012 Share Posted 17 May 2012 interesting hearing they want to produce more barca style than big and bulky because I know several people who were released from the academy for being "too small" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xen Posted 17 May 2012 Share Posted 17 May 2012 interesting hearing they want to produce more barca style than big and bulky because I know several people who were released from the academy for being "too small" Same here. My brother is in one of the development teams (sort of pre-academy teams, where they 'nurture talent') and has been for the past 2-3 years. He's one of the more skilful ones there, and he's had one or two teammates very similar to him (i.e. very skilful, but small in stature) and they've just kept all of them at development, whereas some less skilful players who are bigger and stockier for their age (10-14) have been put through. I'll have to check, but I'm think at one point my parents were told that "he's good enough, but we'll wait to see if he has a growth spurt first". Exactly the same happened while he was at the Forest development, and it seems to be the case for a lot of English academies... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weller in Tights Posted 17 May 2012 Author Share Posted 17 May 2012 Well I can only say what I saw and there was 5 different age groups down there, there was a real mix of sizes from the very small to the tall and strong. They were doing small team drills 5/6 a side, with lots of touches/on the ball work. I knew a few of the lads from the same age group as my son's Sunday team, (mainly because our Sunday team have supplied quite a few players), and they are certainly not just the 'Big and Strong' types. As I said before, I am getting on now and have experienced 'youth' football as a player (in the 70's) and as a teacher (running school teams since the mid 80's) and as a Sunday league coach. And in my opinion (ok its just my point of view, please don't shoot me), they appear to be on the right track down there. This could be very important in the future as FFP comes into play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David the Caveman Posted 17 May 2012 Share Posted 17 May 2012 Are we ahead of other similar clubs in this respect, or just keeping up with the times? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyn Posted 18 May 2012 Share Posted 18 May 2012 Are we ahead of other similar clubs in this respect, or just keeping up with the times? At our level I'd assume we have better facilities than the vast majority, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daggers Posted 18 May 2012 Share Posted 18 May 2012 The youth set up at our feeder club, Manchester United, is also world class. I know very little about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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