NEWS

OCTOBER: SUMMER 2005 REVIEWED

Our first summer as Football Development Schools was a resounding success. The funday holiday courses which we ran in Stamford, Oakham, Uppingham, Rugby, Thrapston and Bedford being were all very well attended and very well received with many new Development Centre players recruited, who are now benefiting from the more specialised coaching at the various Development Centres. Others didn't gain as much support as we would have hoped for, however every course we advertised still managed to go ahead. Another disappointment was the tournament days at Wrenn school which didn't get the numbers and therefore the benefits for which they were designed which is an area we will revise for future holidays. However, these small negatives pale in comparison to the resounding successes of both the Oundle residential and the Pre-Season development tournament at the end of August. The residential was attended by 38 players aged 8-12 and comprised a 3 day and 2 night training camp. Within this 3 day period the players were exposed to coaching, which very much focused on using their technical skills from the development centres in match type situations to help improve their understanding of the game. This was put to the test in some training matches with Centre of Excellence payers which proved a very valuable experience for the boys, and one in which they perfromed very well. The Pre-Season Development Tournament took place over the bank holiday weekend at end of August and was an excellent opportunity for our players to be exposed to match coaching, an area we will developing heavily in this coming season with more regular fixtures and tours around the easter and summer holidays. We had players in the following age groups; U9, U10, U11,U12,U13. Every age group worked with a senior coach and were asked to play in very much the same way as our Centre of Excellence players, with the emphasis on trusting your technique, learning, no fear of failure and demonstrating a good desire to do your job in a team framework. All age group coaches were delighted that each and every F.D.S team demonstrated all of these things and surpassed our expectations in many areas. After initially slow starts, due to being asked to play in different manner than players were normally accustomed, the ability to play out from the back, be creative in the correct areas and also work hard to deny space when not in possession progressed very well. By the last few matches, particularly with the older teams we were having to play with fewer players than the opposition to ensure that our players derived some benefit from the games, which bodes very well for the for the coming season. The added benefit for some of the boys was that their performances have resulted in trials at the Centre of Excellence at Northampton Town, in which we wish them the best.