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NEWS
DECEMBER: WINTER RESIDENTIAL REVIEW
Football Development Schools hosted their second residential of the year for development centre players, with all parties finding great cause for optimism as the year draws to a close.
The residentials are a great way for the coaches to find out what personalities they have within the development centre system and the time spent with the boys helps the coaches to discover which individuals have what it takes to progress with their football. As is often the case certain players come out of these programmes with enhanced reputations and almost all the players develop a greater understanding of the work and commitment they must show to become elite performers.
The Weekend started with an evening session of the boys developing an understanding of what skills and qualities a top player would need, and having evaluated a top player on what strengths and weaknesses they thought the player may possess, the boy's then wrote a list detailing the qualities and weaknesses they may have.
After the evenings work the players made their way to bed and for some this period would be the making of them. It would become apparent the following day, which players had rested well the night before and for those who tried to make a point of staying awake, they would soon learn a harsh lesson on the benefits of rest.
Saturday saw the players take on two training sessions, as well as a photo shoot for the new training and match kits. The morning training session would be based on defending with the afternoon's programme looking at attacking play. The older players major learning out come would be hard work. A lesson the coaches find imperative if a player is to develop further. The morning's session saw James Smith, Chris Wake and Ryan Dall all produce pleasing performances based on an attitude that would enable them to defend effectively, while Josh Johnson and Jonathan Clarke did exceptionally well in the afternoon.
The day would conclude up with another fine Grendon Hall meal, along with the boys learning a few historical facts about Grendon and its haunted past.
Following a tiring day, the boys would all sleep far better on the Saturday night acquiring the ten hours sleep top sports people need to help them perform to their potential.
Sunday was match day for the boys with the younger players taking part in a game with invited development centre players and the older group taking on Netherton and team from Peterborough.
The younger players produced some excellent performances with them showing a very good understanding of the positions they had been put in. Nicky Evans, William Lee and Connor from Brackley produced a consistently high level of play during the morning.
The older boys developed a quick team cohesion to play some well structured football both in attack and defence. Connor Montone did not start the game, although learnt a valuable lesson in disipline away from the pitch. He would go on to play a very good game, scoring the pick of the goals and producing a performance based on hard work. Will Arnold produced a very high level of performance also and with a bit of hard work over the next few months may be close to Centre of Excellence standard. Overall the effort and level of performance produced by the whole team was exceptional and surpassed the expectations of coach Howard Willmott.
Following the games, the players returned to their headquarters for one last meal before evaluating the weekend. Following the previous residential a number of players have moved up to the Centre of Excellence. Joe Moriarty, Jack Hartley and Freddie Clayton are all now playing elite football with a number of other lads coming in on trial. It is the coaches expectations that following the Winter Residential more players will be able to make that next step to becoming a professional footballer.
