Sydney FC has joined forces with Belmore Boys High School to put together an Elite Football Program at the school, where they held trials this week to unearth some fresh talent.
Sydney FC has joined forces with Belmore Boys High School to put together an Elite Football Program at the school, where they held trials this week to unearth some fresh talent.
Football Community Officers Daniel Barrett and Paul Reid checked out the skills on show at Rudd Park when they put 38 pupils through their paces, and have now recommended 16 players to the staff at the High School for entry into the program.
“Belmore has some very young and talented footballers who come to the school,” said Dan.
“A lot of the players don-t play in competitions and lack the structure they get from proper coaching programs and playing in weekend club competitions.
“It meant the school wanted to put something together for those pupils and we were more than happy to get on board and help provide those things.”
A radio interview with the Principal of a school which had a similar program in the Central Coast was the catalyst for Belmore Boys High Deputy Principal James Kozlowski to get in touch with the Sky Blues Community Department.
“It [the radio interview] got me thinking about the raw talent that we have at our school,” he said.
“I-d describe them as rough diamonds and I thought why couldn-t we run our own elite football program.
“We already had success on the field in inter-school competitions but you could see that the boys could really do with some coaching that is expert, so I contacted Sydney FC and they could see it would be good for the school and
the game.”
The Sky Blues have helped the school develop the program based along the FFA-s National Curriculum and have conducted some coaching sessions and the trials.
“We-re looking for a group of players who will come in and start working for 3 or 4 times a week as part of a football program,” said Dan Barrett. “Those boys will go out and represent the school in various competitions.”
15 year old pupil Mohammed Alasady is one of the young players who is set to benefit from the involvement.
“It was a good experience to meet the Sydney FC coaches and learn new drills,” he said. “It will be very good for our community and the school.”
The program is set to begin at the start of the next school term and the Belmore are hoping it will become a regular fixture for at least the next 10-15 years.
“It-s in the back of my mind that one day we would see one of our boys run out for Sydney FC that would be fantastic,” said Mr. Kozlowski.
Anyone who wishes their child to benefit from the experience of Sydney FC-s expert coaches can sign up to the Sydney FC adidas Talent and Development Clinics which will take place during the next school holidays. Click here.
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