Football Academy: getting back on the pitches

Despite losing the end of our spring season and cancelling our summer tournaments due to lockdown, we have been in regular contact with all our parents and players to keep them up to date about changes to expect in the autumn season and making sure children were following the fitness and skills programmes we had sent them.

In the autumn we’ll be welcoming a new cohort of U6 players, bringing our academy up to 130 players. Our young players will be training twice a week and taking part in weekend tournaments at Regent’s Park.

Despite the cessation of coach training due to the pandemic, our coaches are still focused on developing their skills and qualifications, and we’re focused on improving our preparation and organisation in order to gain the FA Charter Standard Award – an accreditation kit mark for excellence.

Practice sessions to restart

We hope to resume practice sessions on 2 September and weekend matches on 5 September and will continue to stay abreast of all guidance to ensure we’re re-starting with everyone’s safety in mind. We’ve updated our risk assessments and procedures in line with COVID-19 guidance set out by the FA and are committed to remaining flexible in our delivery so we can adapt to changing guidance.

Fundraising to keep the Academy running

The pandemic risked having a devastating impact on this programme, with more than 30% of its annual player-participation fees lost due to the lockdown. We’re grateful to the 180 people who donated to our Crowdfunder and to Sport England, who acted as our match-funder for the campaign, for helping us to raise more than £20,500 to get our players back on the pitches in September. Thank you to everyone who supported this campaign.

Click here to see our campaign

Click here to see the challenges completed by our Coaches to support the campaign