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Stoke City FC Under 11′s showed that the future could be bright for the Potters after coming out on top at a regional Futsal tournament that was organised by the Premier League™ in Birmingham recently. The squad (pictured below at the 2012 Grassroots Football Show) completed the tournament with a 100% record having competed against Reading FC, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Aston Villa FC, Swansea FC and Bristol City FC with this success being all the more rewarding given the fact that the majority of the U11 squad are from Stoke-on-Trent it-self.
Stoke City FC Academy Manager, Dave Wright (see below image) said: “It’s great for the lads to have some tournament experience that can be a really big part of their development. Futsal is focuses on developing a player’s technique and skill, which ties in nicely with the Coerver Coaching programmes that are been implemented at the Academy”.
Stoke City FC Lead Foundation & U11 Coach, Will Ryder added “The incorporation of Coerver Coaching into our programme has shown to really benefit the players when using their 1 v 1 skills, which is key both in and out of possession in futsal. The fact that we work on quick changes of direction, mini opposed and fast break attack practices was evident throughout the day”.
“The players have a really good understanding of the format and rules of futsal and how to incorporate our playing philosophy into the 5 v 5 structure. They showed when and how to counter attack and when to show patience to build and retain possession to wait for an opportunity to attack so we were really pleased with their performance throughout the day”.
Coerver® Coaching UK Director, Scott Wright (see above image) who works as Coach Developer/Technical Coach at the club added “It is a fantastic achievement to see our boys playing so well in this Premier League tournament against quality academy opposition. We are really happy with how the players are transferring the Coerver based work from training into game play and performances such as this show that the boys are developing their ability to use their skills effectively and consistently, at game speed, under game pressure, at the right time and in the right place”.
“It is very satisfying to see these components come together in a game environment as this is ultimately where we can assess if the work we are delivering in training is effecting the understanding and development of each player. I’m pleased to say that we are seeing this on a regular basis which validates our programme here at Stoke City and bodes really well for the future of the club”.
Stoke City FC are one of only a select number of clubs in the country to have achieved Premier League™ Category 1 academy status and at the time of writing have scored within the top three highest grades in the country from independent academy assessors, Foot PASS.
Coerver® Coaching have provided support through the Partner club programme since 2011 with specialist support being provided to the club in a number of areas. This includes Technical Coaching for the players, Coach Education for the staff, Age specific session planning and a cutting edge home study website that supports the education of all players and coaches.
