Academy Newsletter No 9 Monday 24th November 2014
Dear Players and Parents,
A long overdue newsletter which I can only apologise for. A busy time for me personally having recently had my first child, and a busy time for the football club with massive strides made towards an exciting venture, for the future of the Nomads academy.
The newsletters which have been vital to our academy for the last five season will now be back up and running every week for the remainder of the season.
Academy Fixtures Details Weekend 29th and 30th November 2014
Some exciting fixtures for all of our sides with final academy cup games of 2014, Welsh Youth Cup and start of Winter futsal programme.
A full weekend of fixtures kicks off this Friday evening when our under 8s travel away to Wrexham for a friendly fixture.
U8 details:
Venue: Wrexham Colliers Park, LL12 8PW
Date: Friday 28th November
Kick Off time: 17:00
Arrival Time: 16:30
Kit: Yellow Away Kit
Reminders: Players to arrive wearing playing kit with black rain jacket for warm up and Nomads water bottle.
Saturday morning our under 8s and 9s kick off the first of six weekends of futsal festivals with different academies.
Both sides have two teams entered for these events so their will be lots of playing opportunities for all players.
U8 and 9 futsal festival details:
Venue: Deeside Leisure Centre
Date: Saturday 29th November
Kick Off time: 10:00 U8s, 11:30 U9s
Arrival Time: 9:30 U8s, 11:00 U9s
Kit: As split into two teams one will be in red home kit and the other yellow away kit. Coaches will inform players as to which team they are in.
Reminders: Players to arrive wearing playing kit with black rain jacket for warm up and Nomads water bottle.
Their are no fixtures currently for our under 10 and 11 sides. We hope to confirm these fixtures by the end of the week.
Our under 13 and 15 sides are also in futsal festival action this weekend on Sunday in what will be a round robin festival event. .
U13 and U15 futsal festival details:
Venue: Deeside Leisure Centre
Date: Sunday 30th November
Kick Off time: 12:30 U13s and 14:30 U15s
Arrival Time: 12:00 U13s and 14:00 U15s
Kit: As split into two teams one will be in red home kit and the other yellow away kit. Coaches will inform players as to which team they are in.
Reminders: Players to arrive wearing playing kit with black rain jacket for warm up and Nomads water bottle.
Our under 12, 14 and 16 sides play their final academy cup games of 2014 with home fixtures to Conwy Borough.
The under 12s and 14s games will take place at CQ high with the under 16s at Dock Road.
U12, U14 and U16 details:
Venue: Connah's Quay High School U12, U14, Dock Road U16
Date: Sunday 30th November
Kick Off time: 11:00
Arrival Time: 10:00
Kit: Both kits to be brought
Reminders: Players to arrive wearing full tracksuits and polo tops and have with them both playing kits, black rain jacket for warm up along with water bottles and match day bag.
The final game of the weekend sees our under 19 travel away to TNS in the Welsh Youth Cup.
Venue: The New Saints, The Venue
Date: Sunday 30th November
Opposition: TNS
Kick off time: 17:30
Arrival Time: 16:15
Kit: Both playing kits to be brought
Reminders: Players to arrive wearing full tracksuits and polo tops and have with them both playing kits, black rain jacket for warm up along with water bottles and match day bag.
Good luck to all of our sides in action.
Individual/Individualized Training Topic Change
New sessions start this Thursday evening at the Deeside Leisure Centre for U8 to U12 age groups with U13 to U16 the following week.
Individual/Individualised Training Topic Change
These optional individual sessions have gone down very well this season and have been an excellent addition to our academy programme.
The sessions are £3 and will be the following topics taken by the following coaches:
Pitch 4 - Finishing and free kicks - Taken by Chris Brooks
Pitch 5 - Long Passing and Crossing - Taken by Jay Catton/Mark Rowlands
Pitch 6 - Defending 1v1s - Taken by Daniel Reece
These sessions will run from 16:30 till 17:30 every week prior to academy sessions.
These will be ran right through until Christmas with the following dates for the following age groups:
U8-U12 Thursday 20th November
U13-U16 - Thursday 27th November
U8-U12 - Thursday 4th December
U13-U16 - Thursday 11th December
Four Academy Players earn trials with professional clubs.
A total of ten academy players have now progressed from our academy system and earned themselves trials with professional clubs.
Four Academy Players earn trials with professional clubs.
The last few weeks have seen a number of interest in our academy players and a number of players earning themselves some fantastic opportunities.
Under 8 goalkeeper Oliver jones has earned himself a trial at Liverpool academy. He progressed from the first trial of over 50 players to successfully earn a six week trial with the main Liverpool group.
A fantastic achievement and another hot goalkeeping prospect from our goalkeeping coach Neil Ebbrell.
Under 15 Connor Harwood has also gained himself a six week trial at Manchester City.
Connors performances for the under 15s earned him a place in the under 16s this season where he has put in some fantastic performances this season to date.
Under 19 Anthony Stanton earned himself a one week trial at Cardiff City earlier this month. The talented central midfield player has progressed into the first team squad this season and made eight Welsh Premier appearances to date.
Our scholarship player Jack Chambers has also earned himself a two week trial at Nottingham Forest within the under 21 set up. The talented winger who has been at the academy for six years has been in impressive form and at just sixteen made his Welsh Premier debut away to Aberystwyth earlier this month and became an under 19 regular.
A great example for any older academy players who think their dream of professional football may be over in Jack Chambers and Anthony Stanton who are evidence that their are plenty of opportunities for under 19 players.
We are seeing more and more a successful pathway into the professional senior game is by progressing from under 16s to the under 19s, becoming a first team squad players and progressing.
The examples of Rhys Healey (Cardiff City), Ryan Edwards (TNS First Team) and now professional senior trials for Stanton and Chambers and Ben Nash who went to Rochdale at the start of the season.
As always we wish all four players all the best and hope that they fully enjoy the experience during trialling at these professional clubs.
2014/2015 Players to trial at professional clubs:
Finley Maelor-Lambert Under 9s - Everton
Jay Loyden Under 15s - Stoke City
Oliver Johnson Under 11s - Wigan Athletic
Matthew Bland Under 11s - Wigan Athletic
Ben Nash Under 19s/Scholars - Rochdale
Jack Smith Under 13s - Manchester City
Oliver Jones Under 8s - Liverpool
Connor Harwood Under 15s - Manchester City
Jack Chambers Under 19s/Scholars - Nottingham Forest
Anthony Stanton Under 19s - Cardiff City
Academy Players of the month for October 2014
All age group winners have been announced and will receive an award at this Fridays first team game against Cefn Druids.
This has been a huge success for the past two seasons for the academy and should be used as a great motivator for all players to strive for.
These awards are selected by coaches based on the best player over that month in training and games both on and off the pitch.
Award winners are to come to this Fridays home game against Cefn Druids in the Welsh Premier League 19:30 kick off.
All winners must arrive wearing full Nomads academy tracksuit and polo top and will be presented with their awards at half time in front of what should be a big crowd.
We have two extra categories this season including goalkeeper of the month selected by head coach Neil Ebbrell as well as scholarship player of the month.
Winners this month include:
Goalkeeper – Aidan Johnson Under 10
"Aidan has a full attendance for the month of October and a fantastic attitude to learn. Hir performances in training have been top class.."
Neil Ebbrell - head goalkeeper coach
Under 8 – Reagan Nicholas
“Reagan is one of a number of players that were considered for this award for the month of October. But after some outstanding performances he deserved the award. He has improved his all round game, but in particular his technical ability has shone through. Reagan has physical strength and shows a real desire in games to do well individually but also for the team.”
Paul Bell Under 8 Coach
Under 9 – Rhys Lloyd
“Rhys has been outstanding this month where ever we have asked him to play. Benn solid at left back and never giving the ball away. He has shone in the futsal also. His performances in goal have also been top class. Shot stopping is excellent and his distribution brilliant as well. Always a pleasure to coach. ”
Chris Brooks Under 9 Coach
Under 10 – Oliver Thomas
“Oliver has been strong and composed at the back, willing to pick the ball up at all times and is comfortable playing simple or attacking space.”
Lee Woodward Under 10 Coach
Under 11 – Steffan Knight
“Steffan’s attitude and work rate in trainings and games has been excellent resulting in great performances. A fully deserved winner for the month of October..”
Dale Johnson Under 11 Coach
Under 12 – Jack Hitchen
“Jack has had some great performances on the field and showing a great understanding of the game. His attitude is always top class in trainings and games and always plays with a smile on his face.”
Carl Butler – Under 12 Coach
Under 13 – Marcus Connor-Astreos
“Marcus has shown fantastic effort in both trainings and games. His all round game is developing continuously mainly due to his willingness to learn and superb attitude..”
Leighton Sumner – Under 13 Coach
Under 14 – William Mourant
“Will has taken on a new position with a great attitude and adapted well, adding another dimension to the team.”
Sean Regan – Under 14 Coach
Under 15 – Craig Chisholm
“Craig missed most of last season through injury yet he has worked hard to get match fit and has had an incredible month. He shows great technical ability along with a deceptive strength and confidence in his play. Craig is also a great team player and supporter.”
Kevin Manley – Under 15 Coach
Under 16 – Kai Oldfield
“Kai has consistently performed at a high level. He has defended strongly but has also shown great energy in the wing back role to help in attack and provide some quality crosses into the box.”
Darryl Rogers – Under 16 Coach
Gap Coleg Cambria Scholarship – Jamie Roberts
“Jamie has had a fantastic month at numerous levels at the football club. His work rate and desire in training is first class and his enthusiasm for the game is outstanding. He is a scholarship player from Angelsey who has moved to Connah’s Quay and his maturity has seen that he has excelled both on the pitch and in the class room also doing the level 3 sport. He has scored a lot of goals in October for scholars and under 18s side and has put in some impressive performances for the under 19s and been a regular on the first team bench. To add to his achievements with ourselves he was also successful on the Waes Colleges under 19 trials and has made the squad to face Scotland next week at just sixteen years of age!”
Scholarship Coach - Jay Catton
Under 19 – Aron Williams
“Aron has been fantastic for the under 19s playing at left wing back. A very important player in our attacking style of play being quick and both footed. He is a defenders nightmare. He scores great goals and assists many of our strikers. His work rate and temperament are a credit to the team. We have also received good reports from Penycae where he is currently on loan for in the Cymru Alliance also.”
Mark Rowlands – Under 19 Coach
As always a big well done to all winners this month.
College Football Scholarship Programme Review
A review to date of the clubs new and exciting ,full time scholarship programme in conjunction with Coleg Cambria Deeside.
College Football Scholarship Programme Review
This season we have made one of our biggest steps forward as a club with the start of our full time scholarship programme for players aged 16-19.
Unlike most traditional football scholarships where all players have to do level 2 or 3 diplomas in sport our scholarship allows players to take any level 2/3 diploma they wish as well as having access to study A levels also.
The model is based on the American Student Athlete model where the student aspect always comes first.
After numerous trials and interviews with players last season we have eighteen full time students on our programme. Of these eighteen students all are studying levels 3s or A levels. There is not a single player studying a level 1 or 2 which is outstanding.
Majority of the players are local and based in Flintshire or Wrexham. But we do have four players from outside the area from Angelsey, LLanrwst and Liverpool. As a sponsor for the scholarship programme local hotel Chequers, Northop Hall Country House provides full accommodation and food for these players through term time. This is a relationship we hope blossoms moving forward and allows our catchment of players to be even wider.