Top coaching kicking in for talented kids

WALKER Riverside Academy is delighted to tap into Newcastle’s natural passion for football by providing elite coaching to talented young players.

The Waverdale Avenue school’s new Football Academy will open in the 2019-20 academic year with the goal of giving the area’s most promising young players the chance to receive a first-class football, as well as an academic, education.

The initiative is being run in partnership with Improtech Soccer, the largest provider of football in education in the country.

The development will see the school look to draw in the best young footballers from across Tyneside with the ultimate goal of those aspiring young footballers attracting the interest of professional clubs.

Assistant headteacher Gareth Smith, who has been instrumental in the launch of the new soccer academy, said: “We have been planning this for some time and are delighted it has come to fruition.

“It is a bold step for the school but the right one and our partnership with Improtech means we are gaining a proven football academy system which has been shown to deliver results.

”It will offer a great and a new opportunity for talented young pupils from across the region to make the very most of their footballing potential.”

Football Academy status will begin in the 2019-20 term, the first intake being year sevens who will go through a five-year programme of enhanced football education.

It means talented young players who make it into the school will benefit not only from increased time practicing football skills but also from coaching of the highest quality.

Steve Golightly, Improtech Soccer’s Director of Football Education, said: “The great thing about having the academy in school is we teach at a time of day when pupils are most alert and receptive to the training.

“We run after-school courses too but for Academy students it is a particular advantage they practice specially-designed Improtech Soccer sessions to improve themselves as players much more than if they were having to wait until after school ends.

“We always stress the importance of academic as well as sporting achievement and we have a good record among our students academically.

“However, our main priority is to give talented young players the best possible chance of becoming a professional footballer.

“We are delighted to be given the opportunity to do just that here on Tyneside.”