The Coventry City Academy played at Tottenham Hotspur's training ground in a great experience for the under-sevens and under-eights sides...
A group of talented young footballers represented the Coventry City Academy at Tottenham Hotspur’s training ground and got a little taste of the Premier League.
The 29 players from the Sky Blues under-sevens and under-eights pre-Academy teams played against their counterparts from Spurs in a series of small-sided games in a session lasting over two hours.
The teams were led by the Academy’s first phase (5-11) lead Scott Curry along with coaches Reid Currie, Adam Batstone and Michael Griffin.
Scott said it had been a great experience for the players and coaches alike.
He said: “It was fantastic for the players and they acquitted themselves brilliantly. There was some wonderful talent on show from both clubs and it was a great experience for everyone – coaches included.
“It wasn’t about monitoring the scores because we were interchanging players and alternating pitches. At this age, it was really just to give the players and the coaches a taste for what the standards are like at a massive club such as Spurs.
“Personally, I’ve been to Tottenham before and spent a day there to see how they do things because it’s important that we learn from others and see how they go about developing their youngsters.
“We had some great feedback about our teams on the day and what was really pleasing was, not only did they show their ability and talent, they also showed a great desire and will to do well which is something that we want to build into players from any early age.
“Of course, these are only the very first steps for these lads but experiences such as this can only help them in the journey through football.”
The under-sevens and under-eights train once-a-week at the Academy and ten of the under-eights have been signed by the club to go into next season’s under-nines team.
Rich Stevens, the club’s Academy manager, said: “The Academy is so important to Coventry City Football Club and it’s vital that we recognise and bring through talent from the earliest ages.
“We’ve seen great progress from the under-sevens and under-eights in the past year and this type of trip is all part of that and, as they move through the age groups, they’ll get to experience more days like this.”