Sky Blues in the Community are holding open trials for the Player Development Centre scheme for 2021/22 season!
The Player Development Centre initiative offers advanced football coaching with a technical and tactical focus for children of all footballing abilities and experiences. We have a strong believe that for players to be able to develop and reach their potential they need to train and play with others of a similar level. For this reason we have a player pathway in place where players can move up or down so we can make sure they are in a group which is both challenging but also gives them a chance to have success.
The overriding mission statement for SBitC Player Development Centres is ‘To provide high quality coaching and a positive coaching environment to support players in reaching their potential’. We achieve this by providing a positive learning environment that focusses on each individual player, rather than team results.
We understand that all players are different, which is why we follow the FA ‘Four Corner Model’, which looks at the whole player including: Technical/Tactical, Physical, Social and Physiological areas of their game.
We don’t promise that players involved in our PDCs will become professional footballers, but what we do guarantee is a high quality coaching environment that improves the technical and tactical understanding of those who attend.
SBITC are a registered charity, therefore a not-for-profit organisation. This means that all costs involved in PDCs cover the costs of running the centre, rather than being focused on making profit.
Open Trial information & dates:
The open trials are run over a 5 week period. On the first week we put all the new players together for an initial assessment which is completely FREE of charge. The purpose of this is to initial assessment is to gage which level on our player pathway we feel could possibly best suit them. It is also an opportunity for the players / parents to ask any questions about the development centres before committing to the full trial period.
In our opinion you cannot fully assess a player within one session so those who enjoy their initial assessment and would like to continue will then be allocated a group to train with our existing players for the following 4 weeks. Depending how many new players we have attend we will also try our best to offer all players the opportunity to play in at least one match during this period. We find that by seeing the players over this period of time and at both training and games gives us the best opportunity of identifying which level on our pathway best suits them.
All trials start directly after May half term so week commencing 7th June and will last for five weeks.
Days, Times, and Venues will be confirmed closer to the time.
Cost: Initial Assessment FREE of charge
£24.00 for the remaining 4 weeks of trial
To register a player for the forthcoming trials please click on the link which will take you to an online google form - click here
More about the PDCs:
SBITC offer a number of unique opportunities with CCFC; opportunities that you will not experience anywhere else, including (Once restrictions allow):
- PDC players being ball boys for every Coventry City home fixture
- Opportunity for some players to play on the Ricoh Arena pitch during a half-time match day showcase
- Free ticket vouchers for selected Coventry City home fixtures
- Friendly games, training and trial arrangements with full CCFC Academy
The Coaches, Coaching and Facilities:
- UEFA B qualified coaches working on our PDCs – a course which takes up to a year to obtain
- Our coaching curriculum is based on the Coventry City Academy curriculum, ensuring the best coaching drills from the best coaches, in a structured and progressive way
- Specialist goalkeeper training, with FA qualified GK coaches
- Optional additional training nights including Speed, Agility and Quickness workshops
- Player Assessments – mid-year and end of season reports, with personal development plan for each player providing areas of focus over the season
- Physical Screening – we do physical screening a couple of times a season to assess players across areas such as agility, speed, flexibility. We have invested in some speed gates which will make this more accurate to run
- All our staff are FA Licensed coaches, meaning they have to maintain coaching, first aid and safeguarding qualifications
- All training takes place on high quality 3G artificial grass pitches
- Player pathway from Under 6 through to Open age groups
- Football Education BTEC qualifications available for post-16 players interested in a career in coaching or the sports industry, in partnership with Coventry College
The Games Programme:
- We are expanding our games programme for the 2021/22 season and plan to have 25+ teams from Under 7 to Open Age playing in the Junior Premier League, Midlands Junior Premier League, Mid Warwickshire League & Coventry Alliance representing Coventry City
- School holiday fixture programme against other professional football clubs including Wycombe, Northampton, Oxford, MK Dons and many more
- All teams playing in these leagues come under our FA Charter Standard quality accreditation
The Success Stories:
- Over 600 players involved in our PDC programme playing every week
- Over 500 players having professional club Academy trials since PDCs started in 2010 – an average of 50 players a year
- Over 130 players signing professional contracts with Academies – an average of 13 each year. This ranges from those starting out on their football journey to players getting scholars when they leave school
- Over 50 players playing or training with the Coventry City Academy during the 2020/21 season alone
- 100’s of young players every year enjoying themselves and improving their skills and personal development
