Packed Half-Term Receives Positive Reviews from Visiting Coaches
October half-term provided a full ballot of activity around the Windsor Foodservice Stadium, with the Academy running a wide variety of events and activities. The stadium was teeming with action almost every day, garnering some glowing praise from visitors throughout.
The first week of the school holidays proved a resounding success, as the Academy ran its second iteration of the HAF holiday camp, in conjunction with the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. This programme, which ran for the first time in Summer, is funded in part by Nottinghamshire County council for children who receive free school meals. The Windsor Foodservice Stadium’s doors were opened to children from around the county, providing sessions of football training and games, as well as nutritious meals and snacks. This programme was run alongside the popular-as-always Half-Term Holiday Camp, available to children of any gender or ability, offering the same engaging and challenging sessions as usual.
This open-to-all camp was then followed in the second week by an intensive Academy camp, specially tailored to our JPL teams. These training days were followed by tournaments for our players, where they went up against representatives from Macclesfield Town, Selby Town, Sheffield United, Mansfield Town, Doncaster Rovers, FC Youth of London, Rotherham United, Chesterfield, Barnsley, and Sunderland.
Visitors to the ground were impressed with the facilities, with great reviews from the coaches and parents who stopped by. The Foundation Phase lead from Sunderland AFC commented "it's been a good experience - the variety of teams, the different formats of games, it's been really good fun for the couple of days we've been down here. The facilities are excellent as well for this level, we always enjoy the chance to come down to play." Simon Ward, Head of Coaching for Mansfield Town, also said "These have been some really good afternoons - at the end of the day it's about getting to play lots and lots of football, especially at this level of facilities. Obviously as well, being able to play against both Category 1 Academy teams like Sunderland, then also playing against [Worksop Town] in the same tournament is really great experience."
As always, the Academy would like to extend a massive thanks to everyone who attended our half-term activities, be that players, campers, parents, coaches or supporters, for their continued faith and support. We hope to see you all again in the very near future.