The under 16 squad has been in pre-season training since the beginning  of July, we bring this squad in early to get them use to how hard pre season because, it can be a big shock to the system for those lucky enough to gain a modern apprenticeship. The players are not use to the heavy work load e.g. running and conditioning work. Plus with a good pre-season behind them it gives them the chance to perform to there optimum level. Once players start to get tired they tend to make the wrong decisions through tiredness. The fitter they are the better concentration they will have over the ninety minutes of  a match, plus added benefit of being able to cover more ground on the football pitch.

The  under 16s and a number of trialist played there first pre-season friendly against an American side called the SuperClubs. The players from this American squad are picked from the best teams in North America. The players at first were a little bit rusty but once they got back into the swing of things the passing got a little bit better. It was a very competitive match and both teams tried to play football in the right way and manner. The good thing about these games is that they highlight any areas e.g. defensive, that I may need to work on in the next training season. The next pre-season game for the under 16 squad was against the Scarborough Blizzards a visiting team all the way from Canada.

Matt Thomson an Ex Walsall player went out to Canada to coach and give some of his experience to the young Canadian players. He now organises trips to England to give these young players experience and also put them in the shop window. We are trying to forge some links with these types of teams because there are some talented players across the Atlantic. Matt is trying to give them every opportunity to progress in the game; I thank him for his hard work and him giving us the opportunity to forge those links.

The actual game was quite physical, both teams were committed and competed for the ball very well. As the game progressed we started to pass the ball a lot better and we started to control the game. The pleasing thing for me was the work rate of the players and the way we started to pass the ball. We have been working on possession and retaining the ball in training so it is nice to see elements of the training session work in a match situation. The players know there is still a lot of hard work to be done throughout the season, the hard work will hopefully gain some of these players an apprenticeship.

If anybody would like to sponsor the Centre of Excellence you can contact myself  Dave Bentley, Jason Elliot, Chris Breeze and Mick Beddingham.

Mark Jules

Centre of Excellence Manager