Men’s Football Academy coach Charlie is one of our outstanding Academy coaches. Below Charlie explains the standards and expectations expected of our Academy players.
“Our academy bridges the gap between grassroots youth football and men's semi-professional football and beyond, we strive to develop our players on and off the field through their academic studies at the college and at football where they train and play matches most weeks for the whole of the academic year.
“We do our best to encourage a friendly but competitive environment, where we see each other as one group regardless of ability and status etc. Our academy is centred around our high standards and our high expectations that run through everything we do from our timekeeping, our appearance and all the way through to how we perform on a match day. We push these standards and these expectations consistently to give our players the best chance at succeeding in life whether that be in football or not.
“We have a direct pathway to the senior side at Bedfont Sports FC that play semi-professionally for players that excel within the academy environment and we will always support and encourage players who want to further their development, to play outside of the academy in good standard teams on a Saturday and Sunday within men's football. As well as this, the coaches at the academy have strong links and relationships at other semi-professional and professional clubs within the area - this mix of what we provide the boys within our own academy, what the senior side can offer and what we can help the players with outside of the academy gives players a great chance of succeeding and reaching their potential.
“If players are looking to continue their studies after college at University we are able to help them make the right decisions as to where to go and how to go about it whether that be in the UK or abroad. Over the years we have helped players gain scholarships in the UK and in the US and in a some cases reach professional status. We have also had dozens of players go on to play a very good standard of non-league (semi-professional) football in the UK; some have played in competitions such as the FA Cup, FA Vase and many more.”
We feel very lucky to have such a passionate and knowledgeable coach involved in our academy programme @bedfontacademy.
