Sky Blues in the Community are recruiting for the Player Development Centre scheme for 2024/25 season.
The Player Development Centre initiative offers advanced football coaching with a developmental focus, for children of all footballing abilities and experiences. We have a strong belief 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 assess and coach players across all of ball, body, mind, and game. We also have a new for 2024/25 coaching syllabus to ensure all players in our centre are experiencing this holistic development.
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:
Our open trials will be running over May & June 2024. An initial assessment will run week commencing 20th May 2024 completely FREE of charge. The purpose of this initial assessment is to gage which level on our player pathway we feel could possibly best suit all new players. 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. In some cases, players may be asked by coaches to extend their trial by a further 1-2 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.
Days, Times, and Venues will be confirmed to players who book on
Sign up for trials here: https://forms.office.com/e/X4e7sbdB5f
Cost: Initial Assessment FREE of charge
The initial assessment allows coaches to place players within the correct group for the extended trial. Beyond the initial assessment week, the next 4 weeks will be spent across one or more of the groups in your child’s age, to see which group is best for your child’s current developmental stage.
To register a player for the forthcoming trials please click on the link which will take you to an online google form to give consent (once we receive the form, we will respond ASAP with details of where to bring them):
Sign up for trials here: https://forms.office.com/e/X4e7sbdB5f
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 Coventry Building Society 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, with a new curriculum for 2024/25, ensuring the best coaching topics and practices, in a structured and progressive way
- Individual learning plans for each player, reviewed twice throughout the season by coaches
- Specialist goalkeeper training, with FA qualified GK coaches
- Player Assessments – Player feedback from coaches throughout 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 test running speed (additional cost)
- All our staff are FA Licensed coaches, meaning they have coaching, first aid and safeguarding qualifications
- All training takes place on high quality 3G artificial grass pitches
- Player pathway from Under 6 through to U18 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:
- 30+ teams from Under 7 to U18 playing in the Junior Premier League, Midlands Junior Premier League, East Warwickshire League & Mid Warwickshire League 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 that come under our England quality accreditation
- Once to twice a season, our PDC Elite 1 groups get to play Coventry City Academy in friendly matches
The Success Stories:
- Over 600 players involved in our PDC programme playing every week
- Over 650 players having professional club Academy trials since PDCs started in 2010 – an average of 50 players a year
- Over 150 players signing professional contracts with Academies – an average of 12 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 2022/23 season alone
- 100’s of young players every year enjoying themselves and improving their skills and personal development
Sign up for trials here: https://forms.office.com/e/X4e7sbdB5f
