Coaching Programme
Delivering an enriching programme to develop young players as both football players and people, remains one of our academy’s main priorities. The content of the programme we deliver is crucial to the success of developing players for our first team. The academy syllabus is periodised annually, to ensure the outcomes are determined by our deliberate practice across the multi-disciplinaries. We also take pride in developing our academy staff via internal and external support, as we believe possessing the best staff is integral to our success.
In order to deliver content with quality and to comply with EPPP standards, we divide the academy age groups into four different phases:
Pre-Academy
Our pre-academy is designed to support, encourage and introduce the local young players to football. The environment we create is very fun and allows the players to develop important technical and social skills, whilst learning to love the game!
Foundation Phase
The Foundation Phase is the beginning of our academy journey. We strive to provide an enjoyable yet challenging environment for the very young players. Our environment allows the players to begin mastering new techniques across the different disciplines and creates great experiences to encourage the players to love the game!
Youth Development Phase
The Youth Development Phase is the middle of our academy journey and a time when players will be transitioning between schools. During this phase we aim to build on the competencies achieved in the Foundation Phase, exposing the players to the advanced topics within football. Players will begin to specialise in areas with the view of preparing them for the Professional Phase.
Professional Development Phase
The Professional Phase is the achieving stage of our academy journey, building on the years of development and hard work to earn opportunities to forge a career in professional football. This phase includes the transition into full-time football within our scholarship programme and the potential exposure to senior football. During this phase, we also introduce players to other potential career paths to pursue within football, for example, coaching qualifications.
Sports Science and Medicine
Shrewsbury Town Academy’s Sports Science & Medical Department acts as a Multi-disciplinary team which fulfils roles in the following areas; Physiotherapy, Sports Science, Strength & Conditioning and Nutrition. The knowledge and experience within the department are used to benefit players’ development, performance, treatment and rehabilitation as well as injury prevention.
We are devoted to providing the highest quality of care possible, where the ethical beliefs of our medical team provide the academy players with the same clinical sports science guidance and expertise the full-time players receive.
At Shrewsbury Town Academy, quality athletic development is achieved by implementing a holistic approach to the medical and sports science facets of the academy journey. This allows each player entering the academy to fulfil their potential. An integrated approach between medicine, sports science and coaching is accessed by all players at Shrewsbury Town Academy.
Education and Welfare
Mission Statement:
“To create better and more socially aware young people, through the mediums of education and football.”
“To encourage the importance of formal education amongst elite, young footballers.”
“To cultivate the skills required for personal development and eventual career planning.”
Here at Shrewsbury Town Football Club, we believe very strongly that our young players’ development not only includes what they do on a football pitch but also within the classroom. The aim of the Shrewsbury Town Football Club academy is to produce responsible and well-educated individuals who adhere to strong social values managed through the learning process they will undergo both with their schools and the football club. This view is not dependent on whether they will represent the football club in a professional capacity but instead is a holistic approach to giving young players the support and guidance they will need with their education whilst being a member of the Shrewsbury Town Football Club academy. Shrewsbury Town FC has a holistic educational approach to producing young football players for the club using football and education. We will create an environment and atmosphere that promotes and provides the best possible learning environment: one characterised by self-respect, respect for fellow learners, education staff and facilities.
Shrewsbury Town FC are committed to helping players meet their full potential in these areas by providing an environment that is safe, supporting and invites a sharing of ideas. The attitudes and behaviour of players have an important influence on the football environment. Shrewsbury Town FC believes such an environment provides an equal opportunity for all to benefit from the educational process. We believe that each player is unique and needs a secure, positive and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically and socially.
Performance Analysis
The academy views analysis as an off-field coaching session that can be used to access different learning modalities to accelerate and extend player development. Through understanding the visual, audio, reading & kinaesthetic types of learning, analysis has a key role in increasing player learning/development. All players are individuals and are more susceptible to learning in different ways. The analysis aids learning through the modalities that a practical session on the pitch cannot. Therefore, together they cover all learning preferences.
Operations and Administration
The responsibility of the Operations and Administration department is to ensure efficiency in the running of the programme on a day-to-day basis. The introduction and exit policy are crucial to our recruitment department across all ages, as well as the provision of accommodation and transport provided for signed and trialist players in the relevant age groups.
A key to our success is the organisation of our academy to ensure alignment throughout the age groups with consistent messages and schedules. The Operations and Administration department supports our multidisciplinary approach to ensure this is occurring on a day-to-day basis. The department will also be responsible for: updating news on relevant social media platforms and website, collation of information, ensuring EPPP compliance across different departments, registrations, PMA accounts, Host family accommodation arrangements, organisation of fixtures, match confirmation and event organisation.
Player Recruitment
The priority of the recruitment department is to recruit players able to reach the academy’s core purpose. This process is player centred, focusing on the identification of players able to excel in a challenging but rewarding environment. The strategy will be collaborative in nature with Coaches, Community Trust and other recruitment streams which will be planned and aligned to the profiles through each of the development phases where appropriate.
Reinforced by the club’s values and beliefs, the academy is committed to recruiting, nurturing, progressing and producing talented young players capable of meeting the standards and demands of senior professional football within the modern game.
Within our elite environment, staff will look to identify, retain and develop players to provide an ongoing supply of graduates to the first-team squad. Those individuals who fall short of this standard nevertheless will possess the necessary skills, education and personality to enable them to achieve success either elsewhere in football or in an alternative vocation.
Safeguarding
Our football philosophy at Shrewsbury Town is centred around the safeguarding, well-being and development of our children and young people. We require our staff, volunteers, parents/carers and commissioned service providers to share our total commitment to Safeguarding.
Our ethos is ‘the welfare of the child is paramount’, this is evident in our safeguarding policy, but more importantly in our daily working practices.
We have built (are building) our academy on solid foundations, practising safer recruitment and ensuring we recruit the right people for the job. Staff are subject to DBS checks and safeguarding induction. We then maintain our standards with a regular and structured staff continuous professional development, with safeguarding at the heart of this training. We have clear reporting pathways for all safeguarding concerns to our head of safeguarding who is establishing solid links with academy staff, players and parents. Thereby, ensuring a safe environment for all members of our football family, who can then develop their full potential safely.
Safeguarding Contacts
Head of Safeguarding: John Rhodes
Tel: 07884 991212
Email: safeguarding@shrewsburytown.co.uk
Vetting and Disclosure Officer: Russ Teece
Tel: 07884 991212
Email: safeguarding@shrewsburytown.co.uk
