All sections of the club trace their origins to Footy Tots which was founded by Shane Bird back in 2004 as a result of the frustrations of no activities for his 2 year old son Ethan to attend. These sessions were ground breaking and the training programme continues be unique to this day for children from 18 months upwards. The ethos of getting as many children as possible to fall in love with the game, within a fun safe environment has not changed. To this day hundreds of children have begun their football journey with Footy Tots.
Footy Tots – What considerations were made?
Foremost sessions must be fun; obviously children will learn more and participate with greater enthusiasm if they find something enjoyable. Children had to be actively busy in sessions and mentally stimulated as they only have a limited attention span if any! Another consideration was the length of the sessions obviously any session should not be too physically demanding and avoids fatigue.
To achieve all these goals, sessions were set at a half an hour duration indoors; although they set about teaching basic skill sets of Dribbling, Passing and Shooting Shane devised football related games to enable children to rehearse these techniques. These are self feeding games where one team may be taking balls from one location and placing them in another whilst the second team work in the opposite direction, children role play to the theme of the game and through participation unwittingly rehearse skill sets. The real favourites are the super heroes such as Spiderman, The Incredibles plus many more… From a coaching stand point these games are fantastic, as all the children are busy, you can step into the game individually address any poor technique and release the child back into the game, whilst all the other children are having fun.
Following numerous requests from Footy Tots / Academy Soccer parents with siblings we are know conducting Parent and Child sessions, capturing all the Footy Tots fun. It has proved the perfect foundation for any young would be footballer; we are all constantly amazed by what these children achieve each week.
Academy Soccer School – The Next Step
Well a lot has happened since those early days, the original children we started with have grew, and their football and social skills improved which demanded more challenging sessions. One thing was also clear, at the ripe old age of 6 years old Ethan declared that he was too old to be considered a tot anymore!!!! The Academy Soccer School was formed, although we still use Shane’s football related the games, sessions are planned to expand the child’s general football awareness as a team whilst building on their individual skill sets. These sessions are conducted outside on an all weather astro turf pitch for one hour duration.
Children develop at individual rates of advancement, therefore you will not hear speech in terms of levels of ability (ability signifies potential which we believe every child has); however you will hear us speak in terms of confidence levels. Within the Academy Soccer group we do have children at various confidence levels and sessions are conducted in smaller groups, this allows the children to express themselves pitching them against other children at a similar confidence level.
Extra mid-week sessions have been added in the form of a Development Centre evening and an Academy Elite evening, both is on an invitation basis with factors of concentration span and aptitude to listen being taken into account. These groups are then given the opportunity to represent Academy Soccer School in matches against other Club Development sides and Club Academies.
Birth of The Club
In 2011 we created Academy Soccer FC, Academy Soccer YFC and Academy Soccer Girls YFC.
Academy Soccer FC – Milestone Timeline
- 2011 the adult section of the club launched with two teams playing in the Mid-Essex Football League.
- 2012 created our Veterans (over 35’s) team playing in the Green King IPA League. Home matches were played at King Georges Playing Fields Rayleigh.
- 2015 saw us enter the Essex Olympian League with a new U21’s team. U21’s games played at Stambridge Football Ground.
- 2016 all matches now games played at The Warren
- 2016 first senior team entered into Essex Olympian League
- 2016 our first Adult Sunday Team entered The Sceptre Sunday League
- 2017 reserve team entered into Essex Olympian League
- 2017 Two new Adult Sunday Teams added and membership to the Southend Sunday League
Many of our young coaches and parents represent the club on Saturday afternoons.
Academy Soccer YFC – Milestone Timeline
- 2011 the Boys section of the club launched with 8 mini soccer teams playing in the South East Essex Mini Soccer League at U7, U8, U9 U10 age groups. Home matches are played at Downhall Primary School, Rayleigh.
- 2012 membership to the Southend and District Junior Sunday Football League. Home matches are played at Rayleigh Leisure Centre Pitches
- 2016 all matches now played at The Warren
Year on Year the Youth section has continued to grow to beyond 20 teams.
Academy Soccer Girls YFC – Milestone Timeline
- 2011 the Girls section of the club launched with 2 teams playing in the Thundermite League at U11 and U13 age groups. Home matches are played at Downhall Primary School.
- 2012 membership to the Essex County Girls League. Home matches are played at Rayleigh Leisure Centre Pitches
- 2016 all matches now played at The Warren
- 2018 creation of new U18 Girls Team playing in the Essex County Girls League
- 2018 creation of Academy Soccer FA Wildcats Girls Only Football Centre. Membership to the Brentwood Community Football Alliance
The Warren
2014 The Club embarked on the ambitious plan of creating our own ground. Terms were agreed with a local farmer to lease a potato field in Rawreth on the Rayleigh borders. Much fundraising and volunteer man power has seen us develop that field to what you see today. With 8 pitches, changing rooms, toilets and refreshment facilities all our teams are able to play at one location which we call home. It has not been an easy road with many obstacles placed in our way but we will continue to improve our facilities and the experience of playing at The Warren.
Where do you fit on our journey in football?
We are always looking for new players to enrich our club, so join the fastest growing club in the area.