Academy

THE AWARD WINNING BOOTHSTOWN ACADEMY
Confidence Friendship and Achievement Through Football

Our Mission Statement

• To use the game of football to building confidence, peer credibility and achievement in children of all abilities.

• To engage parents positively, to manage their expectations & establish constructive & respectful touchline behaviours.

• To develop positive & contributing parents into the next Boothstown coaches to take children forward into the Mini Leagues.

History

The Boothstown FC Academy was founded in 2004 by Den Treacy & Mike Stephens and evolved from the Boothstown U6 ‘Sixes’ football nursery, picked up by Den in 2003.

The Academy was modelled, with the help & support of John Haworth from Bolton Wanderers, on the best practice principles of a solid & consistent introduction & development plan for new children.

Boothstown FC is an FA Charter Standard Development Club, which means all our coaching staff are FA level 1, Child Protection & First Aid qualified, and of course CRB (criminal board) checked through the Lancashire & Manchester FA.

Our Approach

Most other junior football clubs engage new parents every year to train their U6’s, and then they & the children move on into the mini leagues at U7 & beyond, and so it repeats.

Den & Mike at Boothstown have spent the last 6 years evolving and continuously improving their introduction process, and now boast, what they believe to be the most progressive Nursery Academy in perhaps the whole of the Manchester FA (just our view).

The principles, coaching and outlook of the Academy enable us, not only to teach children & parents to enjoy football, but also to help develop peer ‘credibility’ in the playground to build children’s own confidence and sense of achievement.

We work with the uncompromising principle of positive encouragement only. There is no place for negativity, frustration, disappointment or dissent. This helps us to see changes in children’s confidence, self belief & stature in just a few weeks.

Our process is to invite children to join us for an initial 5 sessions before offering a full year place. This is to establish a number of pre requisites for Academy training.

• The child is the one who wants to train and will enjoy all elements of the session training.
• Parents are commitment to attending, regardless of weather, Saturday nights etc. Holidays and family events aside, we have a long waiting list of children who want to train every week.
• Parents play no part in the coaching of the children and understand and respect the spirit of the Academy – Confidence, Friendship & Achievement through Football – with the emphasis on fun & fair play NOT winning at all costs.

If we can see the children are enjoying themselves and gaining value from the training – regardless of capability - we will be delighted to offer a full place.

Our training plans are prepared in line with the 6 FA junior team coaching principles, but built around fun and games. There is no warm up, we will drill for the first part of the session and play a game to finish - we may warm down with a penalty shoot out, depending on the session plan.

We do not play competitive games against other teams for at least 6 months, but towards the summer we arrange mini tournaments & friendlies. This is to ensure the children get the chance to develop their techniques and a love of the game at their own pace, without any pressure to succeed. Fully competitive matches start in year 2, when we hope that some parents will take the children on into the U7’s mini leagues with the Bury & Bolton and Salford Leagues.

Our Links

Boothstown FC is formally affiliated to both the Manchester & Lancashire FA’s and we are one of a small number of junior football clubs that form part of Bolton Wanderers Club Partnership Scheme. The Academy continues to receive excellent support & guidance from Bolton Wanderers, through John Haworth, chief scout and BWFC Partnership scheme manager.

Within all of this, the Academy enthusiastically promotes within all the principles and values of the Manchester FA. Fun, fair play and respect for all. All our Academy parents are required – no exception – to complete the FA’s Soccer Parent course online and present their certificate in the first 5 weeks of their child starting.

Our Legacy

Most of the players and Managers that have joined Boothstown since 2004 have been inducted, developed and coached through the Academy. The success of the Boothstown teams in recent years has been built on the foundations laid down through the Academy .

Come & See Us

The BFC Academy train most Sunday mornings, 10:30-12 noon at the pitches on New City Road, off Bridgewater Road, Mossley Common. Come and grab a bacon roll and see what you think.

Please note:-
We always have a long waiting list and starting places are usually full a good year in advance, so we advise you get your boys and girls on the waiting list aged 2 or 3 to be sure of starting in the June of their school reception year. We would also be delighted to hear from parents with children with disabilities or learning difficulties. As long as your child is physically capable of running around a pitch unaided and would enjoy it, we will do our best to engage them in the training sessions.