Earlier in the week myself and Luke Hobbs attended a breakfast meeting with the chambers of Commerce at Roots Hall. The meeting gave Luke an opportunity to speak briefly about the work that goes on in the Centre of Excellence to a number of local business people.

We invited two of our young players to speak on behalf of the Centre of Excellence to give an insight into life as a Centre of Excellence player. Robert Hyams and Ruari McIntyre, an under 14 and under 12 respectively, prepared a short speech to present throughout the morning, Both boys were a credit as they spoke positively about their experiences and commitments at Southend United and showed real maturity and confidence to perform in front of so many people.

Both boys have had many different opportunities in the time they have been with us and explained them to the interested audience.

I thought it would be interesting to share one of the talks with you.

"Hello, my name is Ruari McIntyre and I am here this morning to speak to you about my experiences as a Southend United Centre of Excellence player. I am 11 years of age and I am currently enjoying my fourth season at the club. I have loved to play football from a very young age and started to play Sunday league football at the age of five. I am a local boy and have supported Southend United from a very young age. It was actually in the Southend United programme that I noticed there was an open trial day the following week. It was on the 22^nd of December 2005 that I arrived for that trial. I had celebrated my ninth birthday a few days before, but even at such a young age felt really excited when my mum dropped me off that day. I can remember that day very clearly because it began a very exciting time in my life. The trial was two hours long and Mark Bonner, Luke Hobbs and Ricky Duncan were there watching all of the players. At the end of the trial I was called over and when my mum returned, she was asked to sign there and then for the Centre of Excellence and signed straight away. That was the best Christmas present ever.

I have had many great experiences whilst being with the Centre of Excellence and I will begin by telling you about my training regime. I train for five and half hours a week with my coach, which involves finishing, passing, tactics, etc. As I am left footed I also practice religiously on my right foot, so that I can become as strong as my left. I also have a homework programme, which I do for about half an hour every other day which involves balancing, and strength exercises.

To enable me to fulfil all of these things I have to be disciplined off of the field. This involves eating healthily and getting plenty of sleep. As members of the Centre of Excellence we have to follow a strict code of conduct. I am always very proud to wear my Southend United kit and my behaviour always reflects that. We are encouraged to take responsibility for all of our actions and this has helped my confidence in other areas of my life.

Another exciting part of my time at Southend has been travelling away on football tours. I have travelled to Germany where I was lucky enough to be involved in a 5-a-side tournament, against opposition such as Hertha Berlin and Slavia Prague. This was an amazing experience and we were champions of one of the tournaments. We were able to parade our winning cup at half time at the next home match, in front of all the fans and that was a great feeling.

Last year a group of boys travelled to Palencia in Spain for a tournament. We all trained and played very hard, but unfortunately did not win. We all had a great time, the coaches were very supportive and we always knew we were in responsible hands. These experiences have been amazing and I am still only 11 years of age!

Our season begins at the beginning of September, but prior to this we have a very busy and exciting pre-season. We travel, usually away to clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Ipswich and Norwich. These are all Academy clubs with excellent youth policies, but that doesn't mean they get it all their own way, we are worth opponents. We are all very proud to be playing for Southend United under 12's and this is reflected in our determination on the pitch.

This season I was made the captain of the Under 12 squad. I am very proud of this and I will do everything I can to fulfil that role to the best of my ability. I play with a great group of boys and under the guidance of our coaches, I hope that we have a very successful season. We play against some very good teams, but with our winning attitude I am positive we will do really well.

My time at Southend has been amazing and the confidence I have gained has helped in other areas of my life. I was presented with an award prior to leaving junior school because of my good leadership skills and my consideration for other people. I was absolutely determined to do well in my education and studied hard so that I could pass my 11+. I am now a pupil at Southend High School for Boys. As for my future, I will continue to work really hard in everything I do and my ultimate dre4ams would be to continue my progression through the Southend youth system and eventually run out of the tunnel on a Saturday afternoon as a member of the first team. Now that's what dreams are made of!"

This was one of two excellent presentations, well done boys.

Mark Bonner
Recruitment Officer