I am writing these notes on Tuesday December 22nd, as I have just returned from East London having been to visit an under 15 player and his family.
The purpose of my visit was to offer Ade a two year registration with Southend United FC. Ade Yinka Cole is a central midfield player who is bright, quick, clever and technically sound. Ade was recommended by Leon Anderson, who is an excellent contact of mine.
Due to the snow we have had to cancel the following in the last two days:
Under 17s v Orient - this would have given Ricky Duncan and I a great opportunity to see our under 16s against older and tougher opposition.
Under 16 trial game - I had invited over 25 trialists and they were all players that had been at other professional clubs.
Under 8 festival - Marc Tracy had eight under 8 teams playing in a non-competitive festival.
Under 9 festival- Marc Tracy had eight under 9 teams playing in a non competitive festival.
Under 15s - Mark Bonner was taking the under 15s to a 5-a-side tournament in East London in order to prepare for their 5-a-side tournament in Austria in January.
It's such a shame when so much planning and preparation goes into the recruitment and development of our young players and it all has to be cancelled because of the weather. However, we endeavour to find new dates and times for our trial days and festivals in the New Year.
January sees many of our young players playing in Austria and Germany in top professional indoor 5-a-side competitions.
In the first weekend of January our under 15s are in Austria, in the second weekend both the under 14s and under 12s are in Germany and in the third weekend the under 16s also tour Germany.
The tournaments we are entering will see our boys play against clubs whose first teams are in both the Europa Cup and Champions League. Following each tour we will update all fans on our page in the website and programme.
Finally, I would like to thank our technical and medical staff: James Powell, Stuart Fowler, Chris Reynolds, Steve King, Danny Heath, Terry Mason, Hayley Rosewell, Gary Ling, Terry Smith, Alan McGregor and Ken Clarke. The support of all the above has been so crucial to our success and continual stability.
Many thanks and a Happy New Year to one and all!!!
Luke Hobbs
Centre of Excellence Manager
