JGFA PROGRAM

In our Under 6 ‘Kick Off’ Program, Jamie Gosling Football Academy and our Under 6s mainly work on the basic skills of football – for example, passing, dribbling, ball control, shooting, skills and technique.

It is mostly fun, with some competitions and mini-games for the youngest of our JGFA players to love. There is also a serious side to the ‘Kick Off’ program, and the main focus is getting the players used to doing the simple things well.

Our JGFA coaches make sure players are using the correct techniques and not developing or continuing with bad habits. Practice makes permanent and the earlier they get into these good habits, the better. JGFA will also teach our Under 6s about sportsmanship and being a good person on and off the pitch.

The period between 5-8 years of age is a very important age for young children to develop their skills technically and the time where mentally, they need to start thinking about what they are doing and why they are doing it.

In the Under 8 ‘Kick Start’ Program, Jamie Gosling Football Academy covers all of the main components of football while trying to make them understand why we do certain tricks to beat players, the importance of a good first touch, and why they need to run into space. These are things that seem very basic, but to most kids at this age, are things they don’t think about or implement.

For our Under 8 players, the focus will be on each player having lots of touches on the ball, learning the basics of the game, and participating in little competitions and games – but mostly the focus will be all about having fun and discovering the magic of playing football.

The ages of 8-10 years are a key age to be learning and implementing the information you are given and the perfect age to start to express yourself as a player.

In our Under 10 ‘Kick On’ Program, Jamie Gosling Football Academy works with players on implementing these skills and techniques into small-sided games, trying to improve their decision-making, as well as enhancing the main skills needed to develop into a more rounded player.

These sessions mostly focus on first touch, running with the ball, striking the ball and 1 v 1’s. As well as this, we start to talk about and work on communication skills and how important it is to football. In this program, we allow and encourage our Under 10 JGFA players to play without fear and try things that they may not try in games or with their clubs, as that is the only way you get better at these things and improve.

As they get older, the sessions will become slightly more serious and harder mentally and physically, but that doesn’t mean it has to stop being fun for our 10-12 year olds.

In our Under 12 ‘Kick Smart’ Program, the JGFA philosophy is to ‘play with style, play with a smile’.

JGFA coaches focus on similar topics to our Under 10 Academy, but to a higher level and with lots of hidden learning. At this age, you really should have all of these basic skills at your feet.

The training is more advanced, working on other key areas of football more intently, such as weaker foot, decision-making, communication, keeping possession of the ball and other little tricks of the trade.

The 13-16 year old age group is a really vital age for young players. The statistic of 70% of young players dropping out of sport by age 13 is very worrying, and this is mainly due to it feeling too pressured and no longer fun. This is something JGFA really tries to make sure doesn’t happen to players we work with.

In our Under 13-16 ‘Kick Goals’ Program, JGFA players are now finding out where their best position is, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how far they aspire and believe they can go. Our expert JGFA coaches make sure we work on their weaknesses, tweak their strengths, and improve them as much as we can by working on things that are important.

We focus more about how they can fit into a team framework, and give them the tools they need to succeed as a part of the team and excel individually. We work on parts of the game that may need work, such as crossing and shooting, finishing, importance of good communication, jockeying and defending, how and when to beat a player, and choosing the right time to pass.