We would like to wish you and your families and Happy New Year. We also hope that you all managed to have some time at home over the past few weeks and have avoided the coughs, colds and general bugs that are going around.
Well the New Year is here which means we are almost half way through the season and cannot believe how quick the time is passing by. Player & parent feedback forms and observations from internal senior and full time staff prior to Christmas have helped us to establish our weaknesses & strengths. We shall quietly go about tweaking the infrastructure, which shall maximise efficiency over the coming months.
Re. Player & Parent feedback forms; we have compiled Player & Parent feedback grades into graphs along with noting comments. We have decided to keep the performance graphs for internal uses only however the positive and motivational comments prove that players and parents recognised high service levels.
Last year, JSSi had Jack Butland (Birmingham City F.C/England U16 & now U17)) and James Seeley (Portsmouth F.C) sign for Premiership clubs as scholars last year although more importantly we felt that they had a realistic chance of being scholars/professionals (and not just making up the numbers at the club).
JSSi also had Josh Egan sign for Cheltenham Town, Tom Searey and Ashley Bowle sign for Bristol Rovers and Kieran Golding sign for Plymouth Argyle. We always believed that these players had the ability and mindset to become a scholar and represent JSSi at their chosen professional club.
JSSi only recommend players to pro clubs if we feel our players have a realistic chance of becoming a scholar/professional. Sometimes we feel that the players may benefit from the experience of even just a trial, as it can be beneficial long term for them to realise the ability that is required to be at a professional Club. It is also about being realistic and trusting our judgement.
We should be immensely proud of this year’s U16 players David Goldsmith (WBA) this Year who has achieved a scholarship at his chosen professional Club. We await news of Miles Hatfield (Cardiff City) while the club makes a decision on him.
Boys awarded scholars at West Bromwich Albion:
Elikem Amenku – Scout Bengy
Shane Lewis – Open trials
David Goldsmith – Jamie Shore
Mark Hingley – Colin / Kevin
Bradley Garmston - Club
Sergio Manesio - Club
Tom Turton – Club / Colin / Kev….
Jordan Tunicliffe - Club
Adil Nabi – Colin Grigg
Niall Wellington – Kev Dove
Boys not awarded scholarships:
Ben George
Alex Wilkes
Kieron Day
Jonny Kaye
Liam Mayer
We now look to link our U16 players with universities, colleges and lower league professional clubs between now and the end of May/June.
Yeovil Town have agreed to travel to Clifton College in February Half Term which will give our players the opportunity to shine in the hope they attain a post 16 full time educational/football scholarship which is fundamental to JSSi player progression.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa received recommended JSSi player names for their trials which run shortly and selected players shall be notified once the dates are confirmed.
Kind regards,
Jamie Shore
Director