LOG INJuly 2011
Football Academy Kicks Off
Jerry Gill managing the Football Academy
Football Academy students training
The new Stourbridge College and Kidderminster Harriers Football Academy has kicked off with nearly 70 students starting their courses and pre-season football training in Kidderminster.
The students, most of them aged 16 and from all over the UK, have started studying a range of courses from BTEC Levels 2 and 3 in Sports Development and Coaching all the way through to Gym Instruction and apprenticeships in preparation for the official academic term starting at the beginning of September.
Jerry Gill, Football Academy Manager, said: “We have a great mixture of talent to nurture in the run up to the start of the academic year at Stourbridge College. All the lads who went through the tough selection process turned up to start their courses except for one which shows how successful this joint partnership is going to be. It’s really exciting to launch a Football Academy which is most certainly going to make an enormous contribution to the next generation of quality football players.”
Students will be taught at Kidderminster Harriers Football Club and will train four times each week with each Academy side set to play at least one game per-week in established regional football divisions.
Training sessions take place throughout the week at the same location in Zortech Avenue, Kidderminster, that Harriers’ first-team squad are put through their paces daily, providing an instant link from Academy to first-team at a crucial stage of development.
Furthermore all first-team players and management are, from this season, to spend a set number of hours each month working with students both on the training field an in an academic sense to co-inside with existing work being done in schools by Harriers’ Football in the Community Scheme.
Our success rates have increased steadily over the past four years and we are currently in the top 25% of colleges nationally. 
