With the Summer holidays fast approaching, West Ham United's Foundation will once again be hosting their fantastic Soccer Schools across East London and Essex.
The courses provide a safe, friendly and enjoyable learning environment for youngsters to improve their footballing skills through the use of challenges and small games. Having already seen vast improvements in the last 12 months, the Soccer Schools have continued to grow from strength to strength, providing fantastic fun and sporting opportunities for the youngsters who attend.
The courses are now running at more venues and locations than ever before - giving more youngsters the chance to play football and make friends!
The Soccer Schools also sit at the foundation of a development pyramid that encourages the youngsters to test and experiment creatively their own abilities, while Academy scouts and coaches attend each venue. Recent holiday programmes have seen several youngsters referred to the Club’s famed Academy.
The camps provide a key pillar of the Foundation's safeguarding work in the local area. Each venue is visited prior to delivery and risk assessed, and then a daily risk assessment is carried out prior to all delivery. With a ratio of one coach for every 16 children in place on all of our courses, the Foundation make sure that coaches are able to constantly monitor the young people – helping keep them safe.
All courses are visited a minimum of two times each week by both the Soccer Schools Programme Lead and an Academy Integration Officer, ensuring quality remains high and player pathways are in place. The courses are then visited once a week by the Foundation’s safeguarding team.
Bryan Glover, Head of Football Development at the Foundation, said "Keeping our young people safe is at the heart of everything we do, and we are committed to ensuring all of our courses are high on quality, safety and of course fun! We've worked with parents over the last few weeks to find out what matters to them and make sure our courses are focused around the needs of the youngsters. We're hoping to see an even bigger and better summer now!"
With more venues and a greater commitment from the Foundation to delivering fun, safe activities during the summer holidays, there's never been a better time to attend!