Aztecs Football Academy

I have started this Academy to cater for the kids from the ages of 10-14 in our region that otherwise miss out on the extra training and specific skill improvement that making a Taranaki Rep team gives them.

For some the travel and/or the cost to be part of a Taranaki rep team can be too much, meaning a good number of our talented kids miss out.

For some kids just making the Rep team means Parents have to come up with approximately $500 to pay for full playing kits and jackets, to add the cost of twice a week training in Waitara, starts to put this out of some peoples reach.

So I am aiming at delivering a level of training and development as close to the Rep structure as possible without the costs to parents (This squad is for the kids that have not made the rep side)

This will include a specific training plan for each squad member with work ons, strengths and weaknesses and goal setting.

The other side of this is creating some skilled players that Hawera Soccer Club can call on later as these kids get older and start playing at a Senior level.

I have had 25 years of Senior experience with the Hawera Club, including nearly 20 years in the Premier side and too many young footballers come through without a good grasp of the basics skills.

Also many now come through with the attitude of “what’s the Club doing for me” so we are aiming at improving this attitude and put back into he Club and teach these kids about what it means to be part of a Club and what hard work achieves

I have a small group of Hawera Soccer Club members that are helping me deliver the training and the message we want to promote.

While the basic training gear is being supplied by the Hawera Soccer Club and the cost of the Training/Playing kits are being covered by funding applications and time put in by Coaches is being done at no cost, we are looking to supply the squad members with a full playing kit,sweatshirt and polo as well as taking the squad to Wellington to watch a live A-League match.

We have made contact with the Wellington Phoenix and they have offered to host us, we get to watch their academy train, have a training session with a Phoenix coach then complimentary tickets to a Phoenix game.

None of these can be covered by funding, so we are going to be doing some fundraisers and we also have some sponsorship opportunities available.