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Queen's Football Academy
The already existing sports academies in the Queen's Rugby and Gaelic Football clubs, have been of great benefit to both of those clubs. We are delighted that after four years of work, our Academy is now up and running and we are very excited about the benefits it will bring to our club.
The Aim
To improve the playing standards throughout the club and to make the club more attractive to Queen's Students. We want a first team strong enough to compete successfully in the new IFA Premier Intermediate League. We want our teams to become serious contenders each season to win the Irish University tournaments - Collingwood, Crowley and Harding competitions.
Fundraising
In March 2007 nine members of the club spent 4 nights phoning former members of our club asking them to donate money to finance the Academy for the next three years. This money is still coming in and we anticipate that it will amount to about £25,000 for the next 3 years, or approximately £8,000 per year. This is a very useful sum though less than we had hoped for. Future fundraising efforts should add to this total.
Our former members were told that the money would be used exclusively to make the club more attractive to Queen's students, those already in the club and those who might otherwise choose to play for other teams, and we will be constrained to using it for that purpose.
The Academy Package
Level 1:
The basic package that will be offered to Academy members will include: -
- Free Access (all-inclusive) to the PEC
- Free Sports Science Support (fitness testing, tailored training programs)
- Free Access to Physiotherapy and Podiatry
- Free Academy Clothing (tracksuit, polo etc)
Level 2:
Will include all of Level 1 and will also include a financial assistance.
Academy members must be current students and be prepared to play for Queen's on both Saturdays and Wednesdays.
Players already in our club
Students
We very much hope that student players in the Seconds, Colts and Mavericks will aspire to become members of the Academy and we expect that a number of them will do so. Any player who becomes a regular member of the first team squad and is prepared to improve himself by making use of the various aspects of Sports Science, will be offered Academy membership.
Graduates
The Graduates make a very important contribution to our Saturday first team and we will still need Graduates to play. Graduates, however, will not be eligible for Academy membership.
What happens next?
We will offer membership to current students who are regular first team members. As we get into the new season we will constantly monitor players in the club and with other clubs, for potential academy membership. We will welcome information about good players coming to Queen's - let us know via mens-soccer@qub.ac.uk.
Questions?
Hopefully this document has explained the aims of our Academy and the stage we are at. If any of you would like further details about the Academy please feel free to contact us at: mens-soccer@qub.ac.uk
Academy Members 2008/09
| Mark Prenter | Level 2 |
| Connor Mulholland | Level 2 |
| Philip Prenter | Level 2 |
| Kevin Briggs | Level 1 |
| Brendan Ward | Level 1 |
| Peter Mallett | Level 1 |
| Odhran Lenaghan | Level 1 |
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