Foot-Tech Academy

Your child can dribble around cones a thousand times. It won't make them a better footballer.

Because a cone never tackles back.

It never closes them down, never reads their next move, never forces them to think under pressure.

And real football is all of those things.

The skill only means something when there's a defender in front of them, a decision to make and a split second to make it. That's where players are really made.

In games. In chaos.

So by all means let them practise. But if you want them to get better at football, let them play it.

Save this for the next time someone swears by cone drills and share it with a football parent who needs to see it.

Happy first day of the summer holidays!

Just a reminder, because a few people always ask. Our outdoor sessions carry on right the way through the summer holidays.

➡️ This applies to Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at John Smeaton and Saturdays at Soldiers Fields.

Whether it's the regular sessions or our camps running all summer, we're here as normal the whole way through.

For members at those sessions, you also get to come along to 1 extra session completely free of charge every week in August. Check your emails for all the info.

Indoor Saturday sessions finish this Saturday then start back in September.

Yesterday we said goodbye to Brooke at Foot-Tech 😭

She is leaving us because she’s off on a new adventure to America where she will be starting a football scholarship at a university in Illinois. An amazing opportunity.

Brooke started with us when she was still in primary school and came for regular one to one coaching up until she was 17 (she has me to thank for making her so good at football that an American uni ended up scouting her 😜).

We’ve had a lot of laughs during our sessions plus plenty of tantrums whenever she couldn’t do something (personal favourite is when she’d kick off about having to shoot with her left foot).

She then started as a trainee coach with us and has been brilliant. We’re really proud of how well she was doing with her coaching and we hope she comes back to it in the future.

In a full circle moment, she finished how she started…with a one to one session with her favourite ever coach 🤣

Joking aside, she is one of the hardest working players I have ever coached and this opportunity is no more than she deserves.

We’ll miss you, Brooke. You’re welcome back anytime and we look forward to seeing you when you’re back visiting.

But do not, under any circumstances, come back calling it ‘soccer’!

Good luck ⚽️

Every summer it's the same. The laps come out, the bleep tests come out, and kids get run into the ground in the name of preseason.

But here's the thing. Kids aren't mini adults. Their bodies genuinely don't work like ours, and most of what we were taught about football fitness just doesn't apply to them.

Here are the myths, and the truth behind them.

The myth: they get tired like we do.
The truth: kids produce less lactic acid and clear it faster, so they recover quickly and just go again.

The myth: laps and runs make them fitter.
The truth: pre-puberty, the biggest driver of fitness is simply their bodies growing, their hearts and lungs getting bigger, not the running they're made to do.

The myth: the kid who runs the most is the fittest.
The truth: smart players run less, because they read the game, position themselves well, and make faster decisions. That comes from football, not fitness drills.

The myth: running builds football fitness.
The truth: football fitness comes from playing football, all the dribbling, passing, pressing and decision-making that running laps never gives them.

None of this means kids shouldn't work hard. They should. It just means we should make them fitter the way their bodies actually respond to, by playing.

If you found this useful, share it with a coach or parent who needs to see it.

And if you want to know how we build football fitness the right way at Foot-Tech, drop us a message.

This month we're saying goodbye to one of our own.

After nearly 7 years, Dan is moving on, and he's going to be missed more than he knows 😭

Dan is one of those rare coaches who knows the game inside out, the technical detail, the why behind everything, but who can take all of that and deliver it in a way a seven year old just gets.

That's a genuine gift, and it's not one many people have.

The kids he coaches love his sessions and they learn so much.

He's been an incredible asset to this team. Committed, every single week. Brilliant with the children and the kind of coach every football school wishes they had more of.

Now he's off to Manchester to start his career as a teacher, and those pupils are getting someone special...

But if we have our way, we're hoping he'll be setting up a Foot-Tech of his own across the Pennines before too long 🤞

Dan, thank you for your commitment and for everything you gave the kids here.

You'll always be one of us 👊

Dan will be around at his sessions until the end of July so make sure to say your goodbyes before he leaves.