Jamie Allen
1
stTeam
Academy since Under 8 (10 years)
Club & Academy Vision realised
ROCHDALE AFC ACADEMY
THE EARLY YEARS
In 2008 the Rochdale AFC Board & Management Team developed a 7 Year Club Development Plan. This
included a number of visionary strategies to ensure the long term sustainability of the club and to secure the
highest league position possible with a target of The Championship.
In terms of Youth Development, the Centre Of Excellence Management Team developed a Football
Philosophy in line with the 1
stTeam to enable consistency for staff and players alike which should also see
more home grown talent getting the opportunity to represent the club at professional level, or to be sold on
for a profit, backing up the financial strategy of the plan.
A set of Performance Targets were also devised for the COE (see appendix) in line with the ambitions of the
Board, and the plan.
It is safe to say that the Youth Development targets were met from an early stage, and are continuing to be
met on an annual basis, with COE/Academy players being offered professional contracts and making
appearances in the 1
stTeam.
Will Buckley
11 goals as a 1
styear Professional with RAFC
Annual Performance Targets – 1.2.1c
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
PHASE
U17-‐21
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
PHASE
U13-‐16
FOUNDATION
PHASE
U8-‐12
+ 21 Pros
1. Produce x1 U21 Home grown Player to
Appear regular in 1
stTeam Squad
2. Achieve x1 U21 Home grown Player every
3yrs Transferred
3. Produce x2 U18 Players turning Professional
4. Develop x2 U18 Players to make Debut
5. Recruit 50% Full Time Scholars from
Youth Development Phase
6. Recruit 50% Youth
Development players from
FoundaYon Phase
7. Produce x2 players
in FP to progress annually
through to PDP
U8
U21
Academy Players on track to achieve Scholarships
Under 11 – Under 16
COACHING & DEVELOPING ROCHDALE AFC
PLAYERS OF THE FUTURE
“Rochdale AFC - Developing the England Players of the Future
In 2011 the FA, Premier League & The Football League came together to form the Solidarity Agreement and devised a new Elite Player Strategy & Quality Assurance framework to support clubs. This was to be known as the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP)
.
The EPPP is a new and exciting partnership which will revolutionise the way we plan, deliver and monitor elite football programmes for young people. It is a framework made up of 10 Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) devised by the Premier League, The FA and The Football League:
• Vision & Strategy
• Leadership & Management
• Coaching
• Education & Welfare
• Games Programme
• Sport Science & Medicine
• Player Development & Progression
• Talent Identification & Recruitment
• Facilities
• Financial Sustainability
All 92 clubs will apply to sit in a "Category" from 1-4 with 1 being the highest, based on things like the
number of full time staff, facilities and levels of resources on offer to players and their families at each KPI.
The success of the application is based on an external audit against the criteria for each category and the
levels of resources the club has at each KPI. This proved to be an onerous task for all concerned as it
entailed the setting up of new policies, procedures and working practices. It also involved numerous
meetings, both internal and external and strained every member of staff to the extreme, with very strict
deadlines and massive increase in workloads, both football and non-football related.
All the policies, procedures and documented evidence had to be brought together and collated into a new
and subjective scoring system known as the audit tool.
Rochdale AFC Academy have recently been awarded their target of Category 3 status. This
means we have the licence to operate a full Academy from Under 7’s to Under 18’s, and can
continue to produce players such as Will Buckley, Matt Hughes, Jamie Allen, Scott Tanser, Joel
Logan, Darcy O’Connor, Calum Camps, Andy Cannon, Johnny Diba, Connor Ronan and so on!
Johnny Diba Misangu
1
stTeam squad in first year of
apprenticeship
Academy since Under 8 (8 years)
Linking the Academy to the 1
stteam
Rochdale AFC has a clear functioning Vision & Strategy with a Club & Academy Football Philosophy of “Possession Based Fast Attacking Football” devised and implemented by ALL staff at the club, showing the way we want to develop young players to represent our 1st team.
These have to be shown as fully inclusive and link from the Academy to the 1st Team and to be fully embedded in the day to day operation of the club.
This achieved 100% at the recent audit! (KPI 1)
Darcy O’Connor / Joel Logan
Scott Tanser / Jamie Allen
4 x 1
stTeam contracts in 1 season 2013
Linking the Academy to the 1
stteam
The Leadership & Management teams had to be developed and implemented to lead the various functions required by the EPPP framework.
The club also had to develop a comprehensive staffing structure (see appendix) made up of Full Time, Part Time, Commissioned Services and even volunteers.
This basically increased full time staff from 2 to 6, and increased the workload of part time coaches to ensure all 130 Academy Players had a Performance Clock showing training minutes, game minutes, sessional and weekly Learning Objectives, with feedback to show progress. This extra work put in by the coaches scored 94%! (KPI 7)
Leadership & Management scored 90% against a Category 1 Academy! (KPI 2)
Head of Coaching Rick Ashcro3 Head of Recruitment Ronnie Cusick FP Lead Coach Anthony Thompson Head Academy Sport Science Gary Thompson
RAFC Academy Management Team
2.1.2a/c/d/e/f/h
meet every week
Academy Manager Tony EllisHead of EducaBon
Alistair Linden
RAFC Technical Board
2.1.3a/b/c – meet every 12 weeks
RAFC TECHNICAL BOARD CEO Colin Garlick 1st Team Manager Keith Hill Liaison Coach Chris Beech Academy Manager Tony Ellis YDP Lead Coach Chris Brown PDP Lead Coach Rick Ashcro3 BOARD Andrew Kelly
BOARD (AK) + CEO (CG)
Academy
Manager (TE) Academy
Secretary(SA)
1st Team
Manager (KH) Liaison Coach
(CB)
Head of EducaBon
(AL) SC + Medicine Co ordinator (GT)
Head
Recruitment (RC) Coaching (RA) Head
SCOUTS Pro Dev Coach (RA) Youth Lead Coach (CB) FoundaBon Lead Coach (AT) Pro Dev GK Coach (RB) Pro Dev Coach (TE) Coaches x 8 S Beddard A Thompson N Simister S McElhinney Danny Lloyd Stuart Locke Gerard Jones Mark Finc Coaches x 8 Mick Flynn Chris Brown S Anderson Lee Riley Jason Lydiate Steve Lewis N Dempsey Vacant Senior Academy Physio (GT) Sport Science (KG) Doctor (WT) Academy Strength + CondiBoning (CP) Match
Analysis (DF) Ass. Physio (AB)
Medical Prov.
Staffing
Model
2.1.1a
Ass. Physio (RP)The Rochdale AFC Academy Coaching Programme, in line with the EPPP framework is made up of 3 player development areas:
• The Foundation Phase (U7 - U12) - "Learning to Love the Game"
• The Youth Development Phase (U13 - U16) "Learning to Compete"
• The Professional Development Phase (Youth Team) "Learning to Win“
From a football and players point of view, the main area of the success criteria will be around the Coaching and Games Programme, and the Monitoring & Evaluation of each player within it. Therefore the Academy Manager, Head of Coaching, along with the Academy Management Team and the age group coaches have devised and implemented Age Specific Coaching programmes across the 4 corner (Technical / Tactical / Physical / Psychosocial) and Long Term Player Development models.
These are linked to the Academy Football Philosophy and the Player Profiles and Positional Understanding resources utilised by the Academy coaches.
The Academy scored 62% against Category 1 clubs for Coaching! (KPI 3)
COACHING
Louis Coyne – Tyler Berry – Kisimba Kisimba – Harry Pratt – Callum Schorah
1
stYear Apprentices 2014
Coaching from Under 8 to Under 18
Callum Camps
1
stTeam squad in first year of apprenticeship
Nominated for Apprentice of the Year 2014
Academy since Under 8 (10 years)
Linking the Academy to the 1
stteam
The Education & Welfare of every single Academy Player is paramount to the success of the Academy.
Although football is a team game, the drive to be successful is very individual and therefore individual programmes of football, education and support have to be developed to ensure all players are given an equal chance to fulfil their dreams of becoming a professional footballer.
Recognising the effort and commitment of parents is equally vital to a coherent Academy.
The Academy Head of Education has contact with every single school of all Academy players and communicates player reports to them on a regular basis.
This is a huge task and is supported by the Academy Administrator. Players are educated at the Academy that their schooling and education is equally important to their future and any issues are related in a triangular communication process with Academy, School & Parent.
The Academy does not operate a Full Time or “Hybrid” Model under the EPPP framework until the players reach the youth team. The Education & Welfare department scored 45% which is a phenomenal achievement from the Academy Head of Education who is a
volunteer! (KPI 4).
The Medical, Physical and Psychological expertise within the Academy really came to the fore in the Sport Science and Medicine section of the EPPP framework.
There are 3 main areas to our Sport Science support:
Prehabilitation - Injury prevention
Provide Fitness Testing 2 times per season (3 times for U18's)
Provide Individual Functional Movement Programmes to support any imbalances which maybe apparent from the Fitness Testing
Provide Strength & Power programmes for age related players
Provide weekly Physical specific programmes incorporated into the age specific Coaching Programmes
Provide Nutritional & dietary advice and guidance
Rehabilitation - Recovering from Injury
In order for players to recover from any injuries as quickly as possible and get back on the pitch, it is absolutely crucial that they adhere to the expert advice given by the professionals.
The medical team will liaise with Coaches & the Academy Fitness Coach to devise an individual Rehabilitation programme.
Psychology - Attitude and Application in Training & Games
Psychology plays a huge part in the modern game of Football and Rochdale Academy look to support all players in the 4 Corner and Long Term Player Development approach.
We have commissioned Jon Radcliffe from Salford University, to provide a support package for players, parents and coaches through a variety of interventions including workshops and questionnaires for players.
All players complete a “Psychological Skills in Football” survey. It is called the Athletics Skills Coping Inventory. This will provide valuable information in which to target the sport psychology programme at Rochdale AFC to best suit their individual needs.
The survey is a well used and scientifically tested questionnaire which looks at the particular psychological skills and characteristics individuals possess.
It will inform coaches programmes as to how best to work within specific age groups.
With all this individual care and prescription the Sport Science and Medicine department scored an incredible 81%! (KPI 6)
The success of the Academy is only as good as the players the coaches are given to work with and therefore the Talent Identification & Recruitment department are ultimately responsible for bringing in the highest quality players.
As with the vision of the club, this is a tough task with all the Premiership, Championship and League 1 & 2 clubs around us all looking at the same players.
The Academy Head of Recruitment has a small number of scouts at each development phase and therefore relies on the Football in the Community team to support recruitment through it’s numerous schools and community programmes.
Academy coaches also bring in a number of talented players full of potential.
The Talent Identification & Recruitment department scored 74%! (KPI 8)