Academy Director Statement: The JPL and the 2022/23 Season

We are extremely proud and excited to announce that Worksop Town Academy will be uniting with the Nerf Junior Premier League for the 2022/2023 season, entering teams across the Academy programme into competitive games programmes against teams at the highest available level of youth football.

With the first full season of the Academy's operations entering its twilight, I am incredibly proud of where we stand today. Transitioning from what has been a very difficult few years for everybody - moving in and out of national lockdowns, dealing with a variety of different restrictions and setbacks that some could argue have hindered our progress – the Academy has made some massive strides. We now have an established core group of players and parents, and a footballing community that we've been able to build up, and the fixtures that we've then been able to add on top of the training sessions with our coaches have helped individuals to develop. I am genuinely really proud of the progress we have made on and off the pitch.

Obviously, we are talking about big changes in the Academy programme for the 2022/2023 season. I think the time is right, in terms of the community developing - and by that I mean the players and parents have now bought into what it is we do – to make this next big step. Supporters of the programme can very much see the Academy is here to compliment and not conflict with the work people are doing with their respective grassroots teams on Sundays, and joining the JPL allows our players, as individuals, to continue to participate within those grassroots teams while simultaneously taking steps towards developing alongside some of the best young players in the area in a very competitive fixture programme that will see them travel with us to some of the best and most established teams in the area. It will initially be a case of finding our feet, but we have every faith that all of our players will develop even further based on the decision to step forward into the JPL. Considering the rate of progress seen in the current Academy players, it is clear to see the mindset and the infrastructure is now in place to take these steps towards entering a competitive fixture programme, and we now have the ability to compliment what players are doing in their respective grassroots setups.

The fixture programme gives Academy representatives something to look forward to on a weekly basis in not just their grassroots programmes, but also at Worksop Town, enhancing their development with two Academy training sessions and fixtures against elite level competition within the JPL league system. We are also preparing to take further steps regarding recruitment, where we will soon be looking to take on board a team of scouts that will support across every age group within the Academy to ensure we are delivering the highest possible level of training quality, from both a coaching stance and a player satisfaction perspective. Knowing the outcome of each performance will now dictate their position within a competitive internal programme, as well as externally in the league table. 

With this in mind, there will obviously be an increase in commitment required from players and parents, but I would say that the reward of this – further opportunities for young players to develop, bringing together the teams at their respective age levels – greatly outweigh the negatives. We are aware that as a programme that only fully started 12 months ago, we are slowly bringing together units that have performed well against some really good local and national opposition in our Football Festivals programme.

Joining the JPL will provide more consistency within the games programme, and also on the 'football schedule' - we know that families juggle a lot in their households, getting young people to regular sporting events such as matches or tournaments, be that for football or other sports - and our goal is ultimately to help take our players to the next level now. We are also really fortunate now to be able to say that the proof of how the Academy is progressing and the player development pathway model is showing the fruits of its labour as well. Several players have already been named within the Worksop Town FC first team, having been looked after and developed by Academy coaches. We have also seen well over a dozen players leave the club and move into professional academies, and a host of other players move into trials for professional outfits. From this, what we are doing is creating further opportunities not just within the confines of the club, but also with players who display the desire and eagerness to go as far as they can, equipped with solid core of technical and tactical ability and understanding, allowing them to progress further within the wider national footballing pyramid sooner.

For all of the players selected in the JPL squads, we will be looking to have a number of squads per age group in order to guarantee each player who participates within the programme receives a sufficient amount of game time to develop and realise their potential; players that register with us for the JPL season will then be with us for the next 12 months, which will provide the benefit of being able to refine and develop each team of individuals. With less movement within squads, we will be able to develop select groups of standout performers, and those players will be supported not just on the football pitch but also away from it, with increasingly regular and more detailed player performance reviews, strength and conditioning coaching, and obviously the opportunity to compete within their squads.

This push for recruitment opens up space for a greater number of players to get involved in our Player Development Pathway, namely from the Development Centre route. Over the next few months we will be looking at opening a number of other Development Centres within the local area, while continuing to run our Saturday Development Centre from the ground, and these centres will ultimately feed into the JPL programme. A great example would be Leo Heathcote [see his full story here] who has realised his potential and has been able to progress into our Academy programme at Under 12s level as a result.

One of the things I, as an Academy Director, have a real passion for is providing football opportunities for everyone. Worksop is a fantastic community, and it’s really clear from what I have seen over the last 12 months that football is the beating heart of that community. We want to be the epicentre of that as it grows and develops, providing opportunities for young people of all ages, abilities, genders and backgrounds to participate in a Worksop Town programme. I'm really looking forward to extending that reach, exploring relationships and partnerships with local organisations such as schools and grassroots teams, and doing anything and everything we can to provide an elite player performance pathway that develops players into useful additions for the Worksop Town FC first team.

One of the main reasons we are planning the transition to the JPL format is that, within this first year, we've been able to bring together individuals from the grassroots community. We are now getting closer towards forming Academy teams that will be able to support one another not just through their play, but also through familiarity and team cohesion as well. This has been one of the key pieces of feedback that we have received from parents and players, that will allow us to take our programme to the next level.

Alongside this press release, we have also launched a "Changes for the 2022/23 Season" informational pamphlet, that can be viewed online here.

If you wish to be considered to represent Worksop Town Academy in the Junior Premier League for the 2022-2023 season, register for a trial here.

For more information on the Nerf Junior Premier League, visit www.juniorpremierleague.com