“This particular player has attended SLD for nearly 4 years. He is now in Year 8 and really has become a fantastic person and player. He brings a desire and hunger to sessions that is infectious and which improves the quality of football played as a result. He can play confidently with either foot, dribble with fantastic control, finish from close range or shoot from long distance and lead a team with his positional understanding and organisational qualities. As one of the older boys in our group, he is the perfect role model for some of the younger players.

A session that lives long in the memory is from a fixture, in which this player was influential. That night, we gave the boys autonomy to decide on tactics and positions and to lead their own team talks before, during and after the game, in a player-led session. He led by example in an assured defensive display and played a significant role in the creation of goalscoring chances, but perhaps his most admirable quality that night was his leadership. He orchestrated the team talks, speaking and listening to his team mates to ensure they were prepared to perform. I remember at one point during the half time team talk, lots of the boys were speaking all at once and he took the lead in calming the conversation down and impressed upon his teammates the importance of listening to each other if they wanted to improve their play in the second half. As a coach, it is immeasurably rewarding to see the players you coach mature into well-rounded, confident people and this player is a perfect example of what we aim to produce at SLD Soccer School”

George, Head Coach of SLD