AndySams10
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EVERY BOY'S DREAM...
a Streaky25 story
"GOOOAAAL!!!" I yelled, as I ran around the back garden with my t-shirt pulled over my head, after hitting a self set up volley past my brother, who was stood in the make shift goal made out of two cricket stumps. "Boys, dinner's ready" called Mum from the kitchen window and within seconds I had gone from scoring the winner in the World Cup final in front of 90,000 people, back to a regular nine year old boy. After my brother, Matt, and I had finished our favourite dinner of chicken nuggets, chips and beans followed by a choc ice for pudding, we raced towards the back door to get our trainers on ready to re-create more footballing moments and dream of one day actually doint it, only to be stopped in our tracks by Mum's voice. "Not so fast you two. Dishes need to be done first." She ordered. a Streaky25 story
By the time Mum and Dad had finished eating their meal and with the dishes slowly being washed, by me and dried, by Matt, it was fast becoming dark outside which put a stop to anymore outdoor football for the evening. That didn't bother us though, as it just meant we would be able to carry on the subbuteo tournament we started with our Dad the previous night. Despite my young age I was fascinated by the game of subbuteo, as it allowed me to set up and create my own formations in the hope that one evening I may actually beat my Dad, who would play religiously every night after school when he was younger, even playing home and away matches at his friends houses the same day.
After a few games of subbuteo, taking it in turns to play against Dad and Matt, it was soon time for bed and with my Soccer School that I attended every Saturday morning just one sleep away, I was more than willing to get ready for bed with the excitement of what I could look forward to the following day.
Five years later and I made the transition from Junior school to Secondary school and during that period my love and addiction for football kept growing. The team I played for in Plymouth was a local side called Woodford Colts and over the past couple of seasons we won league titles and cup finals, which brought quite a bit of personnal success too.
The Soccer School I went to on a Saturday morning was an FA organised coaching course ran by two FA qualified coaches, Chris and Roy. Having just turned fourteen and in the final few weeks of being eligible to attend the course, I won a trial at Plymouth Argyle, after coming out on top from the final assessment results, that follow individual progress from the year you start.
I successfully passed my trial at Plymouth Argyle and was rewarded with a two year YTS contract. The contract meant that I would train some mornings and afternoons, with regular schooling during non-training time to ensure I still built up some sort of educational background incase the inevitable would happen and injury would cut short my potential career in football.
Now sixteen years old and with my YTS contract coming to an end, I was selected in the first team squad for a game against local rivals Exeter City in the final of the annual Devon Bowl tournament, which included Torquay United and feeder club Tiverton Town. The Bowl was organised so each team would play each other once, with the top two teams playing in the final held at Home Park.
There were five minutes remaining and with us comfortably in the lead, I was called to get ready to go on and make my debut in front of about 5,000 spectators which included numerous family members. All I can vaguely remember of the two minutes I was on the pitch for, was picking the ball up midway inside the Exeter half and running with it to take on the last defender, then a split second later I was rolling around on the floor in a heap, with excruciating pain in both ankles.
The extent of my injury was revealed later in hospital, when I was told I had damaged ligaments in both ankles, meaning I would be out of action for upto six months depending on how well they healed. With news of my injury set back starting to sink in, I was dealt another blow as Plymouth Argyle had replaced Peter Shilton as Manager and brought in Neil Warnock. And as I was ruled out for the foreseeable future I wasn't able to be offered professional terms and was instead released from the remaining two weeks I had left of my YTS contract.
Whilst my rehabilitation was continuing, my Dad received a promotion at work which meant leaving Devon and moving upto where we currently live in Hampshire. This not only brought in more income to the family, but also a fresh start for everyone including myself, who had to put behind the disappointment of not being offered a professional contract.
The move was done at the end of our school term, meaning after we had completed the move to Hampshire, myself and Matt would be looking at local colleges to attend and study.
I was six months into my Leisure and Tourism course when I had to go on Work Experience, and with no interest in the Tourism side, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and that was to get involved in Football in some way, though not at too higer intensity as I was just getting back to normal following my injury.
Down the local Gym that my Mum attended, she had made friends with a lady who's husband ran his own Sports Coaching company, and after a couple of phone calls it was arranged that I could spend two weeks work experience shadowing qualified coaches do P.E lessons and after school clubs at various schools in Hampshire.
After impressing during the two weeks work experience, I was advised by the director to gain my FA Level 1 certificate and then get back in contact with him about a future job within the company.
I booked straight onto the Level 1 course as soon as I got home and had soon passed it towards the end of the year, and with a new found passion for coaching, I arranged to meet up with the Manager of the Sports Coaching company to see what he could offer me in terms of coaching hours on a permanent basis.
With a Part Time Self Employed role at the Sports Coaching company secured and money coming in from the Semi-Pro side I had joined plus extra income from a few hours working at Tesco, it gave me a nice budget to spend on booking on the FA Level 2 course.
A few years on from passing my Level 2 and it brings me right to the present day, where I now have added the FA Youth Module Level 1 and 2 to my list of football qualifications.
This has also lead to me extending my Full Time role, to Football Development Coach for Hampshire, which requires me building relationships with local grassroot teams and going in and coaching different age groups and help develop the standard of coaching across the county.
One of the biggest achievements I have done to date, since getting my new role, is that I've built a fantastic relationship with Romsey Town, a local grassroots side, where I've gone from coaching one age group to now being involved with another sixteen teams at various age groups.
With the season having only just finished, Romsey Town have just appointed a new chairman and along with the club secretary they are both keen to increase my hours and role within the club. So with these new ideas in place the chairman called my director at the Sports Coaching company I'm contracted to and arranged a meeting to discuss my involvement with the club for next season.
I have already spoken with Phil, the new chairman, and he has already explained to me that he would like me to become the Football Development Officer within the club, which will involve not only improving coaching standards and player development, but also to create a pathway for the boys and girls, so that they can continue at the club for years to come playing at a high standard.
With the new coaching proposal being offered to me, it presents me the perfect opportunity to start my coaching career and with my playing days over, maybe this is the chance to keep alive the dream I had, when I used to play subbuteo with my Dad and brother a long time ago!!
