I
iNickStuff
Guest
Well, this is the story. As you would expect. Thirty-two people registered on the thread (which is here) to be part of the story, something that is my first-ever at doing so, yet marvel at other people's stories such as this. Sometimes, I am a part of it. Then, with the thirty-two applicants, came the need of creating the database, in which I did. The Nike Academy. Sitting in League 2, with a team blossoming of world-beaters, it was inevitable success would spew out and reach the far corners of the world, knowing they were all graduates from an academy that was founded only two years ago.
Now, like I said, comes the story. This story is not going to be like most. It's not going to be the same register here, database is released, and then update after update, with brief text on how the person is doing. No. It's going to be written like a story, as if you are there and that it is speaking from a view that makes it more interesting, and something that is, metaphorically, of course, tangible. I will be speaking from first-person, but updating on all thirty-two people. Not all at once though, but sixteen at one time, and then the other sixteen another. It makes it short and sweet, rather than boring and long-wounded. I hope you enjoy the story, as I did making it.
Original thread is here, whilst the database is also available on it.
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Nike Academy - Your Chance: The Story
"Get noticed. Get scouted. Get signed."
###
Well, here I am. I didn't think at any moment eighteen months ago that I would be in the position that I am now. Graduating from the same academy, fresh off the shelf and looking to get into club football, I now find myself the head coach of it. Weird. What happened between those times seems to be a blur, but now, I am now coaching a team of youths that are in the same position I was. In an academy that would be their springboard into football, and be potential superstars. The majority of whom are English, would also mean benefitting the country's lack of youth, that was seemingly a plethora, like a fountain back in the 70's and 80's. Before I was born. The Nike Academy, though, is great. It taught me athe things that I needed to know before going into the 'real world' and experiencing the professional game. Training, fitness, professionalism at all times, keeping a cool head - that's just scratching the surface. There is a lot more to it than what meets the eye. The coaching staff are of top quality. Not people that would necessarily have heard of quite regularly, but people who know what they are doing and how to do it. A team of staff that have knowledge of the game, and know what it is like at professional level. Now that I join them in this kind of higher authority status, looking down upon the 'students' of the academy with a fearsome eye, it is time to take on the role I never thought of, let alone dreamed of. Twenty-five years old, having got my coaching badges and now embarking on a totally different adventure, it's not only my chance, but every single one of the players' chances to make something of themselves in the game. Something I wish I did - it's too late now.
###
What may not be a blur to me is how the Nike Academy started, two years ago when the liquidation of Barnet Football Club was to be another casualty of the crippling force of debts, unpaid loans, and the club's hatred for such a careless board of directors. Since then, they have been dwelling in the Isthmian leagues under the new name 'Barnet Town F.C.' and is run by the supporters themselves. Good luck with that.
And with the F.A. needing a club to take over, there was an uproar from fans across the leagues to bring in a club from the lower divisions, to which their positions would be replaced by ones from the next, and the next, and the next. All the way down to the twenty-fourth flight of the English game, and then a pool of Sunday league clubs that would apply to join that flight. But, it wasn't to be that. Nike was on it themselves. Philip Knight, the CEO of Nike Inc., was to be the man to guide in this sort of one-club revolution, and bring the power of the Nike brand into the English game, and benefit everyone, with, not a club, but an academy. Unorthodox, yes, but the younger side of the game were jumping at the chance for this to be put in place. Lord Triesman, the then-Chairman of the Football Assocation, passed it through, and thus, the Nike Academy was born. With that, was the birth of hundreds of thousands of applicants to then be wanting to be a part of the Nike Academy. I was lucky enough to have mine passed through, but I had a chance. Or at least that was their slogan. I had a chance, but the key word in that sentence is had. It's gone now. But I have the chance to make something of the thirty-two youngsters that will beckon on me tomorrow, on recruitment day.
As my job went through to being the Head Coach of the academy, they sent me this picture of what they think my talent is. How nice. Something to build upon in my tenure as the 'manager'.
Now, like I said, comes the story. This story is not going to be like most. It's not going to be the same register here, database is released, and then update after update, with brief text on how the person is doing. No. It's going to be written like a story, as if you are there and that it is speaking from a view that makes it more interesting, and something that is, metaphorically, of course, tangible. I will be speaking from first-person, but updating on all thirty-two people. Not all at once though, but sixteen at one time, and then the other sixteen another. It makes it short and sweet, rather than boring and long-wounded. I hope you enjoy the story, as I did making it.
Original thread is here, whilst the database is also available on it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nike Academy - Your Chance: The Story
"Get noticed. Get scouted. Get signed."
###
Well, here I am. I didn't think at any moment eighteen months ago that I would be in the position that I am now. Graduating from the same academy, fresh off the shelf and looking to get into club football, I now find myself the head coach of it. Weird. What happened between those times seems to be a blur, but now, I am now coaching a team of youths that are in the same position I was. In an academy that would be their springboard into football, and be potential superstars. The majority of whom are English, would also mean benefitting the country's lack of youth, that was seemingly a plethora, like a fountain back in the 70's and 80's. Before I was born. The Nike Academy, though, is great. It taught me athe things that I needed to know before going into the 'real world' and experiencing the professional game. Training, fitness, professionalism at all times, keeping a cool head - that's just scratching the surface. There is a lot more to it than what meets the eye. The coaching staff are of top quality. Not people that would necessarily have heard of quite regularly, but people who know what they are doing and how to do it. A team of staff that have knowledge of the game, and know what it is like at professional level. Now that I join them in this kind of higher authority status, looking down upon the 'students' of the academy with a fearsome eye, it is time to take on the role I never thought of, let alone dreamed of. Twenty-five years old, having got my coaching badges and now embarking on a totally different adventure, it's not only my chance, but every single one of the players' chances to make something of themselves in the game. Something I wish I did - it's too late now.
###
What may not be a blur to me is how the Nike Academy started, two years ago when the liquidation of Barnet Football Club was to be another casualty of the crippling force of debts, unpaid loans, and the club's hatred for such a careless board of directors. Since then, they have been dwelling in the Isthmian leagues under the new name 'Barnet Town F.C.' and is run by the supporters themselves. Good luck with that.
And with the F.A. needing a club to take over, there was an uproar from fans across the leagues to bring in a club from the lower divisions, to which their positions would be replaced by ones from the next, and the next, and the next. All the way down to the twenty-fourth flight of the English game, and then a pool of Sunday league clubs that would apply to join that flight. But, it wasn't to be that. Nike was on it themselves. Philip Knight, the CEO of Nike Inc., was to be the man to guide in this sort of one-club revolution, and bring the power of the Nike brand into the English game, and benefit everyone, with, not a club, but an academy. Unorthodox, yes, but the younger side of the game were jumping at the chance for this to be put in place. Lord Triesman, the then-Chairman of the Football Assocation, passed it through, and thus, the Nike Academy was born. With that, was the birth of hundreds of thousands of applicants to then be wanting to be a part of the Nike Academy. I was lucky enough to have mine passed through, but I had a chance. Or at least that was their slogan. I had a chance, but the key word in that sentence is had. It's gone now. But I have the chance to make something of the thirty-two youngsters that will beckon on me tomorrow, on recruitment day.
As my job went through to being the Head Coach of the academy, they sent me this picture of what they think my talent is. How nice. Something to build upon in my tenure as the 'manager'.