Edukick England 1 V Grand Skills Final 0

Edukick England have had a test this morning against the Grand Skills final players selected by Bolton Wanderers from around the world. This target game was a fixture that the lads went out to win and perform in.

In a tough fought game Edukick England dominated a large percentage of the play, however were struggling to take the chances up front, coming close on three occasions, but not getting on the score sheet.

Late in the second half, after several opportunities went a stray, Coach James Ward, move Jorgo Nika, the ID talent winner who is here for only a week, from the back up front, and within a minute Jorgo broke through the strong GSF back four to get the winner, with 3 minutes on the clock.

A great team performance by all, but a great finish from Jorgo who has fitted into the team well.

Winner of the Toronto Talent ID Camp Comes To Bolton

Jorgo Nika, the winner of the Toronto Talent ID Camp has arrived for his prise in Bolton of a week on the football Studies programme. Jorgo will follow the programme with the 20 strong team from Thursday this week until next Wednesday, taking in what it's all about and the tough training the lads go through. Along with this he gets the Chance to watch Bolton Wanderers V Liverpool at the Reebok stadium on Sunday, what a great experience.

Welcome Jorgo and enjoy your stay, Well Done!

Evening Meal With the Host Family

As part of Joey's trip to see the course, Joey Bilotta and Mick Brennan (EduKick England Director) made a visit to one of the host families, and the home of the welfare officer to meet three of the students, Meni, Fredrik and Samuel in their home stay environment. Whilst there we were able to see them relaxed having their evening meal and catching up with Stuart about their day of fitness with coach James Ward at the arena.

Joey Billota Visits Bolton

EduKick Inc VP, Joey Bilotta has made the trip from Canada to meet the boys, get some snap shots and see how things are going here in Bolton. Joey arrived here in Bolton on Wednesday evening heading straight to the hotel where he's secured a room with a view (of the Reebok pitch) fantastic for a football fanatic.

Thursday saw a day of meeting the lads and taking the time to chat to them, and a brief visit to a host family to get a feel for how things work this year.

So far it's been a great trip and Joey is looking forward to a double dose of premiership football with Blackburn V Chelsea on Saturday then Bolton V Liverpool on Sunday, however the EduKick England V the Grand Skill team on Sunday morning still is the most exciting prospect.

The Lads Work Hard in The Gym

Now to work hard on the fitness side of the course the coaches have the lads in the gym studio for various sessions including a demanding circuit training session. Here the lads are working constantly for a minute then moving on quick to develop not only stamina, but strength, endurance and core stability.

Along with this they have a run in the country on some Thursday mornings, with a tough print up the Rivington pike steps!

Edukick England V FC United

The lads had their first target game on Monday evening under the floodlights at Bolton Arena.

In a cold and very wet first half the lads got off to a bright start in the game, looking the better footballing team. Although they were on top the lads soon found themselves 2 down with 2 lapses of concentration.

The attitude of the team was excellent once again and heads didn't drop, just on the stroke of half time Miguel converted a well executed corner to get them back in the game, and give Miguel 3 goals in 3 games.

The second half was very competitive with both teams playing at a fast tempo right up to the final whistle. With the lads pushing hard for an equalizer they were caught out at the back right on the final whistle to concede a third.

Overall a great learning curve for the team and they can be pleased of the performance against a well established team, who are part of the break away club from Manchester United when the Glazers took over the club. Along with this a team that have been together for a few seasons and trained from early August.

Two premier League scouts were watching on and had some very positive feedback for James and the coaches, and have indicated they will be returning to future fixtures.

Another excellent performance from Miguel, and a 3rd goal earned him the Man of the Match award.

Settling in Well!

Moving into week 5 of the programme and the lads are settling in very well with the English lifestyle, and getting comfy, sometimes too comfy it looks like, with the host families.

Being in an English host family whilst on the course gives the players not only a safe and caring place to live, but exposes them to the English language and culture much more than any other experience. This is where we find that many of the players who have low levels of English can improve and come out of themselves with just interacting with the family.

Here you can see Steven Fong has settled in very well to the family life!

Year Long Football Studies Programme 2010 - 2011, Week 4

Check out the pictures from week 4 of the lads course by clicking on this picture.

Miguel Gets first Player of the Month for the Season

Miguel has scooped the first player of the month award for the 2010-2011 season here on the year long football studies programme. Following a dedicated effort in all the build up fitness work and some fantastic displays in training and matches Miguel was unanimously voted by staff as the first to receive the player of the month.

Well done Miguel

Four Selected For Local team

Following a great performance yesterday in the fixture against Salford College, four of the Edukick England/BWFC international Academy players have been selected to train with a local semi professional team St. Helens this evening. This will give the lads the chance to show the manager and coaches of the team their talent, and could be the first step on the ladder to progressing in the game.

Well done to Miguel, William, Michael and Joao who all impressed in the fixture yesterday and will be going along to St. Helens tonight. Good Luck lads.

Edukick England V Salford College

A great start to week four here in England with the team getting to winning ways in a fantastic performance against Salford College in Manchester. Played in the glorious October sun, at the Manchester FA head quarters the team had a development game with Salford College, who are currently top of their college league.

The focus this week was possession, keeping the ball, keeping it simple and making play effective. And the lads did just that.

Coming out 3- 2 winners, with Miguel, Michael, and Sebastian Blades all on the score sheet they showed they are coming together well as a team and developing quickly as players.

Well Done

Week Three Completed

As week three of the year long football studies programme comes to a close, and the lads look forward to a well earned weekend rest it's great to see that all the team are continuing to keep up the great effort and pace throughout the course.

Currently working hard in the classroom, many of the lads are already well into the first assignment for the BTEC, working on the Body in Sport module with the tutors which will help them in understanding how their body works and responds to the training and matches whilst here on the programme, hopefully helping them to avoid or minimise injuries.

All are on course for great results in the academic side of the programme, so well done to you all.

Edukick England V Manchester College

On Wednesday the team played in their second fixture of the course, a development game against Manchester College.

The lads showed themselves to be far the better side in the first half, taking the lead with a well taken header from Miguel. On the whole the lads showed great attitude and had plenty of opportunity to show their talent to the BWFC coaches and staff eagerly watching from the sidelines.

There were lots of positives from the fixture, with plenty to work on. This was a great opportunity for those new players to see the standard and physical fitness needed even at the college level here in the UK. The fitness of the the team showed towards the end of the game, however the lads represented themselves fantastically.