AJ FOOTBALL ACADEMY / DALLAS CUP 2012 NEWSLETTER NUMBER 5:
Dear *|FNAME|* *|LNAME|*,
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU READ THE WHOLE OF THIS NEWSLETTER
IT HAS MANY ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THAT SOME PLAYERS WHO ARE COMING TO TRIALS HAVE BEEN ASKING AND ‘YOU’ MIGHT BE THINKING OF.
We are now into the final few months before we start the 2011 UK trials to find the best ‘18 players’ who we will be chosen to fly out to the USA to compete in the Dallas Cup in 2012.
Remember, apart from your trial fee, if ‘you’ make it through, you will be traveling with 17 other players to one of the best ‘Professional Academy’ tournaments in the world and it will be entirely ‘free of charge’
It is going to be an exciting football ‘Battle of the Regions’ to find what players are going to make it, and what part of the country the most talented will come from.
Just to remind you this is where we will be looking to find the final 18 players.
LONDON
BIRMINGHAM/ BRISTOL/CARDIFF (WALES)
MANCHESTER/LIVERPOOL/LEEDS
GLASGOW (SCOTLAND)/NEWRY (N.IRELAND)/ NEWCASTLE/SUNDERLAND
Below are all the questions that have been asked over the past year or so by other players, some are obvious and others are more ‘interesting’!
We wanted to share them with you just in case you were thinking of asking the same ones yourself. Remember you can also go to the AJ Football Academy site and check the FAQ page.
We will send our next Newsletter within the next two weeks so you can all stay up to date.
IMPORTANT FOR ALL PLAYERS:
In our next Newsletter, we will start to tell you where your trial games are going to be played .We have some fantastic ‘Top-Class’ venues lined up throughout the country for you to play your matches. Keep an eye out for the next newsletter coming to your email inbox soon.
TO ALL LEEDS, BRISTOL/CARDIFF, NEWRY, and NEWCASTLE/SUNDERLAND PLAYERS ONLY.
If you are wondering where all your names have gone on the pitch diagram, “don’t worry” you haven’t lost your places, all we are doing is updating a few things on the website. You are still on our database and you will be back in your position in a couple of day’s time. You will be receiving an email soon telling you of these changes, so ‘look out’ for it in your inbox.
NEWSFLASH.
Arsenal FC and FC Barcelona Academies are both coming to the Dallas Cup this year (April 2011). Please visit the website at www.ajfa.co.uk and press the links at the bottom of the page to get more details
HAVE YOU RECEIVED YOUR TRIAL DETAILS?
If you have received this ‘Newsletter’ you should by now have your trial details (time and date etc). If you did not receive this information, you need to urgently email us at ajfasquad@gmail.com to tell us that you have not got it.
UPDATING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND MOBILE PHONE NUMBER.
Those players who have registered with us will be able to login to their account, using your password, at the AJFA website and change details about themselves. This will automatically update the database with your information.
It is especially important that you remember to change your email address and/or mobile number so that you always get emails and newsletters from us, or even a text message on your phone.
PLEASE DO NOT REGISTER TWICE.
We have recently had players who have been registering twice on our website, and then give us two different email addresses.
IF YOU HAVE A FRIEND THAT WOULD LIKE TO REGISTER FOR A TRIAL, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU TELL THEM TO REGISTER “ONLY ONCE” WITH THEIR MAIN PRIMARY EMAIL ADDRESS.
We generally delete duplicate registrations so there is no point in signing up twice. Remember, you can always change many of your details if you need to, by logging into your account.
LILLESHALL NATIONAL SPORTS CENTER.
Lilleshall is a world-renowned football venue that has been used for many years by some of the top Professional clubs-including ‘The England National Squad’ to prepare their teams for games.
We are proud to inform you that we now have booked and secured ‘Lilleshall National Sport Center’ for our regional finals from August 1st to August 5th 2011.
These finals are for the best 12 players from each region who came through their first and second phase games.
WHERE ARE OUR REGIONAL TRIALS BEING HELD?
Many of you have been asking this question. All we can say at present is that we have some “Top Quality” training facilities lined up.
All information will be sent out to you within the next three weeks, including the address and a map of how to get there.
IMPORTANT:
Once again, if you decide you do not wish to trial with us than do not be shy to tell us. We would rather you do this than, with all respect ‘waste our time’ and ‘yours’
We only want players who are serious about having a trial to go to the USA Dallas Cup in 2012.
OTHER QUESTIONS FROM PLAYERS.
WHAT DO WE DO NOW THAT WE HAVE OUR OFFICIAL INVITATION TO TRIAL?
All players invited will now receive updates about their trial, so keep an eye out on your email inbox for regular newsletters.
WILL THE MATCHES WE PLAY BE 11 V 11?
All games will be 11 V 11 and age categorised. This means that no games will be held, where for instance an U/15 will play against an U/18. There will mainly be a two-year gap as follows. The Football Association recognizes this as ‘best practice’.
All matches will be 35 minutes each half.
Teams that will play matches at the trial will be made up as follows:
U/18 & U/17’s
U/17 & U/16’s
U/16’s & U/15’s
On rare occasions there will be a younger player in a team-usually a defender- between U/16 and U/18. However, we will know all the names of players and their ages, and will take this into account in relation to your performance on the day of your match.
WHERE DOES MY TRIAL MATCH TAKE PLACE?
All matches will take place at Professional, Semi-professional or Top Quality football training grounds in the different cities and regions.
Players who have been approved to trial with us will find out where their match will be by the middle of March 2011.
DATE OF BIRTH.
Unfortunately we have had some instances of players giving a ‘false’ date of birth when they register on the website, just to get a trial. Remember, you cannot enter this tournament or the USA without a passport, so you will have wasted your time if you ‘intentionally’ give us an incorrect D.O.B.
CAN YOU PICK ME UP TO TAKE ME TO MY TRIAL?
NO! We are not a transport service and apart from the health and safety issues, we unfortunately do not have a fleet of cars and staff to do this. It is your responsibility or your parent(s)/guardian(s) to organise the transport to get to your trial.
CAN YOU CALL ME ON MY PHONE?
We do not call players. We will probably have nearly 2000 players who have applied to trial with us by March of this year.
There is no way we could get on the phone and start talking to every person who wanted to have a conversation with us. It would take far too much of the valuable time that we are using to plan, prepare and organise these trials.
By emailing us-at any time- we will be able to answer any of your questions.
WHY DO WE HAVE TO PAY £75.00 TO HAVE A TRIAL WITH YOU?
This is probably the biggest football trial related event of its kind ever undertaken for young players, aged U/16 to U/19, in Great Britain. There have been countless days, weeks, and months of planning, preparation and organisation to make sure the event goes smoothly on every trial match day in each region.
Whenever any trial is held, there are many costs to consider, including the main one of hiring the pitches and venues where they take place. Most of the trials will be played at Professional, Semi Pro or ‘Top Class’ training grounds including the finals which are being held at Lilleshall National Sports Centre. There is also the cost of insurance, administration and equipment etc.
Coaches and agents connected to Professional clubs who are qualified and licensed to identify talent, will watch you, especially if you make it to the ‘Lilleshall Regional Finals’. All are CRB checked. We will also have a full time Physiotherapist and assistants who will be taking care of all the players invited to trial in case of injury etc.
Just to remind you, If you are one of the final 18 players chosen to go you will receive an all inclusive, ‘Free of charge’ 20 day entry to a world class football tournament, return flight to the USA. Hotel stay, VIP luxury coach travel (including sightseeing tours) all meals –breakfast dinner, supper, entry into the competition, and full kit including track suit and 2 complete strips with the AJF Academy Logo. In addition you will be training twice a day, as an 18 man squad in the USA, and will get to meet and make new US friends and have a great time.
The other big bonus is that you will be watched by numerous US Coaches, who may be looking for talented UK overseas players to recruit for their 4-year soccer scholarship programs at their respective Colleges.
This is not a ‘Mickey Mouse’ second-rate tournament. It is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in one of the very best professional youth football competitions in the world
DO I HAVE TO PAY AS I AM FROM ENGLAND?
Yes. One or two players are getting confused with the wording on their emails. The £75.00 fee is for all players who live in the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).
Players from the Republic of Ireland-or other parts of Europe- use a different currency, and will pay using Euros (£75.00 is about 90 Euros) This is the reason we have put both payment types in your emails.
WHEN DO I NEED TO PAY?
This question gets asked over and over again.
It is made very clear on our newsletters and emails to you that ‘Payment is not due until March’ and that you will get further details at that time.
Remember you will have a full ‘three months’ to pay using an installment plan that we will have in place.
This means that you will be able to pay the full trial fee as follows:
£25.00 in March
£25.00 in April
£25.00 in May.
AJFA will be using an on-line method of payment using ‘PAYPAL’. Most of you will have heard of this and it is very simple to use. You will need to have a credit or debit card and Internet access to pay. If you do not have a credit or debit card, you can still use Paypal by buying a ‘Prepaid’ cash card and using it to pay your trial fee.
Please click this link to see how to buy one of these cash prepaid cards. We think this is the best one.
ONCE AGAIN WE DO NOT NEED PAYMENT NOW. YOU WILL RECEIVE AN EMAIL IN MARCH GIVING YOU ALL THE DETAILS.
CAN I CHANGE MY POSITION ON THE PITCH?
We generally do not allow you to change your position as it causes too many problems with moving players around and is not fair to other players who are already in their 1st or 2nd favourite one.
However, there may be times when you sign into your account and find we have moved you to a different day and time. If this happens we will email you straight away so you have the information.
WHY IS THERE ANOTHER PLAYERS NAME IN MY POSITION ON THE PITCH DIAGRAM?
We are getting to the point where we are running out of available positions in the regions. We want to keep our promise of offering you your 1st or 2nd favourite starting position, where we know you will be effective.
All players will get to trial for at least ‘one full hour’ or more, on a rotational basis with others. That means no player will be off the pitch for more than 15 minutes maximum. Don’t worry; if you are good enough, the coaches watching will know very quickly that you have talent to go on to the next phase.
PLEASE NOTE: If a player does not get his 1st favourite position, and then it becomes available, we will always email to tell you we have managed to do so.
WHAT POSITIONS NEED FILLING THE MOST?
If you are a ‘Centre Back’ or ‘Left back’ these are the areas that we are definitely looking to place players.
I KEEP GETTING EMAILS TELLING ME THAT I HAVE A NEW DATE & TIME and/or A NEW POSITION. WHY IS THAT?
As more and more players register, it is necessary to move some of you to a new time and date. Sometimes we might need to move you to a new position, but -99% of the time- it will be your 1st or 2nd favourite one.
The only time we might ‘not’ be able to put you in your 1st or 2nd favourite position is because, after looking at your football profile, you play in a “Centre Back or Central Midfield” area, and we have run out of specific left side or right side in those positions. If you have played in that area you generally understand your responsibilities tactically, so you should be able to cope and play on either side of those central positions.
Sometimes we might put a ‘Full Back’ or ‘Wide Mid-Fielder/ Winger’ on the opposite side of the pitch to see if that player can use both feet, including their weaker one, under pressure.
Another reason you might be moved to a new position, is that you are either too young or too old to be playing on the ‘team sheet’ you see. We will not play a 15 (or sometimes even a ‘young’ 16 year old up} against an 18 or 19 year old. This may also be the reason that we do not play you in a ‘free’ position, even though you see it is available
REMEMBER: It will always be the very latest email you get that will inform you of the new time you have been moved to. You can always check your new date, time and position, by logging into your account at the AJF Academy website when you get the updated email.
I CANNOT LOGIN TO MY ACCOUNT AT THE WEBSITE?
There are a few reasons why this may have happened.
1. You are too old or too young to enter the trial.
2. You live in a Country that is outside our player intake.
3. Your trial registration has ‘not’ been accepted as we feel you need to improve as a football player.
IS THIS ANYTHING LIKE ‘THE CHANCE’ FOR THE NIKE ACADEMY?
The AJ Football Academy is not a multi-million pound organisation. We do not pretend to be, either. This trial is not about 75,000 players from around the world trying to get to be one of the final 8 chosen.
We feel, that you have a much better chance of getting into our final team of 18 as we have fewer players to choose from, which means your chance increases to go to the USA Dallas Cup 2012.
This is not about speed tests or coaching drills, it is more about how effective you are as a player during the game, your individual technical ability, tactical understanding and attitude amongst many other things.
The coaches involved have all worked at one time or another with Premiership Clubs. Dan Thomas, who was assistant to Aaron Jacob at the ‘Lewsiham College Football Academy’ and is also an academy coach at Fulham FC, (under Huw Jennings who was the Academy Director for Nike) will be helping us.
We also have Paul Robinson, who was at Chelsea for many years as well as Millwall. Paul now is a director for the AJF Academy, works for Charlton Athletic FC and will be part of our coaching staff. We also have coaches from Arsenal and Tottenham involved.
I HAVE JUST BEEN ACCEPTED TO TRIAL WITH YOU, WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION?
If you get time, please read the newsletters on the ‘Archive’ section at the website (under ‘About Us’) These are important for you to read and ‘catch up’ on, to find out what has been going on before you got accepted.
There are also many answers to questions on these old newsletters.
The AJFA Team
|
