See what Melbourne City FC’s community department have been up to over the past month with City Football Schools headlining their busy schedule

City Football Schools second week of clinics have begun at the Lower Playing Fields at Latrobe University

The first week consisted of a two day clinic at Mazenod College in Mulgrave and a three day clinic at Brighton Grammar with the clinics conducted in conjunction with City Football Schools’ coaching director Andy Smith and Coach Alan Dixon

There was a mix of nerves and excitement coming from the young players as they arrived and received their training shirts and prepared for the sessions. The nerves were quickly put aside when the players were introduced to the coaches from CFS.

The participants were split into two groups with one group being coached by Smith and the other group coached by Dixon. The sessions contained a lot of one on one and two on two drills, with the focus on ball control and movement.

Andy Smith said “We go through very technical sessions followed by one vs. one drills and two vs. two drills where the children can express themselves with their skills; which they have learnt in game situations.”

Brian Goldberg, whose son was participating in the clinic and identified himself as someone who has grown up with Australian Rules; mentioned that the opportunity to get his son coaching from international coaches couldn’t be missed.

“To have the opportunity for my son to learn from international coaches, who have seen great players rise through the ranks of British football, was too much to be turned down” said Mr Goldberg.

This is the second time that Melbourne City have run the clinics in conjunction with City Football Schools, with the first being run in 2014, and the Club will look to bring the program to even more locations in Melbourne in 2015.

Premier Schools Invitational Training Session

The Melbourne City FC Community Department ran their first ever Premier Schools Tournament back in September where divisional winners were invited to play off to decide the best of the best. From that, coaches nominated 2 players from each team to participate in an elite training session at Melbourne City headquarters conducted by National Youth League Head Coach Joe Palatsides.

In what was a perfect afternoon for football, Palatsides ran the 16-18 year olds through their paces, emulating the session he had put his youth team through that morning with an emphasis on keeping possession.

“It’s important to see the kid’s ability to keep the ball and work in tight areas. Some of the boys showed real quality in being able to do that today and they will be added to our database of young Victorian talent.”

Melbourne City FC ran 5 school tournaments in 2014 and plans are in place to continue this in 2015.