WHUIA National Camp 2011 - Rome, GA - Day 3

Never fall asleep in public.

If you've been on the West Ham United International Academy facebook page you'll have seen this. I would prefer you didn't - just go ahead, read and pretend it makes sense...

Despite being the target of a smart phone / social media attack while quietly meditating post a cracking morning of soccer, I shall take the higher road and not respond or retaliate. My years of secret service work have taught me to appear to be in a deep slumber and yet be a nanosecond away from a devastating and deadly Eric Cantona kind of drop kick. Luckily I did not do that today. Or any other to be honest with you.

This is how the day started.
Nice - warm but a little cloudy.
Then the dreaded little yellow light started flashing and we all ran for cover.
An hour, 1 inch of rain and a multitude of skills and games later we were back out. 


Now, I know we always say 'back in my day' but as a kid playing soccer we never left the field. Either the storms were simply non-existent or coaches waited for someone to be hit by lightning before calling it off.




 I did get to see a great 'wake up and warm up' session from Mark and Ian. The player Ian is working with on the left gave him a run for his money!

Mark loves West Ham United. Like many of the coaches and players. He has been supporting the club forever and is a passionate, true fan. That means sticking with them through thick and thin. Ironically for coaches like Mark at the Academy, a drop back into the Championship means an opportunity for young and talented players. The West Ham first team squad are out in Switzerland now and playing a number of friendlies. Academy products such as Robert Hall, Jordan Brown, Olly Lee etc are getting first team experience and may well find their route to a regular spot accelerated now.


During the indoor session we got to watch a smashing practice for the three goalkeepers run by Kevin. Goucho (Brazil) leads the sessions and they are always worth taking a look at. Goucho is a experienced goalkeeper who represented a young Brazilian side at Wembley versus England.

The front two provide a wall that has to react and get out the way. The main keeper behind has to make the save at the last possible minute.


The older boys and girls have given me a little grief for not having more pics of them. I work with James and the youngest group - so it is a little tough to get over and grab some pics. here are a few of Paul & Ian's group:

Paul waiting this afternoon for the lads - bibs / pinnies waiting for them. I think he had even ironed them before the session. Paul's group have focused on vision and awareness - so players have been expected to develop an increased level of vision while playing. This means building in looking over your shoulder or 'checking' to see what the picture is around you. Humans' eyes are positioned to be hunters - front facing. So we have to keep looking to create that 'picture' that allow us to know what is going on all the time across 360 degrees. Watch any of the Barcelona midfield. Head on a swivel.

That's Paul with his cap on - Ian Yuill is on the far right of the picture. I worked with Paul and his wife, Rae, at a school in England for many years. Both Paul and Rae are top class. Despite working with such talent at West Ham, Paul always worked with the school kids who found PE / Gym challenging at times. Both were legends at Sweyne and Sweyne Park Schools. Paul would get the least soccer interested kids playing and playing well too.

Ian ran another indoor technical skills session for the older boys. I had requested the girls, while sharing the swimming pool with the younger boys dunk a few for me to keep them in check. Ian expanded upon the multiple touch exercises from the day before and incorporated turns, sets and great communication. Many of the drills require a 'rhythm' to be established - once that is in place it is remarkable what can be achieved - as his son Louis demonstrates back at the academy. Here is a small example at our camp:

 We got out for a longer session in the afternoon. A cloudy sky kept it 'much cooler yet intolerably humid' - better than yesterday! We added an extra half hour on to catch up a little - and will do the same in the morning. Our group worked their touches, then a simple drill passing between cones - but calling the color of the gate your opponent has to play back through. This really makes the players think and they must 'say it as they play it' - a vital aspect of player to player communication. It ended with a vastly improved 7v7 3 max touch game. Players are starting to look up, play it simply and link up.

Great dinner. I suspect grits may be on the breakfast menu again tomorrow but so far I have managed to squash my curiosity and steer clear. We all sat and watched the latest video (also on the facebook page), which the kids loved.

The comment at the end? Well, poor Miguel had a tough time with the heat and he rested today. The main video had a clip which caught him running with the ball while checking over his shoulder in both directions (while being hounded by Tommy). Take a look at the video and see if you can pick that moment out. Miguel survived Tommy's attention!


It was a lovely day today. Everyone is getting on fine - lots of funnies, calls to David Beckham to ask if the ball was in or not, sleepy coaches, even sleepier players and plenty of water.

It's the last day tomorrow - I'm sad. There are a lot of really great kids here - and they are decent footballers. RJ shakes my hand every time a session ends. Others too. Even though I'm pressing 'publish post' at 12:25am and will get up at 6:30am for the Final Day 4 - it's all magic.