The GFA Aztech Academy season recently came to a close alongside most local club football. The extensive list of re-arranged games due to the wet winter meant that once Academy training stopped at Easter, most players were required for regular matches with their club sides.
That being said, some age groups managed to find time for competitive games, as well as some indoor sessions, hosted by our sponsor Aztech.
Aztech sessions
All groups headed to the Aztech centre in May to take part in a mini-Euro’s tournament. Year 4 & 5 were the first to combine, giving them a taste of the small pitch environment where decision making must be quick. Year 6 & 7 also combined with teams mixed from players of both age groups. This allowed new relationships to form and strengthen, as many of these players may have to play together in Guernsey sides in years to come. Year 8 & 9 also met up for a very competitive night of indoor football at the centre. The size of many of the players, now almost in their adult bodies, resulted in a lot of very physical encounters between players. This side of the game is something they’ll have to get used to as they head into their latter teenage years and towards senior football.
Rangers 7s
- Academy players on show
The recent Rangers 7s tournament saw some excellent football being played, with many Academy players on show across the various age groups. Many of the players were keen to show off the skills they had learnt throughout the year, and players keen to get into the Academy were working hard to impress as well.
- Girls Academy
One group of players to perform well at the tournament were those involved with the Girls Academy. Each age group did well to compete with the other teams, who were mostly comprised of boys from the age group below.
The U14 girls were the standouts on the weekend. They battled hard in the U13 Plate competition to get out of the group and into the semi-finals. From there, they upset an unbeaten Bels side on penalties, and then beat St. Martins 1-0 in the final. The performances all round were fantastic and this felt like a big step for the girls youth game on the island, especially given it came only a week after the Women’s impressive victory in the Muratti.
Hopefully the collaboration with the boys and girls academies can continue as both programmes develop and move towards the new facility at Victoria Avenue.
BWCI
Our Year 4 players have returned to training as their season is still not finished. They will be competing in the Year 5 BWCI competition at the start of July. The group have worked well together this season, and after a number of matches, will feel confident of putting up a good showing in the tournament. The younger Aztech sides have more than held their own in recent years, being unfortunate to not get to the semi-final stage in the previous two seasons. We all wish them the best of luck next month!
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