The Wellington Phoenix Football Academy has resumed its successful football training programme, ramping up its activities in the past few weeks as grassroots football begins its winter season.
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Wellington Phoenix Academy Coach, Paul Temple, says that after going on hiatus in March this year due to the Covid-19 situation, getting back on the field has been a welcome change.
“It’s great to be back out there playing competitive football again, we’re very lucky in New Zealand compared to the rest of the world – so I think everyone has had a chance to take a step back and appreciate what we have, not just at the Phoenix but also in New Zealand.”
The Academy also used the time during its hiatus to conduct a review of their Academy Operations and programme, which Temple says was focussed on ensuring the Academy’s commitment to delivering the best football development environment in the country.
“The resumption of community football in New Zealand gave us a unique opportunity to resume the ‘status-quo’ of the Academy for the remainder of 2020, but also to further develop and grow the Academy programme for 2021 and beyond.
“In addition to what we already achieve in this space, we’re keen to build new partnerships with clubs around the country to extend the reach of our development programme to a greater pool of players – including younger players via pre-academy football and female football.”
In order to develop these new partnerships and pre-Academy programmes, the Academy has ended their relationship with the Auckland-based Wellington Phoenix Soccer School.
Temple says that the Academy is confident these developments will cement their position as the market leader in football development in New Zealand.
“The club and Academy are excited at the potential these developments have for 2021 and beyond, and we thank the players and their parents for their co-operation during a unique and difficult period of time.
“We hope they are as excited by the future potential for the Academy as we are.”
