FOOTBALL COACHING

Football the Brazillian way - Interview with Head Coach Jocky Lawrence

I recently met with Jocky to discuss the work he has been doing on behalf of the Foundation. I was very interested in finding out about his work ?

JL - "Through the support from the Paul Lawrie Foundation I have been able to employ a coach to specifically run soccer coaching in schools across Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. We attend the schools as part of their curriculum and teach them the Brazilian way of playing football which develops core skills and promotes their football abilities. We have been able to attend Rothienorman Primary, Banchory Primary, Tarland Primary, Tarves Primary, Ashley Road Primary, St Andrews Primary in Inverurie, Cults Primary and Dyce Academy teaching kids from ages 5 to 12 years old and in conjunction with Active Schools we also currently hold a class on a Friday night at the Grammar school for primary one pupils in that area of Aberdeen. Also as part of our programme, we have been running Soccer 4's tournaments which are open to all kids who attend the Brazilian classes but they are able to invite their friends along to play. The tournaments are run by the kids themselves and they enter a team of 4 players and they play on a 20 x 20 yard size pitch playing games of 4 minutes. They play using the Futebol de Salao rules which is that the ball is passed in from the side lines and the keepers must only roll the ball out. All games are played using a size 2 FDS ball and the games are refereed by the children, with no parent or coach involvement. These tournaments have been a great success with 664 children taking part since October 2009. These have been held in various locations across Aberdeen including Aberdeen Alpine Sports Centre at Garthdee, Peterculter Sports Centre and Jesmond Sports Centre in Bridge of Don. Trophies and medals are presented to the winners in each age group and the best player of the tournament receives a trophy and prize for their playing skills."

Thanks to Jocky for giving us an insight into the work he is doing.

Jim Leighton joins the Foundation Coaching Team

The Foundation has been very fortunate to secure the services of Jim Leighton the former Aberdeen, Manchester United and Scotland goalkeeper. For the past six weeks Jim has been putting six young goalkeepers through their paces. They have covered a wide area of topics from ball handling to kicking techniques in the superb surrounds of the "Village." Jim was delighted with their progress and the superb attitude they demonstrated throughout the course and he cannot wait to get started with the next batch of young goalkeepers.

Paul Lawrie Foundation work in the Primaries.

Brazilian Soccer Schools go into primary schools in Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City and run classes through the Paul Lawrie Foundation. We have provided soccer coaching in 7 primary schools over the last 6 months and are looking to increase this number in the next year. Feedback from the schools attended has been very positive with teachers commenting on the educational and fun aspect of the coaching. Even children who are not football orientated have thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and have impressed both the coaches and teachers with their abilities.

The soccer schools coaches go through their development skills badge programme and fun soccer games programme produced by Jockie and his team of coaches run soccer 4’s tournaments for the foundation every 7 weeks and have started running tournaments within the FDS Boys Club training sessions. head coach, Jockie Lawrence.

The foundation has sponsored strips for 4 of FDS Boys Club’s 5 teams in the Aberdeen District League. FDS 14’s squad took part in the Aberdeen International Football Festival for the first time in July 2009 finishing 3rd in their group.

Saturday July 25 - Ellon Meadows.

This morning’s football festival was attended by over 20 children from Ellon, Peterhead and Foveran. The first part of the event involved a number of skill challenges including the speed gun challenge. The highest recorded score was 43mph by both Daniel and Steven. Both boys decided on signed footballs as their prizes. The weather was fantastic and the forecasted rain never materialised. Great fun was had by all with every participant receiving a Paul Lawrie Foundation t-shirt and tickets for a forthcoming Peterhead FC League game.

Summer Fun for Kids with Paul Lawrie & Peterhead F.C.

The Paul Lawrie Foundation are running three Fun Football Festivals over the summer months in conjunction with Peterhead Football Club All Festivals are FREE of charge subsidised by the Paul Lawrie Foundation.

Saturday 25th July Ellon Meadows 10.30am - 12.00pm

Saturday 1st Aug Fraserburgh Kessock Park Astro 10.30am - 12.00pm

Saturday 22nd Aug Mintlaw Academy Astro 10.30am - 12.00pm

All of the Festivals will have a big emphasis on FUN and all will be a non -competitive format. Teams will play 7 aside matches on two pitches and on a third pitch a skills challenge will take place, skills tested will include speed of shot measured with speed gun, dribbling, shooting and control. Small prizes will be on offer for the skills challenge. We hope the festivals will help forge links between the communities participating and Peterhead Football Club and the local primary schools and boys club teams. A fourth festival is planned at the start of the season to include entry into a Peterhead Football Club Home League game for all children participating in the festival. The Festivals are targeting primary 4 to primary 7 pupils.