Oxford United Academy's partnership with Oxfordshire Regional Talent Centres continues to go from strength to strength and last week saw another exciting new chapter in the story.
The RTC’s are designed to help the best young footballers develop under the watchful eye of our Academy and the RTC coaches and last week 120 talented players came to the very first Talent Identification Day at the first team training ground on Horspath Road.
The young players, aged between six and 12, were given a chance to show what they can do across a carousel of technical sessions followed by matches where the coaching and recruitment team could take a look at them in game situations.
We are delighted to say that at least 6 of those players have subsequently been invited to train with our Academy sides in August while all of them have the chance to continue to develop at the RTC next season within the various tiers of the centre.
Head of Academy Recruitment Gareth Hamer told us:
“First of all, we want to thank everyone who came along, the standard was really high and it was a pleasure to work with so many young players from across the county. Not to mention a great opportunity to speak with parents, coaches and fans of the club! It was a big step forward for us to have local youngsters come to the same place that the first team train, and I think it added a little bit of excitement for the players as well.
“We work extremely hard to recruit players at all age groups - we have been out and about and hopefully far more visible at the summer tournaments this year for example, but this was a chance to look at so many great young players in one place and it worked extremely well.
“We will certainly look to do it again next summer following this year's success, however we turn our attention to the festival at the end of July for the teams progressing in to Under 7’s for the 2019/20 season as this is another opportunity to work with the community and county leagues”
If you would like to get involved then you can contact Gareth on ghamer@oufc.co.uk