An introduction to the Wigan Athletic Centre of Excellence

Aims and Objectives.

Wigan Athletic Football Club hopes to have created a Centre of Excellence which appeals to all of its players and their parents. All of the staff at the Centre of Excellence are aware of the huge responsibility this places on them. We are confident, though, that we can meet this challenge and run our Centre of Excellence in a thoroughly professional way. We trust that players and parents will find our staff to be approachable, friendly and informative at all times and yet deal with them in a professional and fair manner. The Centre of Excellence will endeavour to cater for all-round development of each youngster encompassing, for example, the social and educational aspects of this process. The Centre of Excellence wants to emphasise the importance of education and academic achievement to every young player who joins Wigan Athletic Football Club.

The Players

One of our major aims is to scout and develop players who will reach professional status at some point. We hope that players who might not reach the required standard will still have benefitted from their time at Wigan Athletic Centre of Excellence.

In this context, we feel sure that, firstly, all players at the Centre of Excellence should have improved their technical ability and game understanding as this will enable them to at least try to play at a high standard of football even if it might not be here at Wigan Athletic.

By attending the Centre of Excellence, players in this category will still have learned more about themselves via the social and educational aspects of our work with them. All players should benefit from their experience at Wigan Athletic Centre of Excellence and this will help them in any future alternative career they might wish to pursue.

In summary, our hope will be that players who attend Wigan Athletic Centre of Excellence will have become better all-round players (technically, tactically, physically and mentally). They will learn to appreciate the importance of a calm, disciplined approach to the game and the need for correct practice. We hope that players will develop socially through their football by being able to communicate, work and relate with their peers and adults, be polite and show consideration for others and be confident in their ability. All players should set themselves high standards both on and off the field.

All players should realise that they have to work extremely hard to achieve their ambitions. Football is a sport that demands a healthy lifestyle, high levels of physical fitness as well as the right nutritional foods for a football player.

Football players should be smart and value a high degree of physical fitness for its own sake. Players must appreciate the importance of "warming up" and "cooling down". They must realise that they are a part of a team and that a good "team spirit" is vital to individual and team success.

It goes without saying that young people should display good sportsmanship at all times and aim to behave in an impeccable manner. Players, parents and staff must be aware that football should be all about enjoyment and even fun!!