Centre of Excellence

LATEST NEWS

Opportunities to Trial for 2012/13
The on-line application process for all age groups (U9, U11, U13, U15 and U17) who wish to trial for the 2012/13 season can be found at the bottom of this page. All trials will be held in June 2012 and are subject to the award of an FA Licence for next season. PLEASE NOTE THAT NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER 5PM ON FRIDAY 8TH JUNE 2012.

Tour to Dublin huge success
The U11,U13,U15 and U17 sides have just returned from a hugely successful 4 day tour to the Irish capital. Each side played 2 matches against top representative sides from Dublin and Cork, but the highlight of the tour was undoubtedly the U17 match against the Irish National U17 side which the Arsenal girls won 4-0. As well as football the girls also enjoyed an open topped bus tour of Dublin and had an afternoon trying out Gaelic Games including Gaelic Football and Hurling.

Job Opportunities
We are always keen to receive applications from ambitious, enthusiastic and deeply committed football coaches who wish to work in our Centre of Excellence. As an outfield Head Coach you must be qualified to Level 3 and as an outfield Assistant Coach you must be qualified to Level 2. All outfield coaches must hold the FA Youth Awards at Module 1 and Module 2. As a Goalkeeping Coach you must hold the FA Goalkeeping Level 2 award and ideally hold the FA Youth Awards at Module 1 and Module 2.

We also have vacancies for Chartered Physiotherapists to provide cover across our existing team.

If you are interested in any of the above opportunities, please forward your C.V. to arsenalladies@arsenal.co.uk indicating the position your are applying for.

ARSENAL LADIES CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
In 1997 The Football Association launched a Talent Development Plan for Women's Football, as part of The FA Charter for Quality. The Plan aimed to provide a sound structure for the development of elite talent in the female game.

An integral part of this Plan was the establishment and development of opportunities for elite girls aged 9 to 17 through "Centres of Excellence."

The purpose of the Arsenal Ladies Centres of Excellence is to identify female players of outstanding ability and place them in a technical and educational programme that is designed to produce excellent players and well balanced young people.

At Arsenal Ladies, the Centre of Excellence is the first part of a wider development programme for female players that meets the needs of footballers from 5 years old through to elite open age football.

The recent introduction of the Under 9 Player Development Centre enables very young players to have fun and gain valuable experience before progressing to the Centre of Excellence trials when they reach 9 years of age. You can get further information about the Under 9 Player Development Centre programme by going to the U9 Player Development Centre Page.

Gilly Flaherty, England U19 European Championship winner and Arsenal Ladies First Team

Rebecca Spencer, England U19 European Championship winner and Arsenal Ladies First Team

First team striker Gemma Davison played for the Centre of Excellence as a teenager

Gilly Flaherty and Rebecca Spencer (Pictured above) - Both players have come through ALFC Centre of Excellence and are now ALFC first team squad players and play for England U20's.

The pathway includes:

• Arsenal Girls' U9 Player Development Centre (5- 8)
• Arsenal Girls' Centre of Excellence (U11,U13,U15,U17)
• Arsenal Ladies Elite Education Programme (U18)
• University of Hertfordshire Ladies First Team (18+)
• Arsenal Ladies Reserves and First Team Squad (16+)
• At Arsenal Ladies FC, this part of the pathway enables girls up to the age of 17 to play football at elite level.

England International Alex Scott was 8 when she joined the Centre of Excellence

Each year, hundreds of girls attend one of our regular trials to try and gain a much sought after place in the Centre of Excellence.

Those outfield players who are successful have twice weekly coaching from our highly qualified, experienced coaches while goalkeepers receive specific goalkeeping instruction from our two specialist goalkeeping coaches.

At Arsenal, each player follows a detailed Technical and Physical Programme that is specifically tailored for the five different age groups.

Responsibility for the delivery of the programme rests with Technical Director John Bayer, an UEFA ‘A' Licence coach who is also an FA Coach Educator and an FA Generic Tutor Training Tutor.

The Technical Director is supported by a highly qualified team of Chartered Physiotherapists.

All staff hold FA Enhanced CRB checks.

Arsenal Ladies Centre of Excellence staff

The Centre of Excellence offers superb training and playing facilities and, as well as playing football, the girls benefit from fitness assessments, health awareness and nutrition and lifestyle workshops.

Every season, each player receives two personal appraisals.

The Centre of Excellence is now in its 14th year and many players who have passed through the Centre have represented the Arsenal Ladies first team as well as gaining international honours.

Ellen White of Arsenal and England played for the Centre as a youngster

This season the girls will play in the London and South East FA Girls Centre of Excellence Fixture Programme at U11, U13, U15 & U17 level.

They will play against other professional football clubs that include Chelsea, Norwich, Colchester and Brighton.

In 2011/12 the girls will also play touring sides from Scandinavia in the Arsenal Cup and fixtures against Clubs from other regions including Aston Villa and Manchester United.

Most seasons feature a Centre of Excellence tour and the 2010/11 tour to Germany was a huge success. Featuring matches against Bayer Leverkusen and FCR Duisburg (recent winners of the UEFA Women's Champions League) it offered girls from all age groups the opportunity to spend time away from home with their team mates as part of our personal development and team building programme.

Planning for the 2011/12 tour to Ireland is well under way.

Arsenal Ladies FC are one of the few clubs to operate an Elite Education Programme for eligible players who leave Centre of Excellence Football. The Arsenal Ladies Elite Education Programme gives successful applicants the opportunity to combine football training and academic studies on a day to day basis. (Please click here for further details).

Arsenal Ladies FC also have excellent links with the University of Hertfordshire. Several Arsenal Ladies players attend the University, many having moved on to the University after attending the Elite Education Programme. They all represent the University on Wednesday afternoons. The University of Hertfordshire Women's First Team have won the British Universities and Colleges Sport Southern Premier League Title for the last three seasons. The side that won these three titles was coached by the Arsenal Centre of Excellence Technical Director.

For further information on Football opportunities for females at the University of Hertfordshire please email b.n.clark@herts.ac.uk.