Newry City’s youth teams set for ‘very successful season’ says Academy Director Damien Hillen
Newly appointed Newry City AFC Academy Director Damien Hillen has been very impressed by the pre season preparations at the club’s academy.
The enthusiasm shown by all the underage coaches has been overwhelming, with a lot of activities happening around pre season trials at all the various ages.
“I would like to congratulate and thank all our underage teams coaches for their excellent preparation for the upcoming season," said Hillen.
“I know our coaches have had to hold a series of pre season trials due the large interest in all our teams. I fully believe this will be a very successful season for our academy and I will do all I can to ensure the necessary resources are made available to all our underage teams.
“It is my responsibility to drive a professional academy and our strategy for this season is to encourage the highest standards and make our academy one of the best in the North of Ireland.”
During the week ending August 18 a number of the Academy teams have had encouraging results.
Adrian Carroll, Newry City’s U11 Coach was very impressed with his sides 7-2 win over a very strong Damolly team.
Adrian said: “I was delighted at my teams display of skill and strength during this excellent result. It is obvious our players are using the skills we are coaching at our training sessions and this makes me believe we can have a very successful season.”
Miceal McParland, Coach of Newry City’s U16 team was very satisfied with his players as they defeated Warrenpoint Town.
After the match, Miceal congratulated his team for a very strong performance saying, “This was an excellent performance by the team and their team work was a joy to watch. Every player contributed to this controlled display. I am really looking forward to our season and we will be coaching this football focused team and will do all we can to make this a very successful season”.
The Newry City U15 Coach Johnny Franks’ team had an excellent 6-0 win over Ashgrove. Johnny stated after the game, “Our U15 team have only been training together for a few weeks and I would like to congratulate all the players for an excellent performance.
“Every player stuck to our match plan and their determination and drive was a joy to watch. I know it is only pre season but I was very satisfied with the overall display and energy shown by all our players.
“I am really looking forward this season and if the players continue to improve and learn we could have a very successful season.”