I set up the Academy in 2010 under the original name of Mohill Soccer Academy the town i live in, with a starting membership of 30. I am myself not a native of Ireland, I’m from Cardiff and played school boy football myself until I was 15yrs old. I felt that there was a lot that could be improved upon over here so i took from what i learned playing as a kid in Wales, and how things were done then (because it wasn’t all bad), and together with the new ways of doing things, set out to give the kids something they had never come across before.
The name Mohill Soccer Academy was proving to be a bit restrictive as there is quite a bit of parish/community competition over here and i wanted to bring communities together. After a rethink I changed the name after the first season to what it is now, “Community Soccer Academy” better known as CSA.
We have grown to a membership of 120 with kids ranging from 6 to 16yrs old. The objective was to offer kids the opportunity to avail of academy standard coaching but at the same time keeping the important element of fun and enjoyment. We concentrate solely on the development of players and although we have 6 teams playing in our local league we do not put any concern on results only on how our teams play.
We have a link with Tottenham Hotspur who bring their week long Soccer School over every July, this again gives players the opportunity of being coached by a pro club and we open this up to non-members as well.
Amazingly as an academy we don’t have our own facilities, the word 'academy' instantly has people thinking of outstanding facilities with well kept pitches a full size Astro Turf and classrooms. In our case that is nothing but a dream, we coach on school playing fields in two towns, Mohill and Ballinamore in County Leitrim which are approximately 10 miles apart. Our squads are a combination of kids from all surrounding areas with players travelling up to 40 minutes to training.
As like the majority of grassroot clubs we do have to move inside during winter which I am not a lover of as it does nothing for the development of a players technical ability.
There is a severe lack of facilities where we are so we are now in the process of purchasing portable floodlights which will enable us to continue coaching outside throughout the winter months on any patch of grass that is available.
There are so many ideals nowadays as to what is the best way to play, the Spanish way, the Dutch way, the German way, we play our way, which is fast, flowing attacking football encouraging our players to take on the 1v1’s and move the ball quickly with plenty of one and
two touch football.
We like our players to change things as they see fit, excercise patience, hold on to the ball, switch the play, let them make the decisions as to the most affective way to play against different teams. Then, if they are making an impression there is no need to be coaching from the sideline, if though, things are not working for them, then we will offer some advice as to how to deal with any given situation.
We will be taking our coaching sessions in to schools this year as there is a lot of untapped talent in the school yards but due to other commitments kids cant make our regular coaching sessions.
We want to firstly get kids playing and then seek out the more talented players and give them opportunities to better their chances of a football career. We do not allow any of our players to be scouted until they are U-11’s or older as we feel at this age they understand that bit more of how hard it is to break through in to pro clubs and stay there.
We teach them from an early age that there will be disappointments but to never give up and always enjoy playing the game.
This years U-11’s have been with us since we originated in 2010 and are pretty much our flag bearers as they have been coached the CSA way since they were 6 and 7yrs old. Our older squads who have not been with us that long, some only 12 months, always ask how did the U-11’s get on at the weekend.
We have a great group of kids who all love their football and as for the parents, where would we be without them, getting the kids to training and to matches and supporting us in everything we do. We wouldn’t be where we are today without them.
Andy David (Head Coach)
Community Soccer Academy
Mohill, Co. Leitrim.
Tel / Fax: 071 96 32177
We cater for all skill levels and the introduction of our two tiered developmental structure gives every player the opportunity to train and gain match practice alongside players of the same level of ability.
Players who sign for the academy are not restricted to just playing for the academy, We endeavour to produce talented players who if they wish can continue to play for their own clubs, should a player show a high level of ability and the academy wish to play the individual in a tournament or trials match the players parent and club will be contacted for their approval.
Andy David