THE PLAYER PATHWAY
What is unique about the BW PASE Academy, is not only do we have a direct pathway into men’s first team football at National League level, unlike many of the programmes of our kind that have no true affiliation to a senior Football Club, but we also have a track record of over 20 years of providing alternative exit routes for our players.
Whether that be to go onto University both in the UK and the USA on ‘soccer’ scholarships, as well as to enter either professional and semi-professional football, or even to go directly into the work place using the knowledge and skills gathered whilst on the programme studying your chosen education course.
Our player pathway in simple and involves 5 tiers. Some players may only ever stay at one tier, others may progress through all tiers, whilst others may skip levels out completely during their progression.
Category 2 and 3
We start with our category 2 and 3 groups who play in the National League Youth Alliance, as well as the AoC Sport Leagues, which are operated by the English College’s Football Association. These leagues provide frequent competitive football for our players to develop in a professional landscape alongside likeminded players and coaches.
Under 18’s
The next level in our player pathway is our Under 18’s group. This team is entered into the Southern Counties Floodlit Youth League and plays on midweek evenings within non-league football stadiums across the home counties. This is a very competitive level, of which we target both the league and cup titles every year. This group will also get the opportunity to play in the notorious FA Youth Cup, and if drawn at home, these games are played within our Meadow Park Stadium and on those occasions the players are treated identically to the first team in every aspect.
Under 19’s National League Football Academy
The progression from our Under 18’s group is into our Under 19’s National League Football Academy group. The National League Football Academy is a newly formed accreditation given to only the best Academies of our kind that satisfy a demanding criteria in terms of facilities and coaching staff. We are one of just 22 Academies across the whole country who met the grading criteria and play within the southern section made up of 12 teams. In addition to this league, our Under 19’s will also represent the Club in the National Cups, including both the National League Youth Alliance and English College’s FA National Cups, which we target year-on-year.
Boreham Wood FC First Team
With our Head of Football Luke Garrard being the First Team Manager, our Academy set up provides great synergy and a clear pathway from the Academy into the First Team. In addition, we also have a number of First Team coaches/players who couples their player duties with coaching roles within the Academy, namely Connor Smith, Lloyd Doyley, David Stephens, Femi Ilesanmi, Jamal Fyfield and Kane Smith.
The next progression following the Under 19’s group is our First Team here at Boreham Wood FC. Of all the progressions along our ‘player pathway’ this is probably the hardest to accomplish and in truth should be broken down into the smaller, more achievable milestones, as becoming a complete player at National League level overnight is a difficult task to say the least.
We recommend players target milestones such as, inclusion in First Team training, earn your squad number, make the bench, make an appearance in the Herts Senior Cup, and so on, before making your full First Team debut.
If you are 16-18-years-old and this sounds like the type of programme you would be interested in joining, do not hesitate to apply for a trial with the BW PASE Academy by clicking HERE.
Alternatively, if you would like to learn more about the Academy feel free to contact us on 020 8953 5716 or email pase_bwfc@hotmail.co.uk.
