Top football academy chooses ballina for preseason training
A TOP English football academy has chosen Ballina as its base for overseas pre-season training.
Ballina Town FC has already forged strong links with English Premier League club Crystal Palace FC and its Foundation through an initiative that includes sport for development charity Active Communities Network, and so impressed was CPFC Academy manager Ben Smith on a recent coaching weekend in the north Mayo town that he has now decided to take his side over for pre-season.
The Palace Academy team will use Belleek Park, home of Ballina Town FC, as their training base next week (July 20 to 24) and will stay in Hotel Ballina, taking advantage of the extensive leisure facilities on offer there.
“It's very exciting for us,” said Ballina Town chairman Colm Hendry. “Palace weren't going to go abroad for pre-season this year but Ben was so impressed with our facilities that he did a little delving and we've put together a programme for the week.”
Speaking to The Connaught Telegraph during his previous visit earlier this month, Ben said: “We've been really impressed with what we've seen, on and off the pitch.”
The focus at the Palace Academy is not just about football, as Ben explained: “We're talking about punctuality, we're talking about dress code, appearance, making sure you've got all your equipment - it's those little bits that will sort them out for things like school, education, making sure they have the right things at the right time.
“We don't just want to produce a footballer; we want to produce a person. When the time comes for them to continue with Palace, or for some to leave Palace, they're leaving as a better person as well as a player.”
During the week, the Palace Under 18 Academy team will play the Sligo Rovers Under 19s on Tuesday (July 21) at 7 p.m. and the Ballina Town FC Super League team on Thursday (July 23), also at 7 p.m.
The team will train at Belleek Park each day from Monday to Friday and, as an added bonus, there will be a coaching session with the CPFC Academy for the Ballina Town FC Under 8s and Under 10s on Wednesday afternoon.
“This is a brilliant achievement for Ballina Town and we're really looking forward to the week,” Mr. Hendry concluded.