Dear Parents,
Firstly, I’d like to apologise for the delay in letting you know what is going on. We were unable to confirm anything until we had spoken to the FAW regarding the academy changes and that meeting took place June 10th 2022.
As you’re aware, the changes to all academies in Wales have started with the one player one club rule for player aged 12+ and below that, players can dual register. Next season, the FAW are moving the standards of the licenced academies towards the UEFA/EPL model of Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) but they are insisting we implement the changes from August 2022. The costs associated with the changes are immense and the financial losses hard to recoup.
Luckily, Cefn Druids FC started implementing the admin changes in September 2019 and the coaching/training changes in September 2020 and September 2021. It’s been a painful process and one that we couldn’t discuss with parents, players or the outside world because we wanted to be the first to have it completed. We lost some coaches because of the new time committment needed to fulfil the criteria set out by EPPP
We have now completed the application process and met (exceeded) the standards needed to be a Cat A academy for season 2023/24 onwards. We currently have in place a model that is equal to a Championship/English Premier League club running a Cat 1 academy in England or Scotland. We have been asked to invest a further £20,000 to ensure CAT A status and have until June 2023 to raise the monies.
Now for the information;
Registration
Player registration is £300 per season for all players. £200 payable before July 30th 2022 and the balance payable December 1st 2022.
Players will not be allowed to play in games until the registration fee is paid.
Kit
All playing and training kit will be available on our new website shop and is mandatory for all players. Players will not be allowed to play in games if they do not have the correct playing kit.
Training
We have increased the number of sessions for all players, increase contact time for analysis and recovery. The new games programme will be a minimum of 27-30 games for Youth and EDS teams and the FAW are setting weekly games for the Foundation Phase.
Retain/Release
We have brought forward the Retain/Release notification to December in the season and this will allow players that are being released to either find a new club in the transfer window or contracted players to go on loan. It will also trigger the second instalment of the players fees.
Loan Players
We had hoped to have a link with several local clubs that allows us to loan players out to get valuable experience. It’s a plan that failed last season, not on our behalf, and so we will not be loaning academy players to local teams. Foundation players can dual register and we welcome that.
Injuries
Our physiotherapy department is not available to players from U13 down. However, any player is injured playing for the academy and it is reported by the Head Coach, we will do all we can to rehab and treat the injury.
Governance
We require three parents (one per Phase) to sit on the academy board/committee and represent the academy. The representatives will be expected to take an active part in fundraising, implementing change and guiding the academy forward. We need proactive parents, so if you feel you can help please let us know.
If you have any questions, please raise them with the Head of Phase.
Regards
