www.jimmygreavesacademy.co.uk
During his fabulous playing career, Jimmy stood for everything that was good and best about the Beautiful Game. He had silken skill, incredible ball control, arguably the greatest finishing ability of any player of his generation and, most important of all, he always played with dignity, style and sportsmanship, and this is what the Jimmy Greaves Academy is determined and dedicated to passing on to its members: the Greavsie character and attitude.
It was Jimmy’s dream to launch an Academy where he could teach young footballers to get the most out of the Beautiful Game, without breaking the bank or bankrupting their parents. He believes – as does the Academy – that it is the people’s game, and nothing to do with the depth of a person’s pocket.
At the Jimmy Greaves academy, We believe it is our job to ‘inspire’.
We aim to ignite a passion for football in the kids, one we all share. We want to fan the flames of creativity and help nurture a curiosity that will lead them to training, practicing and learning on their own.
Einstein said, ‘Logic will get you from A to Z; Imagination will get you everywhere.’ And we want our kids imaginations to run wild!!
At the Jimmy Greaves academy, we are not trying to create Premier League footballers, any coach who tells you this, for us, is misguided (after all the success rate for the 1.5 million youth footballers playing at any one time is a tiny 0.012%). We want to help the kids learn to express themselves, to experiment on a football pitch, play without any fear or pressure, meet and make new friends but above all HAVE FUN !!
We want them to develop a love of the game that means eventually our role with them will become redundant. Development through enjoyment, in a safe environment. It’s too easy to forget that football is supposed to be fun! We believe we are not producing footballers but that we are helping equip young men and women for the challenges that await them in life. Do we want our young players to dream of becoming professional footballers? Of course we do, why wouldn’t we want kids not to dream BIG! Do we want to instill in them the drive and commitment to try and push for their dream? Without doubt! But we believe we have a duty of care to help our players build the character to not only strive for their dreams – whatever they may be – but also to give them the support network and safe platform to which they can always return, no matter what their journey in life holds.
Our vision for the project (with hopefully the help of the community fund) is to get to a place where boys and girls of all ability, no matter what walks of life they come from can come and play football, make news friends in a safe and happy environment for free, removing the fear or worry of any financial concerns or restraints – exactly how it should be! Why should any young persons not be able to play football all because they cant afford it!
Within the UK a quarter of 2-10 year old’s & one third of 11-15 year old’s are classed as overweight or obese, again we want to try and help improve these stats by getting as many away from their consoles, cooped
up at home and get them out in the fresh air learning new skills and keeping fit.
Please see below our breakdown of where and how the £16,050 would be spent for our project:
£75 P/H x 4 = £300 (Pitch Hire on our new 3G facility for the 4 slots per week) the slots are Monday 5-6pm & 6 -7pm & Thursday 5-6pm & 6 -7pm
Six Terms during school time = 300 x 36 weeks = £10,800
plus holidays (inclu Easter and summer holiday camps) £75 x 18 = £1,350
£10,800 + £1,350 = £12,150
Total £12,150 for 3g Pitch hire
Equipment = Ball for each player who attends £6 x 300 = £1,800
Cones, Bibs etc £300
Total = £2,100 for equipment
To run the academy for a full 1 year free of charge for 300 kids per week = £16,050
Please note we are very fortunate to get the pitch hire at a reduced rate. Should be £100 P/H