Football Development Course - Hackney Wick Community Association
he Academy runs an ongoing Football Development Course on Monday's at Hackney Wick.

The coaching sessions are held from 5- 6.30pm. The course is open to children aged between 13- 16 years.

The Course includes: general exercise, football agility & tactics, Basic techniques - passing, ball control, turning, dribbling, running with the ball, shooting, heading, goal keeping, Principles of attack & defence, rules & regulations, individual positions & team structure, Attitude & Ethics, Food & Nutrition.

There are opportunities for students to take part in scouting programmes

Games are arranged between The Academy of Sport & the THFC Academy.

Tottenham's Angolan Hopefuls
ottenham look set for a bright and successful future under the stewardship of manager Martin Jol

The club has a history of investing in quality young players (such as Jermaine Jenas, Wayne Routledge and Aaron Lennon) so no surprise then that an even younger crop is coming through.

Recently snapped up by the north London club were two Hackney youngsters who were forced to flee war-torn Angola with their mother.

Sergio and Ghis Manesio, aged 11 and 13 respectively, were spotted playing football at a course held at a local soccer school in Tottenham’s catchment area.

The two youngsters have signed schoolboy forms with the Premiership giants – a far cry from their upbringing in Cabinda, Angola. The west African country has been torn apart by a civil war which has raged for more than a quarter of a century, forcing the family to spend a year in France and Belgium in 2001, before settling in Hackney in 2002.

And now the two strikers, who ironically list Thierry Henry – who plays for Spurs’ rivals Arsenal – as their favourite player, look like seizing their opportunity.

“I am extremely grateful to the academy for giving Sergio and Ghis this wonderful opportunity," said the youngsters’ proud mother.

The youngsters’ bid for stardom has been helped by Leslie Fevrier, the director of the Academy of Sport, a community organisation based in Hackney, which has developed a link with Spurs.

The academy organised the training day where the two would-be stars were spotted.

For more information , please contact info@theacademyofsporteastlondon.co.uk