On Sunday the 15th October, it was a case of roles reversed for those connected to The FootieBugs Academy Solihull. After taking their kids to West Warwicks Sports Centre every Thursday or Friday week in and week out to train with the FootieBugs Academy, it was time for the parents to blow the dust off their boots and play in the first ever FootieBugs Academy Solihull Dad’s Day Tournament!
Held at Wast Hills, Birmingham City Football Club‘s training ground, the Dad’s joined up with our FootieBugs Coaches to form 9 a-side teams! Following the tournament, Academy Director Ashley gave a presentation on the future of the Academy and the ways that the Academy will get children ‘one step closer to becoming professional’, through detailed player profiles.
With the four teams (Xavi Dodgers FC, Inter The Pub FC, AC Me Rollin’ FC and About To Get Messi FC) ready for action, play was underway. Using the incredible ‘Dome’ and outdoor 4G facilities at the training ground, the teams battled it out in a round robin tournament format. During the games, Academy children could enjoy a bouncy castle, face painting, food stalls, watching their dads in action or take in the fantastic training ground complex, giving them a taster of what could be in store in the future for them!
Since the Academy launched in 2016, FootieBugs is a sole company that Birmingham City have agreed to officially partner with. This means that the FootieBugs Academy Solihull is the exclusive provider of talent for the BCFC Academy. A large proportion of the 15 players to be signed from the FootieBugs Academy in the last year have joined the Birmingham Academy. We would like to say a big thank you to Birmingham City for giving everyone the opportunity to attend the Dad’s Day Tournament at their training ground! We are also very excited to continue our partnership with them and are sure with new and detailed player profiles even more of our players will become regular visitors to Wast Hills!
On the pitch, there were some extremely tightly contested matches (barring one 8-0 thrashing), where Xavi Dodgers FC and About To Get Messi FC managed to progress into the final. It was a fantastic start from About To Get Messi, as they stormed into a 2-0 lead and looked to have one hand on the trophy. However, a stunning comeback from Xavi Dodgers saw 3 goals on the bounce before the final whistle, snatching an unlikely victory!
Following the team lifting the trophy, Academy Director Ashley delivered his presentation to all Academy children and parents. Ash discussed how the Academy is striving to work with parents and scouts to increase the chances of children getting scouted by professional Academies. By uploading videos and photos to each player’s personal profile, the chances of players getting scouted dramatically increases. This can be by both local scouts who can attend sessions and also those further away by using technology and footage of the player to create reports.
