Since October last year, we have been delighted with the continued individual development of our young 85 (football and netball) athletes across all seven squads.
We are equally excited by the growth of our new pathways for our aspiring pupils in Football (Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Derby County, Leicester City & Northampton Town) and Netball (Northants Storm). For example, after Easter - Kelly Washington, the Head Coach for Northants Storm, led the week's training for all year groups. This was a tremendous opportunity to showcase their ability and learn from another top-level coach.
On the court, all four of our Elite Netball teams have excelled in their league programme, with some outstanding individual and team performances. All four groups (Year 7 -10) finished in the top two of their leagues, with the Year 8s crowned league champions. Other highlights have also been the Year 8 and Year 10 girls winning the County Plate events (at KBA) and advancing to the County Cup play-offs.
On the football pitch, our Year 8 and 9 teams have trained very well, and their desire to improve as individual players and people has been a joy to part of, as the fundamental skill of someone is to be an outstanding character. Meanwhile, the Year 7 squad reached the 5th Round of the National Cup, along with the County Cup final (after an incredible semi-final win at NSB). Furthermore, they rounded off the season in style by winning the County League, having won all their games. Notably, the coaches who work with our athletes at Northampton Academy and in their respective representative training squads/matches have been delighted with their character, attitude and intensity.
After 30 weeks of training and competing in 52 matches, the Elite squads' athletes and coaches are now in the Programme's reviewing, recharging and planning phase. This is an integral part of any successful learning loop. A leading Sports Psychologist (Mairi Mulvenna from the University of Northampton) and two high-level national athletes visited. This was to help our students understand how to apply techniques learned to aid their development and, ultimately, their performance.
Plans are also afoot for the 2022-23 Elite Sport Programme, where we are working on some exciting initiatives. The 4-week assessment block across each of the age groups will kick off our Programme in September, and the 50 applicants from the new Year 7 cohort will be joined by our current athletes. The process is robust, and along with the students' technical, physical, social and tactical ability, selection for the programme will be underpinned by mutually agreed criteria of attendance, behaviour and character.