FOOTBALL

Technical & Tactical

Every element of the technical/tactical program is delivered by our highly qualified UEFA level coaches, all of whom have experience of either playing and/or coaching at the highest levels of the game, including international football.

The Schedule

Here is what a typical weekly schedule looks like at SSFC International Academy

Training Program

Our coaching team delivers a highly professional tailored training program that incorporates a balanced focus between team development and individual player development. Player tactical understanding is massively stretched through highly detailed and tactically focused team sessions that link in to our established game model here at South Shields Football Club.

In conjunction with this, each player also receives an individual development plan which creates a framework that allows the coaching team and the player to work hand in hand in further developing each player's strengths and areas for improvement. Our coaching team also delivers smaller group (position specific) and individual technical sessions that align to each individual’s development plan.

Strength & Conditioning

Our S&C provision is delivered by the most accomplished and educated team of accredited Strength & Conditioning coaches in the uk.

Games Program

Here at South Shields International Academy we are not bound by NCAA, or similar, restrictions and offer a full 9 month competitive season. This allows players on the program to receive exposure to a high number of games across a number of different settings and environments.

Players will not only have the opportunity to play competitive games across a number of teams within South Shields Football Club itself, we also link in with a high number of semi-professional senior clubs here in the North East of England to expose players to a variety of different challenges and experiences in order to prepare them for the next level beyond the program.

Due to our professional football club status, a number of our players will have the opportunity to train and play with our men’s and women’s first team which is one the unique elements of the South Shields International Academy compared to other programs.

Our S&C provision is one of the UK’s leading provisions and delivered by industry professionals with decades of experience of working with top, elite level footballers. We’re proud to offer an S&C program that is built upon academic excellence coupled with exceptional knowledge application. Our team have experience in coaching development through to elite level athletes and have taken many an athlete from child to champion.

Our team have worked across numerous sectors including professional sport, national bodies, universities and colleges, all within our exceptional facility. Through rigorous research at leading universities, a second-to-none clientele portfolio and a completely unrivalled facility, you will be given all the tools to enhance your performance, making you a better athlete which inturn will allow you to maximise your potential on the field.

Accoldates:

The North East Hub for the Professional Game Match Officials in partnership with the Premier League and EFL
The Regional S&C team for the England Netball pathway programme
The official performance coaches and consultants for two national soccer agencies
Established relationship with Chelsea F.C.

Our Provision

All of our players will receive a minimum of 2 designated strength and conditioning sessions per week, delivered by Martin Nugent and his highly qualified support staff at his world class facility.

In addition to this, each player will receive ongoing athletic screening and testing from Martin and his team in order to identify any weaknesses or vulnerabilities to injury, the first of these will be a 50 point screening test upon arrival to the program. The results of all testing will be used to develop individual and specific S&C programs for each player.

Trusted by:

Newcastle United first team, Southampton F.C., Sunderland F.C.
The Football Association, England programme
England Rugby League, England RL Youth and the Rugby Union
Newcastle Thunder Rugby League
Newcastle Eagles Basketball
RFL North East Regional Academy/ Combined Academy
GB Judo, GB Swimming and England Golf

What You'll Recieve

Analysis

Each of the players in the International Academy are provided with VEO account’s which gives them direct access video footage to accelerate their development as a player.

Understanding many players are visual learners, we use video analysis to provide players with everything from opposition scouting reports, team performance reviews and individual development plan support. Having access to VEO analytics, we are able to provide players with in depth analysis on a team level, positionally and individually along with performance metrics to track their progress. Also, providing family and friends near and far, the opportunity to support their student athletes as a fan via VEO live.

Game & IDP Analysis

Mental Skills

Our Mental Skills element of the program is one of our key USP’s and a component we are extremely passionate about. We split our mental skills program into two key areas, our sports psychology delivery and general mental health and wellbeing.

GPS Analysis

All players on our program will receive their own GPS unit to track all of their physical metrics during training and games. We have partnered with industry leading data capture company Player Data to ensure our athletes and staff are using and utilising industry leading technology to inform decision making aligned to both group and individual training loads and analysis.

South Shields Football Club Mental Skills

Sports Psychology

Our sports psychology element of the program will delve into the mental skill sets and mindsets needed to become a top player and to enable you to unlock your true potential out on the field with the power of your mind.

We will look at dealing with both success and failure on and off the pitch, how to overcome rejection, how to approach being part of a team and the balance between attention to the team performance alongside your own.

We will also set out equipping you mentally for dealing with pressure and how to handle that in different situations alongside how emotion can affect performance and the best ways in which to harness your emotions to push your playing standards to the next level.

Medical

Our medical team and department are set up to firstly, minimise the risk of you sustaining an injury however, should you suffer an injury they are on hand to give you the best support and treatment to get you back on the pitch as quick as possible.

Prevention

We believe that prevention is better than cure and therefore place a high emphasis on our screening and prehabilitation programs. When arriving on the program, all players will have a screening session in which one of our medical staff team will look for old injuries, areas of weakness or concern and paint a picture as to where you are currently at from a medical point of view.

On the back of this screening you will then be given a bespoke prehab / activation plan to work on any areas of weakness in order to best prepare your body, alongside building robustness and overall strength through our S&C program.

Player Mental Health & Wellbeing

We are very proud of our mental wellbeing support function and wholeheartedly believe that it is just as important to spend time reflecting and working on your general mental health and wellbeing as it is the sports performance psychology. Within our general mental health and wellbeing delivery we will focus on how to deal with the day to day pressures and adversity that life throws at us all. We will help build resilience and deliver messages and sessions around creating a framework that you can refer to at any point in your life to help place you in the best possible mental mindset.

We understand that all our student athletes are on their own journey which will challenge them in different ways at different times. However, we are also vastly aware of all of the challenges and prominent hurdles that come with moving to the other side of the world, balancing education and high level sport and immersing yourself into a new environment, to name but a few.

We want you to know that here at South Shields Football Club we are truly one family and we absolutely put health, wellbeing, safety and inclusivity as our top priorities.

Treatment

Should you pick up an injury or should you be recovering from an injury when you arrive at the club, our expert medical staff will ensure you have a highly individual rehabilitation program that is going to, not only see you return to play in the shortest time possible, but also build up your muscular strength and stability to increase your robustness and in doing so decrease the risk of the injury reoccurring or picking up another injury.

All treatment plans will consist of initial and ongoing assessment by our Head of International Academy Medical alongside a gym and strength and conditioning plan written and delivered by our Head of S&C. Finally when your program reaches your return to play phase, you will have grass based pitch sessions which will see your transition back to playing overseen by one of our physiotherapists.