Brooke House College Football Academy (England)

Harcus Consultancy Group are delighted to be working with Brooke House College Football Academy to provide a Residential program for players, both male and female, from around the world to attend an elite football program, while still continuing on with their education program. The Brooke House College Football Academy was introduced in 2008. The Academy now has over 150 players, aged 12 to 19 from all ethnic backgrounds. 

To date, 21 players have progressed to a professional football career after leaving Brooke House College; a remarkable number for an academic institution. 

The Academy has Under 14, Under 16, Under 18 and Under 19 teams. The Academy plays fixtures in Cup Competitions, including ISFA, ESFA & County Cups.

Weekday mornings the Football Academy students attend regular GCSE, A Level and University Foundation academic classes with the rest of the students from Brooke House College. 

Students are issued with individual timetables after an interview with the Vice-Principal (Academic) during which their specific academic needs are identified. Brooke House College is a centre for all major UK examination boards and is inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate.

Weekday afternoons at the Football Academy: skills training - technical player development - fitness training and physical development - classroom based tactical seminars and examination of match footage under the direction of our team of FA qualified coaches.

Weekends and evenings are devoted to homework sessions, football matches, social activities and excursions. Regular excursions take place to professional football matches, to major football stadiums for tours as well as to local and national places of interest.

Daily coaching sessions concentrate on all aspects of player development from improving individual technique, positional play and the contribution each player makes to the team.

Player fitness is monitored through individual training plans including a focus on diet and nutrition.

Academy players have individual programmes, which will also include gym work and swimming pool sessions.

The Academy sports therapists ensure the physical condition of all Academy players and co-ordinates player rehabilitation in the event of injury.

Nutrition - The Academy's coaching team advise players with regard to their diet and the nutrition they gain thereby. Individual Academy members have their weight, height and body fat monitored in conjunction with the Sport therapists. The Academy aims to ensure that players are at the peak of health and ready for fixtures.

PreSeason - The Academy's pre-season training camp takes place at the end of the summer holiday and aims to utilise the best training facilities at institutions such as professional clubs, sport departments of universities and our own first-rate facilities.

The focus on the training is on ensuring players' levels of physical fitness for the forthcoming season, induction to the Academy and teambuilding.

Pre-season friendly matches are played against local teams.

Facilities - The Academy's training centre is based on the outskirts of Market Harborough.

Facilities available include; a 3G and a 4G artificial full sized training pitch, several grass pitches for fixtures, comprehensive changing areas, a fully equipped gym and a relaxation area for players.

Data Analysis - Many Academy fixtures are digitally recorded and player performance and decision making are analysed by the coaching and the Video Analyst team.

A professional data management system is used to keep record of match and training statistics, ratings, evaluation and players injury tracking. All data collected is communicated to players and parents. Footage obtained can also be distributed to professional clubs or Universities for the purpose of securing player trials.

Strength & Conditioning - The Academy includes Strength and Conditioning staff whose role it is to ensure that all players develop their physical attributes to the maximum. The Academy coaching team will design individual training programmes to target Strength and Conditioning..

Regular physical testing required for individual training prescription and to develop performance benchmarks for playing standards and playing positions.

Sports Therapist - The Academy Sports Therapists assist with recovery from injury and work with individual players to prevent further injuries. The Sports Therapists work closely with the Academy Manager and College  Matron to ensure the all-round health of all players.

Technically Improving - Player development is a vital part of the Academy experience. The Academy aims to improve all players tactically, technically, mentally and physically.

In this way the Academy experience can be a positive one for all members.

Competitive Fixtures - The Academy plays in a number of national ESFA, ECFA and ISFA competitions. The Academy has built a reputation in replicating a strong environment in football amongst its academic peers.  Due to this, the name of Brooke House has spread nationwide, and in recent times we have enjoyed friendly matches with professional opposition such as Newcastle United, Manchester City, Hull City, Reading FC, Nottingham Forest and Stoke City FC.