Darren Carter & Curtis Davies named ambassadors of Soccer Star Coaching

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Darren Carter and Curtis Davies have been to many of our camps and courses to present the children with their trophies and other awards. They are both always happy to visit the children which makes the kids day!
With this in mind along with the fact that both Darren and Curtis are very good friends to founder of SSC Justin it is only fitting that we asked them to become ambassadors of Soccer Star Coaching, helping to spread the word on our Soccer Camps and weekly courses.

A big thank you to the lads for all of your support over the years!!!

 

 

             

 

 

Our first fundraiser takes place

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On Thursday 26th January we held our very first Soccer Star Challenge fundraiser at Abbey Junior School in Oldbury and it went fantastically well. 
The children had a great day and were all very excited to kick the ball as fast as possible into the inflatable speed cage that records the speed of the ball in MPH.

The children outweighed all expectation to raise a fantastic amount to date, with more still to be collected. The amount will be announced once all funds are counted. The children worked hard to raise funds for their school and a charity close to all of our hearts; Make-A-Wish UK who are in support the scheme.

The Soccer Star Challenge has already got great support from our partners Gulliver’s Theme Parks, Mitre Sports and Prostar Sports. Gulliver’s have been a great help with the launch of the scheme.
Gully Mouse has been ever present in the assemblies that we have held so far and true to form he attended the event itself, entertaining the children, coaches and teachers throughout the day.  

The children will get to meet Gully and his friends again at the theme park as every child will receive a FREE ticket to Gulliver’s.

 

Sports giants Mitre and Prostar have also been a great help to getting the fundraiser up and running. Mitre supplied the footballs for the children to take the Speed Test and also are donating footballs and goal posts as prizes on the scheme.

And if all that wasn’t enough we had not one but two professional footballers attend the event to support the children’s efforts. Birmingham City’s Curtis Davies and Darren Carter both came along to Abbey Junior School. Curtis even took time to take part in ‘THE SOCCER STAR CHALLENGE’ himself recording a shot speed of 62.6MPH (with trainers, not boots). 

Darren was not able to take part as he is currently injured but is hoping to be back to full fitness in 3 weeks. He will take the challenge as soon as he is match fit. 

Both Darren and Curtis took part in a question and answer with year 6 children who had some great questions for the star guests.

 

Overall the fundraiser was a huge success and we look forward to helping many more children to be active by take part in THE SOCCER STAR CHALLENGE and to helping many more schools to raise much needed funds.  

 

 

Manchester United and Aston Villa legend follows SSC on Twitter!!

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                                            PAUL McGRATH

Aston Villa and Manchester United legend Paul McGrath showed his support for Soccer Star Coaching by following us on Twitter, helping to spread the word on our Soccer Courses and Camps for children. Head coach Justin is a good friend of Paul’s son, Chris.

At Villa, Paul McGrath played some of the best football of his life despite recurrent problems in his knees. Villa came close to winning the title in McGrath’s first season, finishing second to Liverpool F.C. The next season saw Villa fighting relegation for much of the season, a shadow of the side the previous season under Graham Taylor, who had left to take control of England. Atkinson then took over and Villa again ended as runner-up, to McGrath’s former employer Manchester United. McGrath won the PFA Player of the Year award at the end of the season, and would also win his first Villa trophy in 1994, defeating Manchester United in the League Cup final.

In 1990, Ireland qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in Italy and got through to the Quarter Finals, eventually losing out to Italy in Rome by 1-0, with McGrath ever present in the lineups (5 matches, 480 minutes played). He captained the team four times in 1992 after the retirement of Mick McCarthy, and ignored a painful shoulder virus to play in the 1994 World Cup. Ireland came up against favorites Italy in the first match and got a dream start thanks to Ray Houghton’s early goal (1-0 win). In a perfect example of his commitment to the game, as Ireland were leading and Italy were besieging the opposing goal, McGrath was marking Roberto Baggio (voted best player in the World at the time) who had the ball at his feet. McGrath slid across Baggio’s front and tackled the ball straight off his toes, knocking it back to the feet of an Italian player, who immediately chipped the ball into the air, to try and set Baggio up for a half-volley. 

As the ball was dropping, McGrath got off the ground, leapt up and headed the ball away, beating Baggio in the air. McGrath landed on all fours, facing out from the goal. The ball landed on the half-volley right in front of an opponent who shot for goal, with McGrath taking the shot straight in the face and immediately beginning to chase the ball. McGrath single-handedly kept the star-studded Italian forward line at bay for the rest of the match, in what was arguably his best international performance, and would eventually receive votes in the Team Of The World Cup poll.

Coaches test their shot speed!!

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All of our coaches tested their shot speed a few days ago to help towards our new fundraising scheme that we have launched for schools and clubs. To check who has the fastest shot out of all the coaches please click here.

If you would like your school or club to take part in our fundraiser please click here.