Chivenor soccer school's 10th year

PLYMOUTH Argyle Youth Development Officer John James was a special guest at the annual get-together of the Chivenor Soccer School and Plymouth Argyle Development Centre. Five players from the school are on youth forms with the Championship club and anothe

PLYMOUTH Argyle Youth Development Officer John James was a special guest at the annual get-together of the Chivenor Soccer School and Plymouth Argyle Development Centre.

Five players from the school are on youth forms with the Championship club and another dozen are going on trials.

Celebrating its 10th year, the soccer school run by Lee Barrow currently has 130 young players participating at its main base at RMB Chivenor and another 30 in training courses at Torrington Junior School.

A number of players from the school have gone on to play professionally.

Currently on youth forms with Argyle are Jed Harper-Penman, 15, at under-18 level; Josh Heathfield at under-15s; Daniel Barrow at under-14s and also represents Wales; Henry Stevens at under-13 and Jo Randle at under-10s.

Teams from the school play against representatives of various professional clubs, this year including Bristol Rovers, Bristol City, Cardiff City, Torquay United, Plymouth Argyle, Swansea City, Llanelli Town, Haverfordwest.

"Professional clubs will also be coming down to play in our youth tournaments planned for August, October and February and our school members will be going on tour to Holland and Wales. We are also running a range of courses during the summer," said Lee.

"We have a good standard of youngsters in this area, but the logistics of the area also means a lot of commitment from parents. Not all the youngsters will become professional players, but this is a great way to learn new life skills, be socially active and keep fit. We are currently looking for more players with ability in age groups from under-7s to under-15s and we are also starting a Plymouth Argyle Dribblers group for ages 4-7yrs."

The next Chivenor courses are being held from August 10-12 (ages 5-14) and August 24-26, running from 9.30am to 2pm. Courses will be run in Torrington July 23/24 (ages 5-14) and August 20/21, from 9.30am to 2pm. There will also be Dribblers courses at Chivenor on Mondays and Thursdays during August.

More details from Lee Barrow on (01271) 817337.