Academy teams invited to Brunton Park
Over the half term school holiday our U8, U9, U10 and U11 academy teams were invited down to Brunton Park to see how a typical day with the first and youth teams are structured.Academy coach Ben Benson said: "We've always had the players in during the half terms but this time we chose to do something a little bit different with them.
"As normal we had a couple of hours training in the morning but, in the afternoon, we did a seminar with them on the history of the club, which included showing them former players and players who have came through the academy.
"The players even learned new facts about the club, including where our club motto comes from, why our mascot is a fox and what Carlisle United's original name was.
"The lads got the opportunity to meet some of the first team and youth team players as well as go round the ground and meet the staff. We also let the players be the manager and pick their favourite CUFC starting eleven."
"We place great emphasis education and on the 'whole player' at the football club," he explained. "It would be very easy to work on just the technical and tactical aspects, but this has been not only a good educational tool for us, but it has also helped the players psychologically and socially. The players have had the opportunity to mix with different age groups, but also club staff and our professional players.
"We intend to run these afternoon workshops with the players more often each season. Alan Moore, Vince Overson, Dave Wilkes and myself are keen to have the players involved in and around the football club as much as possible, so they can see the standards, but also give them a taste of what it's like to be a footballer here.
"We also believe the academy players should be proud of our club history, and any opportunity we get to teach them about it will be beneficial to both them and the football club."
