First Team Stars Surprise Academy Youngsters
- Leicester City’s first team squad visited the Club’s Academy last week
- The players got involved in ball games with the U8s, U9s and U10s
- Kasper Schmeichel and James Maddison were among the stars taking part
- The event was held inside the indoor dome in the King Power Centre
The Foxes stars completed their own training session in Seagrave that morning before heading across to surprise the next generation of young hopefuls, joining in with the Under-8s, Under-9s and Under-10s teams, who were able to meet their heroes inside the indoor dome in the King Power Centre.
The likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Patson Daka, Kelechi Iheanacho and James Maddison were all in attendance, as well as the current crop of homegrown talents to make their way into Leicester’s first team - Harvey Barnes, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Luke Thomas and Hamza Choudhury.
There were also appearances from Marc Albrighton, James Justin and Jonny Evans – who took time out from a busy schedule to speak to LCFC TV about the event.
“Sometimes you forget what it’s like to be young and having your whole life in front of you,” the Northern Ireland international said.
“I’m sure if I had the chance when I was younger, I’d want to see some professional footballers up close like that. We’ve managed to have a few games with them. It’s nice for us to join in and it’s good fun for us too.
“We are trying to give the young lads some encouragement and especially with what we’ve got here, they are training in some unreal facilities. We’re able to come in and see what they’re doing and, even at that age, just seeing some of the skills they’ve got is incredible and it’s quite impressive.”
While giving some tips on the pitch, Evans also offered some thoughts on how to have the best chance of making it to the very top of the game.
“The biggest thing is that you’re sacrificing your time,” the 34-year-old explained. “I think, as a kid, there’s always other distractions. Looking back, sometimes you wouldn’t go to certain things, or you’d go and practice more when your mates were not wanting to play football.
“You have a tunnel vision of practicing and trying to work hard on different things and I think that comes from a natural love of the game. I’m sure some of these kids will have it and have that drive that allows them to succeed. Hopefully we will inspire them.”
Alongside a series of games, the senior pros joined in with dodgeball, finishing drills and head tennis at the Club’s world-class headquarters, offering expert advice and delighting the youngsters, who were able to show off their own skills across the day.
“We love to run it for the kids,” Leicester City’s Pre-Academy Coordinator, Mark Lyons, added. “It’s all about creating a bond between them and the Club. It’s a special event to have the first team players here to join in with some of the kids’ practices and just getting them that affiliation with the Club and giving them a day that they’ll never forget.
“The reactions you see on the kids’ faces, you can’t buy that, and it definitely inspires. It’s their dream, kicking a ball around in their garden pretending to be these players, even in training. Then to see them around the building and actually realise it’s tangible for them, it’s something they can achieve, it’s something they can reach if they work hard for it.
“There’s a ridiculous amount of hard work and it’s such graft. There's disappointment at times - it’s such an up and down journey - but special events like this will hopefully give them enough motivation and that little bit more that they need to go through the bad times.”
For Lyons, seeing the high-profile players that have previously come through the Club’s renowned pathway makes all the work that goes into these days worthwhile.
He continued: “It’s where they want to be, it’s why they’re here, it’s why they come to Leicester. They love coming here and it’s just that next step and why they’ve got to practice for 10 years, to get to where the first team players are.
“The staff here have put a fantastic amount of effort and energy into letting the boys fulfil their dreams. When you sign boys at this young age and you’re able to bring them all the way through the pre-Academy to play for the first team, that’s the sign of an Academy being successful, and they’ve had great success doing that.”
Brian Quailey, currently on the Premier League’s Coach Placement Scheme, has been working across the Academy for two years and told LCFC TV about the significance of the events to young players’ development.
“It’s massively important,” Quailey commented. “We had one event pre-COVID, that was the last one we did. It was really successful and something that those boys still remember to this day. It’s a great way to introduce them to what Academy life could be like.
“Also, with the interaction with the first team players, one of them could be there one day and it’s something for them to strive for and achieve. We’ve got to nurture players to one day going into our first team. It’s a difficult journey. At the same time, we’ve got to be balanced in that approach.
“At this age they need a rounded approach to learning, it can’t just be football. We need them to learn different types of skills in movement, evasion and obviously we mix that in with football. All these things relate to the game, and they have fun doing it. While they are with us, we want to make it as enjoyable as possible.”