News

June 2021 Update from Michiel Buursma Head of Coaching and Methodology

Academy Christchurch International Cup
There is always movement at the club, in all different categories. We
all want to move forward and over time we do. Development comes in waves
where the general trend is upwards. As Christchurch United, we are doing
our utmost best to influence that trend as positive as possible in many
ways.

For the U10-12 the July holidays are coming up which means there
will be a possibility for players to show themselves in the Christchurch
International Cup (CIC). The players and coaches have been training hard
to improve their skills on the regular trainings and some players also
have been taking their development to another level by doing the
Technification training.

Development is important in all age groups, but also our coaches have
been doing their best to gain extra knowledge.

This year Todd Astle  started to help us with the mental skills that are necessary
to develop  as players, athletes and people. For our coaches it has been a great
experience so far learning how we can help our players better in this
aspect of the game. Besides the coaches Todd is working with the senior
team and the oldest age groups of the youth academy.

Halfway term 2 the leagues are helping us develop as well, opponents
from all around town are coming to the Christchurch Football Centre and
our teams are visiting clubs to play on different surfaces weekly. From
the youngest to the oldest teams we face different challenges during
these times which we have to learn from to become better football
players over time.

The U13 to U17 who play in the Canterbury Development
Leagues have shown what they are training which makes it enjoyable to
watch. The players have been learning of each other in the morning
sessions which has been very productive for all academy players.

We are in the middle of winter and the upcoming time football will keep
us warm before the weather starts to improve again. I’m looking forward
to the CIC for U10-14 in July where multiple teams from the north island
will make their appearance, let’s see what we can learn from that
football experience!