“Carter loved Ballers and it got him to where he is. Now he scores every game in his team, without fail!”

Conor Hornby, Parent

 

The Parent

We recently spoke to Conor, the parent of one of our previous Ballers Academy participants. We were extremely glad to hear that since leaving us to join a team and taking away everything he’d learned; he is doing great.

It was apparent that Carter was a natural when it came to moving with a ball from as early as 3. After his time with us, he had the capabilities to move into a competitive league and join his own team. We caught up with Conor about his successes with his new team at Kingswood Tigers Under 7s and the time spent at Ballers that led to the transition.

 

The Challenge

In many cases when a child first joins a team, there can be signs of nervousness and uncertainty. When we spoke to Conor about Carter’s life before Ballers and playing football in general, we got a different outcome altogether. Carter is full of energy and confidence, and had already decided in his mind that football was a passion of his from an early age.

His attitude continued to impress us for the duration of his time with us. He wasn’t the sort of kid to shy away from a challenge and remained competitive in every session. His competitiveness is something that will be instilled in him, and this is a good trait to have from a young age. Being a good team player comes from wanting to win as a unit and not as an individual. To be able to put this into practice during the foundations of his football development has been a great advantage to him and will be in later life, too.

 

The Solution

Whilst at Ballers, Carter was put through various skills and drills sessions which ultimately meant that his ball mastery skills just kept improving every week. He started at the early age of four with us and after 20 months of weekly training with us, the number of hours of hard work he put in really started to show. Once you’ve attended for that length of time, following the expertise of our coaching staff, a child transforms extremely quickly into a role model for other aspiring children. So much so, you need to take a second glance when you see them play.

 

The Result

Conor credits his sons time at Ballers Academy as part of what helped him prepare for becoming part of a competitive team. Whilst Carter thoroughly enjoyed his time with us, he’d worked his way to a point where he had the ability to take the position as a midfielder for his new team.

Since joining the team, they’ve barely lost. He’s also accompanied by another child that used to train with Ballers, so we’re extremely proud that they’re having such a positive impact. Out of around 30 games in total, they’ve only had 4 losses which is a real achievement worth shouting about.

“Carter could run with the ball from as early as 3 and he knew the basic stuff. Louis really helped him take the next step when it came to learning the rules of the game thanks to his patience with the kids.”

Conor Hornby, Parent