Club Partnerships

Castle Juniors FC are delighted to work alongside Coerver Coaching to provide the best possible coaching methodology to assist in the development of our players and coaches. Inspired by the revolutionary football development philosophy of legendary Dutch coach Wiel Coerver, Coerver Coaching was founded in 1984 by Alf Galustian and former Chelsea great, Charlie Cooke.

Since 1984, Coerver Coaching has been at the centre of the evolution of skilful, modern football, and is now a recognised leader in youth football education worldwide. The Coerver methodology is currently delivered to players, coaches and clubs in excess of 50 countries across the globe at all levels of the game.

As the only Coerver Coaching Partner Club in Northern Ireland, our volunteers are invited to regular coach education Zoom sessions to develop knowledge and understanding, ultimately, allowing us to provide a better learning experience for our players.

We are currently in the process of rolling out a Coerver Coaching Player App where our players can complete home learning tasks in their own time for self-improvement.

We are also privileged to work closely with Stuart Hayden, Technical Director of Coerver Coaching Ireland. Stuart and his staff have been to Bangor Sportsplex and taken sessions with groups of our players showcasing the Coerver Coaching methodology.

Over the course of the year, our plan is to have all coached within Castle Juniors FC achieve the Coerver Youth Diploma.

Castle Juniors FC are pleased to work in affiliation with Rangers Soccer Academy NI. The Rangers FC staff provide quality coaching at our weekly Development centre – which is open to boys and girls of all abilities. The extra contact time for our players is invaluable in supporting their development.

Players who train within our Development Centre have the opportunity to be selected for the Rangers FC Advanced Centre in Belfast where they will experience training and playing against the best players across the country in their age group.

Castle Juniors FC are pleased to be involved in a partnership with Chelsea Football Club through our main club sponsor, Mellon’s Hyundai. We are one of only ten clubs from across the United Kingdom to be involved in the initiative which affords our players with the opportunity to train and gain valuable experience from Chelsea FC Academy coaches throughout the 2020-21 season.

The partnership involves regular Zoom sessions with Chelsea FC Academy staff on player profiling and session planning. Our 2008 National League squad had the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with the then first team manager, Frank Lampard. We hope that representatives from Chelsea FC will be able to join us this year in a Club visit this year, once the restrictions put in place as a result of Covid-19 are lifted.