| Football Academy Kicks Off |
Back row left to right: Barry Comprehensive staff Mark Hutton, Matthew Ingle and Barry Town Coach Jeff Shaw with Year 9 pupils at the first skills session
In partnership with Barry Town A.F.C., Barry Comprehensive School has set up an initiative to raise standards of football coaching at the school and, in the medium to long term, develop a Football Academy for Year 10 and 11 pupils. This term a Barry Town UEFA ‘A' category qualified coach will deliver skills sessions to 28 boys in Year 9 who will represent both the School and Barry Town at under 14 level.
The sessions run for two hours every Tuesday afternoon and the first ran very successfully on Tuesday 9 th November. Prior to this the boys involved were taken for a tour of the facilities at Jenner Park and were welcomed to the initiative by the Chairman of the club Mr. Stuart Lovering and the School's Headteacher Mr. David Swallow who both expressed their high hopes for the partnership and its impact on the School, the Club and the wider community.
Pictured from left to right are: (back row) (Manager) Jeff Shaw, David Moffat, Peter Fordham, Andrew Mcilhiney, Craig Cuthbertson, Matthew Green, Eathen Duff, Ashley Reffell, Craig Lowry, (Coaches) Mr Ingle and Mr Hutton. (Front row): Charles Gaughen, Max Webb, Christian Powell, Nathan Whitehead, Liam Williams, Grant Jones, Joseph Matthews, Alex Grigorio.
On Thursday 3 rd February the under 14 Soccer development squad from Barry Comprehensive School, who have been receiving weekly coaching sessions as part of the curriculum at the School, played their first fixture under lights at Jenner Park.
The squad was pitted against a development centre side from Newport and Barry played some outstanding football to race to a 3-0 lead within the first twenty minutes. To get a good look at all the squad, the coaching team decided that they would play three 30 minute sessions rather than the traditional format of matches and all the players impressed in terms of their ability, attitude and work rate. The side has lost only one fixture this season and their excellent form allowed them to complete a fine 7-1 victory. The match was followed by a reception in the Jenner Park clubhouse where the School provided drinks and a meal for both sides.
The partnership between the coaches, Mr. Jeff Shaw and Mr. Mike Coslett, and the PE staff at the School has afforded the boys the opportunity to receive excellent standards of coaching with a staff:pupil ratio of approximately 5:1 and the results in terms of their development has been obvious for all to see. The prospects for the boys look even more promising for next season when many of them will combine health, training and fitness studies with top quality coaching in exciting new PE courses at the School.
The successful under-14 first team squad show off their silverware
On Friday 6 th May the Players' lounge at Jenner Park football ground was the venue for a presentation evening to mark the end of the inaugural year of a football development partnership between Barry Comprehensive School and Barry Town Football Club. The focus this year has been on the coaching of the School's under-14 squad and weekly two-hour skills development sessions have run at the School hall where two members of the football club's youth development programme have worked in partnership with the squad's football coaches (Mr. M. Hutton and Mr. M. Ingle). The attitude and commitment of the pupils and high quality coaching, delivered at a ratio of approximately one coach to every five players, has seen squad members make excellent progress this year and both the School and the Club are hoping that other year groups can be brought into the partnership next year.
Awards were made to all the players during the evening and the Club provided a buffet for pupils and parents alike. The captain of the first eleven (Peter Fordham) was presented with trophies in recognition of the team's success on the field this year which has seen them win the Cardiff, Vale and District Schools Cup Competition and the Regional (West) league title – at the time of going to print they were waiting for confirmation of the date of a play-off with the Eastern champions.
The Football Club also donated a £50 sports voucher to the player nominated as Players' Player of the season and this award, in a very close run vote, went deservedly to Ashley 
Reffell. Mr. J. Hicks, Assistant Headteacher at the School, presented framed squad photographs to the coaches and Chairman of the Club, Mr. Stuart Lovering, and thanked all the School and Football Club coaches for their hard work and commitment in making the partnership such a success for the pupils this year.
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