Winners of this year's Asian Soccer Star contest were at Cobham last week as they underwent their trials with the Chelsea Academy.
The three-day trials were incorporated into the Academy's Summer Camps, which act as a pre-season for the youngsters signed on in our younger age groups.
While none of the boys attending did quite enough to be signed on, it was good news for Under 9 winner Adam Aziz who has been invited back to be a part of our elite training centre program, where he can be closely monitored by Chelsea staff.
Kelan Patel, trialling with our Under 11s, told Chelsea TV how much he had enjoyed the experience.
'We had lots of tests, and it's fun but really hard sometimes, but the coach is really nice and helpful,' said the young midfielder. 'I learned there are better players out there. In my Sunday league there are good players but not as good. I thought this would be easier but there are loads of really good players.'
Chelsea's Academy project manager Darren Grace oversaw the trials, and was impressed by the lads.
'All of them have done okay, they trained on Tuesday, Wednesday was a games day so we had a series of games they took part in, and on Thursday it was another day of training, with lots of practices and drills they won't have been used to,' he explained. 'From what I have seen they have coped well and certainly haven't looked out of place.
'The standard here is extremely high, and it is getting tougher and tougher. The good thing about the Academy here at the minute is that the scouts are doing a fantastic job bringing in players from different backgrounds and cultures and the Search for an Asian Soccer Star is another scouting tool. All the lads were told we'd monitor them and that they should try and play at the highest level they can and to keep working hard. They all coped well and did themselves and their families proud!'
For 2010, we opened the contest up to six age groups, adding Under 8s, 9s and 10s to the Under 11s, 12s and 13s competition that took place in 2009. This, Grace explained, was to help us nurture potential players from an earlier age.
'We've had more age groups this year, we started younger because we felt if we could find them at a younger age we have more time to help them develop and grow an affinity with Chelsea Football Club and the way we do things,' he said. 'Then, if any of them are ultimately good enough to join the Academy it is better that they come in as early as possible.'
The three-day trials were incorporated into the Academy's Summer Camps, which act as a pre-season for the youngsters signed on in our younger age groups.
While none of the boys attending did quite enough to be signed on, it was good news for Under 9 winner Adam Aziz who has been invited back to be a part of our elite training centre program, where he can be closely monitored by Chelsea staff.
Kelan Patel, trialling with our Under 11s, told Chelsea TV how much he had enjoyed the experience.
'We had lots of tests, and it's fun but really hard sometimes, but the coach is really nice and helpful,' said the young midfielder. 'I learned there are better players out there. In my Sunday league there are good players but not as good. I thought this would be easier but there are loads of really good players.'
Chelsea's Academy project manager Darren Grace oversaw the trials, and was impressed by the lads.
'All of them have done okay, they trained on Tuesday, Wednesday was a games day so we had a series of games they took part in, and on Thursday it was another day of training, with lots of practices and drills they won't have been used to,' he explained. 'From what I have seen they have coped well and certainly haven't looked out of place.
'The standard here is extremely high, and it is getting tougher and tougher. The good thing about the Academy here at the minute is that the scouts are doing a fantastic job bringing in players from different backgrounds and cultures and the Search for an Asian Soccer Star is another scouting tool. All the lads were told we'd monitor them and that they should try and play at the highest level they can and to keep working hard. They all coped well and did themselves and their families proud!'
For 2010, we opened the contest up to six age groups, adding Under 8s, 9s and 10s to the Under 11s, 12s and 13s competition that took place in 2009. This, Grace explained, was to help us nurture potential players from an earlier age.
'We've had more age groups this year, we started younger because we felt if we could find them at a younger age we have more time to help them develop and grow an affinity with Chelsea Football Club and the way we do things,' he said. 'Then, if any of them are ultimately good enough to join the Academy it is better that they come in as early as possible.'
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