Bede’s Institute of Sport and Education (ISE) is delighted to announce the launch of its Men’s Football Academy partnership with Northern Premier League Club, Whitby Town FC.
The partnership will provide aspiring footballers from around the Tees Valley the opportunity to continue their education, as well as train and play semi-professionally for Whitby Town FC or represent Bede Sixth Form College in the North East College’s League.
Established in 2018, ISE strives to support young athletes through their academic studies by offering over four hours of on-pitch training per week and a bespoke strength and conditioning programme, as part of students’ timetables.
ISE recently invested in state-of-the-art performance analysis technology enabling academy players to further perfect their technique.
Currently competing in the Northern Premier League, Whitby Town FC is in the midst of a very successful season, despite finishing just outside of the playoff spots. Manager Lee Bullock is aware of the talent within the Tees Valley based on his successful playing career which saw him represent Hartlepool United for three seasons.
Bede’s academy team will be coached on an interim basis by Bullock with a view to appoint a permanent coach from within the club.
When asked how he felt about the exciting new partnership, Bullock said: “We are excited to partner with Bede and we really do see this as an opportunity for players who have the right attitude and ability to represent Bede with aspirations of stepping into the Whitby Town FC team within their college careers. There is already an infrastructure at Bede that supports their athletes and allows them to compete for the college, our dream is to turn some of those players into Whitby Town FC players.”
Bede Sixth Form College, which currently boasts a FIFA 1 accredited 3G astro turf, a state-of-the-art gym facility and strength and conditioning balcony, is now partnering with MiTeamDNA to develop a brand-new site ‘Athlete Lab’ which will be an on-site strength and conditioning facility purpose-built for ISE athletes.
As ISE continues to grow from strength to strength, ISE Lead, Ian Hewitt, has identified Men’s Football as a key area for further growth. He said: “I am delighted we are going to be able to work with Lee Bullock and Graeme Hinchcliffe at Whitby Town FC, they are a great club with a great history and after a couple of meetings it was visible to see their passion for youth development.”
Ian added: “The opportunity for our men’s footballers to be coached by Lee Bullock is fantastic, his playing and coaching history is excellent, and he focuses on more than just football. We will be looking to help players with a strong commitment to education and football fulfil their potential with this partnership.”
If you want to find out more information about our new Men’s Football Academy partnership, we’ll be holding a ISE Men’s Football Academy trial soon. Fill in our expression of interest form, here, and we’ll be in touch soon.
