Cornwall Development Gathers Pace
The Pilgrims’ ambitious plans for greater talent identification and support in Cornwall will take another giant step forward in the month of September.
The Academy’s all-new Elite Coaching Hubs in Cornwall get underway this week at Penryn School and Callywith College, offering the county’s most promising youngsters access to high-quality coaching and fast-track opportunities as part of a revamped Player Pathway.
The new-look Cornwall Player Pathway, responsible for bringing through players like Luke Jephcott in recent years, is just one pillar of Argyle’s vision for developing Cornwall, and that also includes greater support and professional development opportunities for grass-roots coaches, in partnership with Cornwall FA as part of their Coach Development Programme.
The first of these Coach Development Events will occur on Friday, 24 September at Callywith College, formally marking the launch of the club’s new strategic plan for the region.
Argyle Director of Football Neil Dewsnip will be joined by First-Team Coach Kevin Nancekivell to deliver a Coach Development Event to Cornish coaches on core skills, providing discussion points and key coaching insights during their delivery to help coaches understand how to develop players at grass-roots level.
The session will also be supported by Academy Manager Phil Stokes and the Pilgrims’ new Head of Cornwall Recruitment and Development, Paul Rowe, providing an update on the Pilgrims’ new Cornwall Player Pathway and Elite Coaching Hubs.
As part of the club’s commitment to Cornish football, the first 50 coaches to book and attend the event will be provided with two free tickets to attend the Pilgrims’ Sky Bet League One fixture against Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, 25 September.
Neil Dewsnip, Director of Football at Argyle, said: “Within our overall Academy strategy, we’ve identified that Cornwall is a really exciting area for us to develop, and we believe we can make real progress in terms of identifying and recruiting elite talent that sits in Cornwall.
“Cornwall has a number of challenges, in terms of distance away from Argyle, and we are the closest professional club. We want to make sure that every youngster in Cornwall has the opportunity to come to Argyle, the launch of these two Elite Coaching Hubs is a really exciting prospect. It allows us to invite those talented players into those hubs initially, and potentially on to our main Academy.
“It’s a really important part of our Academy strategy to engage with grass-roots coaches, so it’s only right that I, as Director of Football, and Kevin Nancekivell, as technical lead for our younger professionals, show support to the coaches of Cornwall. Hopefully it’s going to be a really positive first meeting.”
Cornwall FA Football Development Manager Daniel Greenough said: “Cornwall FA are delighted to be joined by Plymouth Argyle Football Club who will deliver the first of many Coach Development Events for Cornish coaches this season as part of our new Coach Development Programme.
“Cornwall FA’s partnership with Argyle also continues to provide opportunities for talented players to progress through the Cornwall Player Pathway which has been further strengthened by the introduction of Argyle’s two new Elite Coaching Hubs”.
The event is free for coaches in Cornwall and those in attendance will receive two FA accredited CPD hours against their coaching record.
Booking is now open, and tickets are assigned on first-come, first-served basis.
