Centre of Excellence
About the Centre of Excellence
Published by Millwall Lionesses Media on August 25, 2010
Millwall Lionesses were the first club in the country to have a Female Centre of Excellence, of which there are now 52 in England. The centre has over 60 girls on the programme and in line with the FA guidelines for Girls CoE’s operates with 4 age groups, U10’s, U12’s, U14’s and U16’s. The centre works closely with Millwall Community Scheme (MCS) to provide and opportunity for girls primarily from within the surrounding boroughs to play elite level football. Many of the girls are identified via the schools coaching programme which MCS operates across Lewisham and Southwark while others are selected through our open trials which take place annually. To date the centre has produced many players who have gone on to achieve national honours at various levels. Our current U16’s captain was the England U15’s captain last season and this season is involved in the England U17’s squad.
Fixture Programme: The centre play home fixtures on a Saturday morning. The centre competes in the London and South East Girls Centre of Excellence League. The league is comprised of the following teams: Chelsea, Charlton, Fulham, Gillingham, Reading, Brighton, Hampshire, Middlesex, Oxford. This gives us a league programme of eighteen fixtures. In addition to the league programme we play friendly fixtures against centres from other regions. This season we played home and away fixture against Norwich and Colchester United.
Training Facilities: The centre trains twice weekly and uses three training venues. On a Monday evening all the squads train at Sydenham High Playing fields which comprises of a full size floodlit grass pitch. On a Thursday the centre is split between two venues. The U10’s and U12’s train on the 3G at the Lion Centre while the U14’s and U16’s train at Bacons Sports College on a full size 3G. All coaches work to a technical programme which is age specific and is designed to develop the players so that they can progress comfortably into the next age group.
Coaching Staff: The centre operates with 2 coaches per age group. The head coach is required to hold the UEFA B Licence or be actively working towards achieving the qualification. The assistant coach must hold as a minimum the FA Level 2 coaching award. Our goal keeper coach works with the keepers from all the age groups at training once a week and is attendance at selected games to monitor their progress.
Support Staff: The centre has a physiotherapist who is in attendance for every fixture and for one training session per week. We also work closely with Sports Scientist who is tasked with delivering workshops for the girls and to provide advice on fitness programmes and diet and nutrition. We have access to a Sports Psychologist who is on hand to provide the vital support that is necessary for players to perform to the best of their ability.