A BLACK Country youth team has joined forces with a Kingswinford-based football centre to develop the next generation of soccer talent.

Gornal Colts and Gornal Girls has decided to create a new academy in partnership with Sixes, in Ham Lane, as part of their 10th birthday celebrations.

The club, which currently operates 10 teams made up of more than 100 players, will provide a number of courses and training sessions to get children as young as three-years-old involved in the game.

The courses will be staffed by experienced FA coaches and utilises Sixes’ two indoor pitches and changing facilities.

Alan Moore, chairman of Gornal Colts and Gornal Girls, said: “This is a really exciting development for our club and provides us with a constant stream of young players, who are well coached and understand the game.

“Sixes is often the first experience some children get of football so we thought we’d build on our existing relationship with them and formalise a clear progression route into our teams and hopefully into semi-professional or professional clubs.

“We’ve seen a gradual decline in the number of players wanting to get involved in organised teams, especially on the girls side. Hopefully, this move will be rectify this and enable us to build our club up so we can compete at every age group from under 7s upwards.”

Dudley News:

The club, formed in 2005 after breaking away from Gornal Athletic’s youth structure, now plans to mark its 10th anniversary by exploring new commercial partnerships with local businesses and building relationships with schools and colleges.

While in the long term, the club is looking at the possibility of developing its own dedicated sporting facility in Gornal, including full size pitches and 3G training surfaces.

Sukh Johal, director of Sixes Football Centre, added: “We have been involved with Gornal Colts and Gornal Girls for many years so we see this move as a natural progression.

“It also raises our profile in grassroots football, which can only be good for our business. If we can also give a little back by helping develop the next England internationals then all the better!”

For more information about the club email alan.moore@gornalladiesfc.co.uk, or visit www.gornalladiesfc.co.uk/development-centre, or to contact Sixes email info@sixesfootball.co.uk