Football Clinic focuses on overall Health and Well-Being

It is not often though that a football clinic moves away from the conventional and onto a more holistic platform.
Complete Body Dynamics Holiday Football Clinic however, aims on doing just that. 
The clinic which caters for 5-14-year old boys and girls is looking to teach players the basics of football while educating them on leadership, injury prevention/management and nutrition.
Director Michael Viera, a licensed personal trainer, remedial/sports massage therapist & Youth accredited football coach, has close to a decade of experience working with teams in the TeleChoice Premier League & youth league.
The 29-year old believes football camps should provide players with more than just the skills they need on the field. He thinks it is time for football clinics to provide further education towards the overall well being, growth and development of each player.
?Kids should understand what foods and drinks are important before and after matches and training sessions for example,? said Michael.
?Emphasis should not just be on teaching players different moves or putting them through drills, but on teaching them how to best overcome injuries and how to become leaders,? added Viera. 
Michael and his experienced coaching staff from Prospect United aim to have no more than eight players for each coach so kids are never more than an arm?s length away from support.
It is this coach to player ratio, says Viera, which allows the Complete Body Dynamics Holiday Football Clinic to better monitor the progress of each player compared to a number of other soccer programs where groups of twenty plus are run by a single coach. 
?This program is about teaching players the basics of football and having a coach close by to educate them [players] further,? said Viera. 
?This clinic doesn?t want to skip any stages in the learning process; it?s about moving players from A to B and then to C, instead of A to D,? added the Prospect United first grader. 
Players will learn three skills every day with the opportunity to test them in a game like situation. With sessions running from 9am ? 1pm for four days only, the chance for players to become bored or extremely tired is largely reduced.
The clinic even caters for wet weather scenarios, moving the location from the Prospect United Soccer Club to alternate indoor facility during rain so players can enjoy some indoor football fun. 
With a number of returning players from the inaugural launch which ran in the Easter holidays, the word of mouth has played its role, as the second clinic sees a range of new applicants lined up and eager to not miss out this time around. 
Jeff Wright, whose son Steven, 9, took part in the first clinic, believes the program is what led him to becoming one of the major goal scorers in the U/10s. 
?Steven had the time of his life and was out in the backyard trying all the different skills he had been taught at the camp,? said Jeff.
?His [Steven] group only had four to six players to a coach and therefore what he learned really sunk in.
?The week after the clinic, Steven had a blinder,? added Wright.
The clinic will run from July 20 to July 23 from 9am ? 1pm and held at the Prospect United Soccer Club at William Lawson Park, Myrtle St, Prospect, for boys and girls aged 5-14 years.
Players will receive a ball, training t-shirt, boot bag, a certificate of participation and drinks will be provided every day.  An introductory cost is available and all interested can contact Michael Viera on 0402 016 405 before July 10.
-By Caetano Lima