Academy Manager Dan Harris updates us on a number of changes behind the scenes in the Academy for the coming season:
“As part of our ongoing plans to enhance our Youth Development programme here at the club we are pleased to announce that Kieran Hayes is moving into a new full-time “Head of Academy Recruitment & Player Development” role. This change to the Academy staffing structure will enable us to devote more time and resources to the crucial job of identifying and supporting the best young players across the region and is a real statement of intent from Tiger and the Board that Oxford United are serious about providing a pathway for talented local lads.”
“We are also excited to confirm that we have agreed a deal with US-based technology company HUDL to provide a multi-platform Video Analysis tool for all of our U7-U23 players. HUDL already work with a number of world-leading teams and organisations including the US Soccer Federation, Southampton FC, Sale Sharks and the Australian Rugby Union so for us at Oxford United to be working with a company of this calibre is a real step forward.
Dan Bond does a great job leading the First Team Analysis department here at the club and we’re also really fortunate to have Dan Cooper in our Academy who oversees this crucial element of our programme with all our younger players.
Partnering with HUDL will be a huge step forward for the Academy allowing us to send bespoke video analysis clips through to players direct to their Ipads and phones as well as being able to analyse our training and game performances in much more detail. We want young players at Oxford United to be ready for the huge challenges of professional football and this move within our Video Analysis provision is another step towards ensuring our future players are equipped to take that step into Karl Robinson’s first team.”
Make sure you follow the Official Academy Twitter feed @AcademyOUFC to stay up to date with all the Youth Development news here at Oxford United.
Proud History: Bright Future