AFC Rushden & Diamonds are to restructure their upper tiers of Youth Football, following the announcement of their new post-16 course at Malcolm Arnold Academy.
This course will be one of several strands of opportunity for players at the youth age groups, including the existing Under-21 team, the junior Academy Teams and the Community Teams.
As a result the club have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the Northants Senior Youth League at the end of this season. This will allow increased focus on the Under 21 team which has also accommodated many of this season’s Under 18 team already, with an additional cost saving benefit.
We would like to thank the Northants Senior Youth League for their fantastic support, particularly when the club reformed in 2011 with just an Under 18 team, and no one will forget that historic 2011-12 season in the NSYL. However we feel we have 3 levels of U18 provision and opportunities for U18 players from next season with the U21 team, the MAA Post 16 academy course and the Community U18 teams.
Those players in the existing Under 18 side have been advised of two options for next season
For those who will still be Under 18 and who are interested in combining a full-time post-16 course (A Levels, BTec etc) with football, the course at Malcolm Arnold Academy may be available. For further information on this contact Gareth Ivett by email at academy@afcdiamonds.com.
For those who are not interested in the full time course or will be over 18 next season, they will have the option to be considered for the Under 21 squad. Our Under 21 squad is managed by Dean Thomas, and this season’s squad, which included some players as young as 16, have found playing at that level to be challenging and of benefit to their development. Dean can be contacted via email with this link.
