Congratulations to Ridgewaye Girls Under 11s who won the TM County Cup last Sunday beating Rainham Kneilworth 4-2 in the final.

Also well done to Ridgewaye Girls Under 14s who reached the final of the County Cup against the League Champions, Hugin Viking of Ramsgate and were narrowly beaten 1-0 despite having the majority of possession.  Girls Coach Ian Wright said: "At the very start of the season we played and beat Hugin 1-0 although they dominated that match and this final was the reverse. The girls have turned the tables on them in my opinion and have much to look forward to next year. I am very proud of them all."

Ian Wright has also thanked Brazilian Soccer Schools for the work we have done with the girls since we were asked to come in and coach in April.  Despite only coaching the girls for a few weeks, Ian Wright has commented that thanks to Brazilian Soccer Schools "Already I can see an improvement in the girls' technique and they are playing better football on the floor".  Next season Brazilian Soccer Schools will continue to help coach all the girls squads at Ridgewaye FC.

During our hour session at Hollybush astroturf on Sunday, parent Mark Kirby recorded the number of touches his son Alex (8 yrs old) made in the hour long session - at least 1200 touches.  That works out as at least 20 touches per minute or one every three seconds.

Compare this to training at your local football club or another football coaching company in the area.  They do not even come close.  To develop as quickly as possible and become technically competent your child needs to touch the ball as many times as possible.  To encourage quick feet, good passing and technical excellence your child needs to be practising with the Futebol de Salão ball and playing Futebol de Salão.  Our work focuses on developing a child's technical competence first, then moving onto physical, pyschological and tactical - in that order.

Mark commented: 

"I have seen an amazing improvement in Alex's ball skills during his football matches since his introduction to the Brazilian Soccer School"

When FIFA announced the winner of the World Player of the year in December 2007, it continued a trend - if you you want to be World Player of the Year, playing Futebol De Salão as a child gives you a great advantage.  AC Milan's brilliant Brazilian - Kaká, who developed his skills playing Futebol de Salão for São Paulo as a young child, has lifted the title. FIFPro’s (Federation Internationale des Footballeurs Professionels) 57,500 members around the globe cast their votes and Champion’s League winner Kaká came out on top. Incredibly, the World's three best players this year (Kaká, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) all cite the South American game of Futebol de Salão as helping to develop their sublime skills and instant ball-control.