English Schools' Football Association

On Tuesday 26 September Middlesbrough FC's Stewart Downing and Colin Cooper helped kick-off the largest 11-a-side Schools' Football competition in Europe ' the 'Minute Maid' Schools' Cup ' at the club's Rockcliffe Park training ground.

The 'Boro' stars launched this season's tournament by putting reigning boys' National Champions from the Newlands Catholic School FCJ and their County Champion girls' counterparts through a professional style coaching session.

Downing was quick to throw his support behind the competition, commenting:

It's brilliant that the 'Minute Maid' Schools' Cup is giving youngsters the chance to play football in a proper structured competition and a massive incentive that the Finals are played in professional stadia. You hope you'll have that sort of opportunity when you are starting out in football - it was what I dreamt of when I was a kid.

Getting 40,000 boys and girls involved in competitive team sports is great - with so many schools competing, it's like the FA Cup for kids!

This Under 13 level national competition separate competitions for girls and boys is run in partnership with the English Schools' Football Association and tiered so schools have the opportunity to compete on a county then regional then national level.

Simon Carey, Head of PE at Newlands School, had eagerly anticipated the school's unique coaching experience before reflecting on last season's successes in the competition:

"It was a great experience for the school to help 'Minute Maid' and the ESFA launch the competition at Rockcliffe Park today! The pupils were really excited at the prospect of meeting Stewart Downing and Colin Cooper 'two real local heroes' in the build up to the event and needless to say they didn't disappoint."

"Both Coops and Stewart were fantastic and gave the boys and girls a coaching session to remember. And some of the tips and advice passed on will be really valuable to the kids in their own footballing development.

"Last season was a remarkable one for both the boys and girls of Newlands Catholic School FCJ. Little did we expect that just after Christmas both teams would be County Champions and challenging for regional and national honours'Although the girls lost out, the boys enjoyed fantastic success on the road to becoming national champions."

"It is a prestigious competition which is extremely well organised. The players achieved so much in such a short time ' I think they achieved all their childhood dreams in one fabulous season. All this not bad for a small school in the Boro!"

And it might not be the last time some of the Newlands' team train at Rockcliffe Park ' sterling performances in last season's national under 13 competition helped two members of the boys' squad gain Academy contracts at Middlesbrough FC!

But the final word on the launch of this season's 'Minute Maid' Schools' Cup fell to the Boro manager Gareth Southgate, who took the opportunity to further highlight the importance of developing the grass roots of the game:

"At Middlesbrough FC grass roots football and the development of young footballers - both boys and girls - is hugely important."

"It was great to see last season's national under-13 boys' champions, Newlands, and the county champions girls' side from the school, in training at Rockcliffe Park with Colin and Stewart."

"I'm sure that this training session to launch the under-13 Minute Maid Schools' Cup will have given some valuable advice to these young players to help them continue their footballing development."

esfa.co.uk will keep you up to date with all the latest news as this season's competition unfolds.