About the academy
Carnmoney Colts Academy is the young end of Carnmoney Colts FC: boys and girls born 2016 to 2021, from all over Newtownabbey and beyond. It's part of a club that has been running for more than 40 years.
A community club where every child belongs
We put children before winning, and every ability is welcome.
Children before winning
Enjoying the game, working hard and being a good teammate come first. We find the league for the children, not the children for the league.
Every ability welcome
Some children play a match every week, some now and then, and some simply love training. Every one of them belongs.
A place that's theirs to keep
Once a child joins, their place at training and in the club is theirs for as long as they want it.
Above all, we want to help children grow into good people, and to love the game while they're at it.
How we run it
Every child has a place
Every child who wants to play has a place at training and in the club, for as long as they want it.
The league for the children
We find the league for the children, not the children for the league.
Effort earns status
Hard work, bravery and kindness are noticed and praised as much as goals.
Finishers
The players who come on to finish the game are finishers, and they matter as much as the ones who start.
Run by volunteers
Everyone, from the coaches to the chairman, gives their time for free.
The same in public and in private
What we say on this page is what we say in the changing room and on the sideline.
Where the academy is going
This season, in one page.
- A place for every child. We're a community club: every child who wants to play has a place at training and in the club, whatever their ability, for as long as they want it.
- Good people first. Work hard, be brave, lift each other. We want children to look back and say the club helped them, in more ways than football.
- Enjoy it. We play to enjoy the game and to get better at it. We keep the pressure off and the fun on.
- Something more important than football. School, family and feeling OK come first. When a big week like the P7 transfer test gets in the way of a match, that's the right call, and we'll say so. We look out for how children are doing, not just how they're playing.
- More coaches, more teams. Every age group has children waiting for a place. More volunteers means more teams, the 2020 and 2021 teams playing matches, and a girls-only team.
- Every team runs its own way. Safeguarding and the club's standards are the same for everyone. The rest is up to each team, with free tools for any coach who wants them.
Where it can lead
Some of the players who started out at Carnmoney Colts have gone a long way.
Craig Cathcart, Jonny Evans and Ethan Galbraith all played for Carnmoney Colts when they were young, went on to join Manchester United, and played for Northern Ireland. Sid Burrows played for Crusaders and Linfield, and John Devine is in Glentoran's hall of fame.
A community club is a great place for a child who could go all the way, too. There's a place here for every child, whichever way the game takes them.
Virgil van Goat and player of the match
Hi, I'm Virgil the goat. When I was young, I dreamed of being the greatest of all time, the GOAT goat. I wasn't the fastest or the most experienced, but I worked hard, learned from every mistake, and never hid when things got tough. That's how I became Virgil van Goat.
After every match, every Carnmoney Colts Academy team picks its player of the match, and it always goes to the hardest worker: the one who pressed, battled, helped teammates and refused to give up.
Work hard. Be brave. Lift each other. That's how greatness grows.
Player of the match goes to the hardest worker: the one who kept going when tired and got back up when knocked over. Virgil goes home with them for the week. He also turns up on the game cards with a tip, and on the certificates in the coaches' toolkit.
Leaders in every team
Every team has children who lead, often in quiet ways: captain for the day, leading the warm-up, welcoming a new player. They set the tone, and the rest follow.
Young leaders: older players helping younger ones
Young people aged 16 to 18, from our older teams or anywhere else, can volunteer to help with a younger group. They learn to lead and give something back, and the younger children love having them there.
- An adult coach is always in charge, and young leaders help alongside them.
- Games where older and younger players play together only run with the club welfare officer's OK.
Know a young person who'd like to help? Young volunteers.
