About the academy
Carnmoney Colts Academy is the young end of Carnmoney Colts FC: children born 2016 to 2021, boys and girls, from Carnmoney, Jordanstown, Greenisland and beyond. Part of a club that has been running for more than 30 years.
How we run it
Every child plays
No cuts. Every child who comes along stays in the squad and plays.
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. Everyone gets a real game.
Game time is never withheld
Not as a punishment, not for a mistake, not for a bad week.
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.
Open to everyone
Boys and girls, whatever they've played before, from Carnmoney, Jordanstown, Greenisland and beyond.
Virgil van Goat and the hardest worker award
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 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.
The award goes to the hardest worker, never the top scorer: 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 certificate coaches print from the tool bag.
Young leaders
Older players help younger ones. Our 2018s players help at the Sunday development session, and our 2016s help at 2018s training. They're coaches on the pitch, learning to lead.
An adult coach is always in charge. Young leaders are never counted as coaches. The tool bag has a short note on how coaches use them, and the library tags the games that suit a young leader running them.
The academy strategy
A one-page summary of where the academy is going this season, and the full strategy to download.
The academy strategy for September 2026 to September 2027 will be summarised here, with the full document to download, once it's ready.