Super Six!

We have no fewer than SIX 'Player of the Month' & 'Attitude of the Month' for the month of April.

On Wednesday 3rd & Friday 5th May, we awarded members who have gone above and beyond in their application over the last month.

We work against a four-corner model that focuses on the Physical, Technical, Psychological & Social elements of our participants football development. 'Player of the Month' is relating to the physical & technical corners, with 'Attitude of the Month' concentrating on the psychological & social aspects.

First up, Dede Okorodudu took home the Player of the Month award for our Wednesday Night Football Group, School Years 7-9.

Dede has been with us for nearly a year - and we have seen him go from strength to strength. James Ellis said:

"Dede is a young person that in the coaching world, we would say has a huge amount of 'coachability'. This means that for us as coaching staff, our jobs are made a lot easier when we have such an enthusiastic learner on board.

Dede won this award for multiple reasons - but in particular, both his 1v1 attacking & defending has continued to develop over the month of April.

His body shape out of possession and his desire to attack with urgency and speed has just been brilliant".

Within the same group, our coaches had to make the decision of who to award the 'Attitude of the Month'. James said, "Evie joined us back in March after attending a taster session last year".

"She is constantly embracing the 'Non-Negotiable's' we have at J.Ellis Football. These, among others - range from listening, supporting, trying our best and helping. Evie, without fail - always demonstrates such a positive attitude towards learning and having fun. Yes - having fun is a non-negotiable! I really look forward to supporting Evie on her continued development and have no doubt that her attitude will help her develop at greater speed".

Moving to our Friday groups, Coach James explained why Leo Merchant took home the Player of the Month award for School Year Groups 4-6.

"I think if you ask any fellow participants, coaches or parents - everyone will all agree just how much ability Leo brings to our group.

I haven't seen a grassroots player at his age have such an advanced level of ball manipulation. I joke that it must be stuck to his boot! We always encourage staying on the ball to our members & Leo has mastered that - once we now supplement that with excellent decision making skills - Leo will improve even more".

The second winner in this group was Oscar Wells, pictured below. Oscar has been a J.Ellis Football member for nearly a year but James explains that recently, something has changed.

"Oscar's application to his football and desire to learn seems to have shot up over the last four weeks. He has become so interested in the specific skills needed to execute different types of passes, types of finish & different skills he could use in a variety of situations. This change has been so great to see, because Oscars on the ball ability is already brilliant. He's now showing a maturity whereby he is able to deal with failure & thrive in success".

Our last group to award was the Friday Night Football, School Years 7-9. Coach Fawzi has predominately been overseeing this group, and he told us that it was such a tough choice to just find two winners within this thriving group of young people.

Liam Dawson-Deacon is one of our original members! From our first ever session, Liam has been ever-present and brings so much personality to our growing community. Coach Fawzi told us:

"Liam has a great ability to beat players in 1v1 attacking scenarios. This led to the reason for this award, because of his excellent finishing skills! I remember a 'worldie' he scored this month, but it's his decision-making for the type of finish that impresses me most.

Liam is also a great person to have in our group, he loves football and it shines through in his performances".

Last, but by no means least - is our Attitude of the Month for Friday Night Football, School Years 7-9.

Megan Jones joined J.Ellis Football in November 2022, and has always been a pleasure to have around.

Both James and Fawzi have said the following about Megan:

"Megan optimises exactly what this award stands for. Motivation, commitment, competitiveness, ambition & coping mechanisms are just a handful of the elements on the list for this award - and we can find all of them in Megan.

We are so grateful she chose us to provide her football, and we certainly hope she feels like she made the right choice!"

What a brilliant week for J.Ellis Football - and what an amazing group of young people! Keep your eyes peeled on the news page & our social media channels for more updates.