ALDERSHOT Town have established a new youth programme to develop first-team players of the future.

Launched this month and led by the club’s returning Academy coach, Sam Waters, Aldershot Town Youth will initially feature seven teams from under 9 to under 15 level, with plans already in place to add sides in the U7, 8 and 16 age-groups next season.

For 2016-17, all sections will include both an elite group and a second tier of players to cater for late developers or local players who simply wish to receive professional coaching. The teams currently use the state-of-the-art facilities at Weydon School in Farnham, training twice a week with either fixtures or a further training session taking place on Saturday mornings.

Next season, both teams within each age group will train for three hours a week, with the elite teams based at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford, a world-class facility that was used as a training base for both the London 2012 Olympics and 2015 Rugby World Cup. The development teams will continue to be based at Weydon School.

Initially playing friendly matches, including some against Football League clubs, the elite Aldershot teams will enter a league for the 2016-17 season. The development players will remain with their current teams while taking part in occasional fixtures against teams from other professional clubs.

This summer, the existing U15 and U16 teams in the Academy will transfer across to ATFC Youth, with the best players from the new U16 team then being recruited to the Academy’s U18 squad in future seasons.

In total, Aldershot Town is expected to provide professional training for almost 300 players from U7s to U16s, with open trials being held in June.

“Aldershot Town is one of the biggest clubs outside the Football League and is certainly the biggest non-league club in the area,” said Sam Waters. “The club is very keen to attract the younger generation and what better way to do that than to provide local young footballers with an opportunity to register as a player?

“Our aim is to create a youth department that competes with Football League academies, similar to what clubs such as Barnet, Luton and Cambridge United were able to do while they were out of the Football League. The pleasing thing is that, unlike other clubs, every penny generated by the youth department will be re-invested into the development of our players.

“The club has a proven track record of producing professionals with the likes of Adam Mekki, Jordan Roberts and Danny Hylton, among others, coming through the ranks. There is a clear pathway into the first team at Aldershot and the cliché ‘if you’re good enough then you’re old enough’ certainly applies here.”

In April, the current U14 and U15 teams will travel to Barcelona on a five-day tour which includes fixtures against professional clubs based in Barcelona, training sessions with coaches from the Espanyol Academy and a tour of the Camp Nou.

There are also plans to take the U11 team to Germany in May to play in a tournament with a number of Bundesliga clubs.

Aldershot Town will be holding open trials in June at Surrey Sports Park. For ages U7 to U10, the trial is on Monday, June 6 (6.30-8pm). The trial for U11 to U13 is on Thursday, June 9 (6.30-8pm), while the U14 to U16 trial is on Monday, June 13 (6.30-8pm). Surrey Sports Park postcode: GU2 7AD.

For more information on the different tiers within the youth department, or to register a place at the June trials, email Sam Waters ([email protected]) including full contact details and any medical issues.