Prospective students and their families learned about the power of combining football with education last night (November 10) as Velocity Football hosted its first virtual open event via Zoom.
Initially, we planned to host a traditional open evening at our Oxford City FC base where visitors would be able to sample the education and career pathways we provide within our BTEC and higher education programmes for post-GCSE students.
However, COVID restrictions meant we took the decision in October to move our open event online by using the powers of modern technology and video.
Our director Justin Merritt conducted the event and was joined by Lauren Haynes, head coach of our female programme. There was also input from Mickey Lewis, head coach of our male programme, plus some first and second-year students.
In addition, youngsters were able to find out what a typical day at Velocity Football involves via our professional video that was produced by our partners Oxford-based communications agency Fortitude Communications.
The evening concluded with a question and answer session where students could send any queries they had about the course by using Zoom’s live chat service. The event added to the good factor this week has naturally generated at Velocity Football following our partner Oxford City’s FA Cup victory against League One club Northampton Town only 24 hours earlier.
Justin Merritt thanked everyone that attended the virtual open event and looks forward to hopefully seeing everyone again very soon.
He added: “It was great to welcome so many students and their families on Tuesday evening and to see so much passion for careers in professional sport. There was a great energy to the event, despite it being virtual and it was a highly engaging and useful event.
“We received a lot of positive feedback and a lot of interest in our programmes, and we hope to welcome some of the students back in September.
“The video which we shared at the beginning of the event is now on our website and really pinpoints what Velocity Football is about. We provide a positive environment for students to develop a career in sport and become well-rounded people.”
Lauren Haynes, head coach of Velocity Football’s female programme, added: “Velocity Football offers post-GCSE students a unique chance to become that student-athlete.
“Combining training with their studies allows students of all abilities to develop their skills on the pitch while establishing a set of firm qualifications that provide a pathway to employment in the sport sector once they graduate.
“On a personal level, it was great to finally showcase the work we do to develop the next generation of players, coaches, and footballing staff and to see the interest and desire in from people to follow a career in sport. It was great to receive such positive feedback from them.”
One family who attended the open event via Zoom added: “It was a great evening for learning more about the opportunities Velocity Football provides.
“We have viewed a number of academies but Velocity Football by far stands out and we look forward to making a physical visit once COVID-19 restrictions are eased.”
For those who were unable to attend the open event you can still discover more about Velocity Football, by booking a one to one with our team. For further information either, you can contact [email protected] or call 0300 303 0890.
