A football academy broadened the outlook of its students last week to help them understand their behaviour and develop their problem solving and support skills.

The Oxhey Jets Football Academy scheme used practical and fun exercises to build teamwork and develop personal skills, having adapted personal development courses provided to companies such as British Airways.

Academy leader Warren Gladdy explained: “We wanted to add programmes to our training that developed our students not just in football but also in their life and social skills. In sport, as in life, you need both physical fitness and mental strength to be successful. We want to develop our young footballers in both aspects of their life.”

He continued: “Success or failure is equally shared in all good quality teams. We all take responsibility for the team’s success or failure. Programmes such as Personal Discovery enable our students to grow and to work better as a team.”

Jets founder and general manager John Elliott: “We want our Academy, which takes Year 11/12 students in from Oxhey and surrounding areas including Watford, Harrow and Wembley, to provide training that will help them no matter what they choose to do in the future.”

To find out more about the Academy, which takes Year 11/12 boys on two-year full-time programme, visit www.oxheyjetsacademy.com