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Future young gunners took to the football field to kick-start their courses at the Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain.
The opening sessions were held last week at the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) grounds which are adjacent to the school. The courses will be conducted there until the academy's two astro-turfs are ready for action at the end of this month.
Parents filled the sidelines to support their aspiring footballers. The business development manager for the Arsenal Soccer Schools, Paul Shipwright, guided the children, making sure they all started on the right foot and in the correct group.
He said: "We had nearly 40 children attend the first session all in their Arsenal kits and all looking happy and raring to go. We are very pleased with the results and we know we have a lot more children to come.
"On the first day we created four groups ranging from five to 12 in age and each had its own coach.
"The older youngsters aged from 13 to 18 will be trained at other times of the week.
"The first lesson was to establish their current standard of play and now we will begin teaching the children how to play 'the Arsenal way'.
"In a nutshell that's a passing and team game. Very rarely do you see Arsenal players taking on more than one opponent. They beat players by passing it to each other and it also has to do with speed of thought and movement."
Neil Harvey, director of coaching, will be guiding each of the groups through football principles and tactical awareness in match situations. In a coaching career spanning over 20 years, he has worked for a number of professional clubs in England before moving overseas to coach in the United States, Egypt and Malaysia. Now Harvey is a permanent member of the Arsenal School in Bahrain.
Mr Shipwright added: "We have a very good coaching team. Senior coach John Mackenzie from England will be working in Bahrain permanently and is specialised in teaching younger children. He has coached in the local community for Arsenal Soccer Schools since 2003 and works at the Arsenal International Festival each year.
"Senior coach Deena Rahman has represented England in European Championships in England, France, Spain and Norway and signed a contract with Fulham Ladies, the first ever European women's team to turn full time professional.
"She also obtained the FA Level 2 coaching award in 2000, coached in England and abroad as well as at international level with Egypt's National Ladies under 20s team.
"Rahman has worked in our soccer schools here, Oman, Holland, Italy and Egypt. Her father is actually Egyptian."
Riyaz Ismail, 36, a maths teacher who lives and works in Saudi Arabia, is bringing his five-year-old son to Bahrain once a week to take part in the course.
He said: "My son Tariq had taken a few football lessons in Saudi but when I came across the Arsenal brochure at the club's store in the City Centre I thought this was too good an opportunity to miss. He really enjoyed himself."
Arslan Saleem, 35, a telecom commercial officer, from Seef, brought his six-year-old daughter, Aanya, along. He said: "I think it's awesome that my daughter is playing football. I used to play football in high school and now she has a chance to learn how to play, especially with a reputable club like Arsenal.
"In the last year I have noticed her kicking the ball around so I thought this would be a good opportunity for her."
Four-year-old Syrian Majd Zubaidi from Manama brought his entire family to the ground for support. His mum Amani, 27, said: "My son is a big football fan. He usually watches it with his father and loves playing too."
Dad Tamir, 40, an area manager, hopes to watch the youngster take to the Emirates Stadium when he grows up, saying: "I have been waiting for this course to start for a year now. When I read about it in the paper I did some research and immediately registered him when it finally opened up. This is the future I want for him. I hope he can make it and join a good club."
His sister Zaina, 10, now too wants to be a part of the school after seeing how much fun her brother had.
The cost of the course, significantly higher than others held in the kingdom, has not put off families and demand for places continues to grow, say the organisers.
Each term training fees range between BD135.500 to BD183.500, depending on the age of the player, for a 12-week course. For further information visit www.arsenalschoolbahrian.com or call 17561615.
