Bend It Like Beckham?
Thursday, 28th Nov 2002 00:00

Local Children Can 'Bend It Like Beckham'

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A few weeks back on JackArmy.net we told you about a Swansea fan, Steve Thomas, who was heading up the local Brazilian Soccer school and was passing on some of these techniques to Swansea City Under-9s.

Well, Steve has been in touch with us again to tell us a little more about the scheme after himself and Robert Webb headed to Leeds for the weekend to visit the Head office of the International Confederation of Futebol de SalÃ£o (ICFDS) to be introduced to scores of new training methods.

Steven said about the weekend "This weekend was another valuable opportunity for me to be introduced to a number of new drills that I will employ in my sessions. The course was led by Simon Clifford, the head and founder of the ICFDS, who has worked with some of the biggest names in world football and been responsible for hundreds of innovative drills aimed at enhancing skill levels amongst young footballers. In addition to the exciting new drills we also looked at other ways of improving a child's movement, flexibility and co-ordination skills. This was all done to a background of music. The number of new aspects we work on every time we attend the courses, help us to continually improve the complete coaching programme we offer to boys and girls in Swansea."

Fans interested in the scheme would do no worse than pick up the recently released DVD 'Bend It Like Beckham' because All of the coaching and choreography for the box office and rental number one hit, was conducted by the International Confederation of Futebol de SalÃ£o (ICFDS), the organisation which operates the 300plus Brazilian Soccer Schools throughout the UK and Ireland, including the ones here in Swansea.

These methods helped turn Parminder Nagra ('A & E'), Keira Knightley ('Dr Zhivago', 'Star War Phantom Menace') and Shaznay Lewis (All Saints) from actresses into footballers, and helped to add realism and excitement to each football scene.

Simon Clifford, head of the ICFDS said "We began working with Paminder, Keira and Shaznay ten weeks prior to the start of filming, they had no previous football experience and the skills were very limited. But they worked really hard and using an intensive Futebol de SalÃ£o programme, we transformed them into footballers in that space of time. There is no trickery used in the film, what you see the girls do, is exactly what happened!"

Steven added "It is very exciting to see the affect which our specialist training methods can have on football development, being showcased in a film. Bend it like Beckham has received such great acclaim, reaching number one at the cinema and on video and DVD, and much of its praise has been for the football scenes. Our sessions are focused on boys and girls aged five to 16 enhancing their technical skills and confidence over a number of years. In this summer's World Cup, Juninho, Rivaldo and Ronaldo all showed us how working with Futebol de SalÃ£o throughout your childhood can help you develop as a player. Now this film shows us the impact that the training can have on absolute beginners, in just a short period of time."

For further details on Futebol de SalÃ£o and ICFDS Brazilian Soccer Schools, please call Steven Thomas on 01792 427711 or visit www.icfds.com

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