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 This year the Soccer World Cup will
stoke the dreams of a planet full of soccer-playing youngsters.
Many train regularly in the hope of becoming the next big sports
star but often lack the training aids to realise their potential.
Traffic cones and piles of coats are all very well when you start
out – but you’re not going to be the next Ronaldinho on
imagination alone.
Now a Birmingham company, working with the Innovation Direct
team at the University of Warwick has created the “Soccer
Buddy” a training aid designed specifically for the young
player. The four-foot tall “Soccer Buddies” are the
brainchild of semi-professional footballer and children’s
football coach Julez Broomes. Despairing at how dull and often
inappropriate many football training aids were for young players he
has created a colourful free standing figure, designed to be
roughly the same height as the young players themselves – and
they can even use radar to track the speed of each child’s
shot at goal.
The University of Warwick’s researchers, with a track
record of helping small companies develop innovative new products,
were able to find an extremely cost effective manufacturing process
and assisted him in re-engineering the “Soccer Buddy”
to make it even more child-friendly and easy to transport and use;
helping him achieve his vision of a training aid that would be easy
to use and affordable for clubs and schools – even for
private home use.
The new training aid has been tested and endorsed by Derby
County Football Club’s Football in the Community Team –
and by a whole bunch of the UK's future soccer stars!
Expected Footage:
GVs – World Cup paraphernalia (window displays etc)
GVs – Young players training
GVs – “Soccer Buddies” in action
Interviews:
- Julez (Julian) Broomes, Soccer Coach and inventor of the Soccer
Buddy
- Stuart Ward, Industrial Designer, Innovation Direct, University
of Warwick
- Simon Carnell, Community Scheme Manager, Derby County F.C.
= Vox Pops with 3 young players (Kerion Allen, Megan Chauhan, Niall
Small)
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