Boys and girls across Northern Ireland are being offered the chance to become part of JD Club NI, the Irish FA’s Elite Performance Programme (click here to open IFA.JD app to register)
The Irish FA and leading sports fashion retailer JD, which sponsors Club NI, will be running open trials next month for boys and girls aged 10 to 14.
There will be three rounds of trials which will lead to games against existing JD Club NI teams. And a star or stars from the trials will be offered a place on the JD Club NI programme.
The aim of 'Do You Want To Play For Northern Ireland?’ is to uncover young talent who have the potential to represent Northern Ireland at future World Cups and European Championships.
Registration for the trials is now open and will close on 21 April. Boys and girls aged 10 to 14 can apply to enter the trials process by downloading the IFA.JD app or enter instore at any of the 16 JD stores across Northern Ireland.
The initiative offers an ideal platform to discover, nurture and develop footballing talent from across the country. In particular it hopes to attract sportspeople who may not have considered taking up football.
Trials will be staged over five consecutive weekends from 6 May to 3 June.
Initially hundreds of children from across Northern Ireland will be invited to trials in Derry-Londonderry (6 May), Dungannon (7 May), Belfast (13 May) and Newry (14 May) where they will be under the watchful eye of Irish FA professional coaching staff.
The best players from the four trials will progress to a second round of trials in Belfast on May 20 and 21.
After that participants will be invited to a residential (28-30 May) where they will be put through their paces by experienced Irish FA coaches. The final part of the process is a trial game against existing JD Club NI players in Belfast on 3 June.
“This is the second year of this initiative. We unearthed some great talent in 2016 and we are confident we will find some more gems this year. This is a fantastic opportunity for boys and girls across Northern Ireland to showcase their talents,” said Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill.
Players from the JD Club NI programme have recently signed contracts with Manchester United, Chelsea, Everton and Sunderland among others. Five players made it on to the programme after last year’s trials process.
Image: Action from last year’s final trial game in the 'Do You Want To Play For Northern Ireland?’ initiative, which in 2017 is again offering boys and girls across Northern Ireland the chance to become part of JD Club NI, the Irish FA’s Elite Performance Programme.
