Congratulations to Trinity First Year student Eli who has recently signed to Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club’s U12 academy.
Eli has been playing football since the age of 3 years old when his uncle, a professional footballer himself, used to take Eli to the park for a kickabout. He joined We Make Footballers, a children’s football training academy, at the age of 4 and hasn’t looked back since!
Eli also trained with Arsenal for four months between 2021 and 2022 but was scouted by Brighton while he was playing in the Surrey League for AFC Walcountians. He was invited in for an eight-week trial at Brighton Academy at the end of last year and was offered a contract within just two weeks.
Eli now trains with Brighton three times a week, with a competitive match every week, usually on a Sunday.
Eli is thrilled to be training with Brighton, but also excited about the prospects of Trinity’s U12 team this season. He says, “Our football team here is so good! We’ve got strong players and have more or less won every game so far. I don’t think that Trinity’s U12 team has ever won a national cup and so I really want our team to be the first to win at least one cup this year. We’re more than capable.”
An all-round sports player, Eli says, “I’m lucky that I get to do other sport here alongside my football and find that basketball, athletics and swimming have helped my overall fitness and development as an athlete.”
Mr Wilson, Trinity’s Head of Football, says, “Eli is another great example of the football talent we currently have at Trinity, and we’re looking forward to seeing his progress as he continues to train with Brighton. He should be very proud of his achievement.”
Eli is the second student in the last month who has signed to a Premier League academy, after the recent news of Third Year student Aston signing with Crystal Palace. The whole student body is excited and supportive of their peers’ achievements, and it also gives the school teams great confidence going into their fixtures. The Trinity U12A team are currently in the last 16 of 693 teams nationally and the U14As are in the last eight of 708 teams nationally. Watch this space for further updates!
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