St. George’s Park and Continental Tyres today unveiled the new ContiWarmUp pitch, a dedicated warm up area set amongst the centre’s elite training pitches and designed to provide a first class preparation setting for players, teams and for coach education courses.
England Women’s Josanne Potter and Carly Telford were joined by The FA’s Director of Elite Development Dan Ashworth to officially open the flagship facility, which will provide the perfect setting for coaches on site to deliver FA endorsed warm up practices from the ContiWarmUp online resource.
"At the heart of successful teams at every level of football is effective preparation and warm ups. I’m delighted today to be opening this facility that is designed to help deliver the ContiWarmUp programme,” said Ashworth.
ContiWarmUp is a free web-based reference tool for coaches that uses proven physiological and neurological techniques to help reduce injuries and improve the performance of every player, something which Ashworth believes will be a valuable resource for coaches and players’ alike.
He said: “It is a perfect addition for both coach and player pre-match preparation and supports our strategy to provide both an age appropriate and position specific style of coaching.
“It will help engage players at all levels in a programme that is tailored to their needs, ensuring improved performance and helping extend their playing career.”
England Women’s Josanne Potter and Carly Telford were joined by The FA’s Director of Elite Performance Dan Ashworth to officially open the new ContiWarmUp pitch at St. George's Park
Potter was equally impressed by the facility and believes it will serve a valuable purpose in helping to educate young players on the importance of pre-match warm ups and preparation.
“You look at this whole facility and the lengths The FA and Continental have gone through to get it up and running, and it is clear that it is going to add another dimension to the grounds and the centre as a whole,” she said.
“Initiatives and facilities like this are definitely needed to educate young players, get them into good habits at a young age and give them invaluable experience that they can learn to warm up properly to prevent injury.”
Notts County goalkeeper, Carly Telford, joined her Three Lions’ teammate in praising the new area and pointed out that the ContiWarmUp pitch is an exciting step forward in St. George’s Park’s ability to support the continued development of the whole player.
“You can’t better a facility like this. It is something new, and Continental and The FA are trying something out here which is fantastic.
“Anyone can turn up to a pitch and kick a ball around, but you have the complete package here from the hotels, the rehab facilities, the training pitches and now a warm-up pitch. It is all helping to create the complete player.”
To find out more about ContiWarmUp please visit www.thefa.com/my-football/coaching
