Academy Coaching duo discuss transition into roles
- George Danaher and Oran Thompson talk through their roles
- Young Terriers aiming to replicate First Team
- U17s host Blackpool on Saturday 7 November
After progression through Town’s Academy system, potential was seen in George Danaher and Oran Thompson, and both were offered the chance to help develop the next generation of Young Terriers.
While George started his coaching role at Town’s Academy at the start of last season, Oran began his role ahead of this season. They’ve both linked up with Jon Worthington to help integrate and develop young scholars at the Club. Their roles see them provide individualised progression programmes for players and run sessions to improve certain specifics of each players game.
Speaking to htafc.com, Oran admitted that while his transition into coaching has certainly been different to what he’s used to, being a former Academy player has its benefits.
“I think it’s good that we’re there for the players, because we’ve been through what they’ve been through, so we can help them with anything that they’re finding difficult on and off the pitch.
“They might feel more comfortable coming to us about it because we’ve been in their shoes more recently, so we’re able to build strong relationships with them and get a real connection with them.
“Obviously I’ve only made the transitions this year, but having George here as well has really helped me.”
George was quick to admit that he’s grateful to the Club for seeing potential in him when they didn’t offer him a professional playing contract, and for the opportunities they’ve given him since he took up the role.
“First and foremost, the opportunity to come and work here is one that you probably wouldn’t get anywhere else.
“To get your foot in the door at a professional club, especially in the Championship, as a 20-year-old is remarkable, I’m incredibly grateful to the Club for being brave and trusting us both.
“The Club let us have one day off a week to commit to some form of education. Oran’s on the same course as me that I did last year, a college course, and I’ve just started a university degree that the Club allow me time off each week to crack on with that.
“The Club have been great in giving us the opportunity to work here, but also the opportunity to carry on with our education.”
Huddersfield Town’s Under-17s host Blackpool’s Academy on Saturday 7 November in the Central League Cup, and Oran talked about how they’ve been preparing.
“Blackpool are quite a physical team, so we’ve seen their style of play and gone through a few scenarios that the players might come up against.
“We’ve gone into some detail around some individual battles that could be key in helping us have a good performance."
“We’ve been trying to replicate what the First Team have been doing on the pitch to filter that down for our players. That’s been the real focus for us for the past two to three weeks,” George added.
“The impact that the Academy players are now having on the First Team has been fantastic this year and went to continue to replicate that.
“The approach that the Club want to go down has been excellent for the Academy players to impact the First Team.”
You can follow live match updates from the game on the Academy Twitter, @htafcacademy.
