Tony Carr was recently Interviewed by West Ham TV for about the life of a new West Ham scholar.
“The new intake of scholars for next season starting in July begins with an induction evening including the signing of their scholarship contracts, the parents come with the young players. We paint the picture of what the next two years will be about, what we expect, where we draw the line. It’s their introduction to full time football, a lot different to being at school and just coming to train, It’s a big step for these boys and it is the start of hopefully a very long career but as we know it’s full of pitfalls and all sorts so they go in with their eyes wide open and hopefully at the end of it in four or five years times there is one of these boys turning out for us at the Olympic Stadium for the first team.”
“We have had a day release programme during their under 16 and under 15 school years where they come out for a couple of days per week and train like the scholars would train on a day time basis rather than just the evenings. It prepares them a little, it like a mini scholarship for the last couple of years but there is nothing like full time training, it’s now your job, it’s now your employment. It’s about being on-time, disciplines that go with that, training every day and the demands of that, the standards that are set so for some of them it takes a while to get used to, some hit the ground running then hit a brick wall in October but that’s part and parcel of starting that process so hopefully we won’t have too many problems this year.”
“Obviously they are going to be with us every day now, 24 × 7 in effect, they will play Saturday and sometimes Sundays and may have to come to watch the first team. All those things are expected of them so there no exact routine, they have got to be prepared to be adaptable and adjust to that but I think the most important thing they have to adjust to and the most difficult thing to adjust to is training every day and the demands of that training session with terms of the standard and the level you would expect every day.Physically it pushes them to the limits, physiologically he tests them and makes demands of them looking them constantly to improve, we’ve got two years to turn them into young professionals so they is no time like the present so every day is a challenge to them.”
“Education is part of the scholarship system, we have got our own class rooms now and we do teach in house, they will have a class room session every day which will run from 8.30am to 10am every day, at 10 o’clock they come into the changing rooms, get changed and go out for training for 10.30am. It’s full on every day and physically, technically and mentality we going to ask a lot of them and also they have to keep one eye on their education in case the worst happens.”
“Some find it hard to make the next level, some relish it and push on very quickly but at this stage we just don’t know so we give them all a chance, give them all an opportunity and hopefully they will grab that opportunity with both hands. Football and education can go hand in glove, Robert Clack School who we have a partnership with in Dagenham is run Sir Paul Grant, a famous headmaster, we have a great relationship and it’s working very, very well.”
“They are starting work now, they are starting employment now and although it is not a lot of money it’s only apprenticeship wages they are getting paid for it. They have to be on-time , they have to do it right, the discipline goes with going to work every day, same if you worked in Marks and Spencers , if you are late every day you won’t last very long!”
Earlier this week WHUFC.com confirmed one of these scholars is 16 year old promising defender Josh Pask.
The youngster has chosen to continue his development at the Academy of Football after rejecting interest from Arsenal and several other leading clubs.
Tony Carr MBE said:
“Many top clubs, including Champions League clubs, were chasing Josh, so we were delighted to fight them off for his signature. Josh spent most of last season with the Under-18s and quickly proved himself as a 16-year-old. We now look forward to developing him over the next few seasons and hope he will be a first-team player for West Ham in the not too distant future. Josh has been with us since he was eight and is from Manor Park, so he is a local boy and we are delighted that he has stayed loyal to his local Club, He is a centre-back who is very tall and lean, quick over the ground and good on the ball and in the air. He has a great attitude and goes about his game in a quiet but effective way. We look forward greatly to working with him and moving him up to the Under-21s as soon as possible.”