[attach id=260425 size="medium"]Coach Ray Farrugia with some of the young ZFS participants at the end-of-season penalty shoot-out. Photo: Domenic Aquilina[/attach]
The excited shouts of enthusiastic children filled the air at the San Ġwann FC ground as the Zazu Football School (ZFS) wrapped up their 2012/13 winter campaign with an end-of-season penalty shoot-out recently.
This fun-filled event captured the enthusiasm not only of the numerous ZFS youngsters but also their parents who took up the penalty challenge.
Established by Ray Farrugia, the current Malta Under-21 coach, eight years ago, the ZFS has grown into one of the leading private youth football academies on the Maltese islands.
Around 120 youngsters formed part of ZFS last season, an encouraging number by local standards.
Delighted with his school’s on-going success, Farrugia has reaffirmed his willingness to maintain and possibly improve the standards of the training and guidance offered by his organi-sation.
“We’ve just concluded another season, the eighth since the launch of the ZFS in 2005,” Farrugia said in a statement.
“The penalty shoot-out has become a fixture in the school’s calendar as our young players look forward to this end-of-season activity which also involves the participation of parents.
“The emphasis is on fun but penalties are a good way to practise shooting. Over 3,000 penalties were taken on the day.”
The next event on the ZFS calendar will be the annual summer school which kicks off on July 1 and runs for eight weeks.
Spurs venture
Farrugia said the ZFS is planning to increase its activities for next season.
“We are upgrading our website and also created a Facebook page as part of our efforts to raise the profile of the school in the social media,” Farrugia said.
“It is our aim to hold more educational activities next season. We will focus on subjects like nutrition, psychology and character formation.
“We are also exploring at the possibility of inviting coaches from the Tottenham Hotspur academy to conduct a training clinic at our school as this would benefit both the players and the coaches.”
The ZFS is supported by Peugeot, the main sponsors, Seabank Hotel, TeamSport, Assi-kura, David Vella Trading, Gram, Munchies Restaurant, Gaba, Joe Sammut & Co and Fahrenheit Freight Forwarders.
More information on the Zazu Football School may be obtained by visiting the school’s website www.zazufs.com or call 9949-1594.