Soccer Elite FA have seen a rise in numbers in recent years, showing there is a demand for high quality football coaching.

After England’s recent disappointing World Cup in Brazil the general explanation for the lack of success has been from the lack of top quality coaching throughout the country which is stopping the development of young, talented players; thankfully the rise of development centres such as Maidstone- based Soccer Elite FA are helping to develop the next generation of football stars from Kent.

The rise of SEFA came from Lee Spiller and Tony Browne who spent most of their playing years in Kent, they accepted that there was not enough being done to develop young players within the country and set out to make sure the best children are able to succeed and achieve their goals; this came as a result of the lack of professional coaching in the lower forms of the game which allows for better development of young players, meaning that more players from Kent will be in the higher leagues in the future.

Since then they have grown into a big name in youth football with over 700 registered young footballers playing in their teams as well as holding numerous sessions for schools all over the county.

Part of their development has success has been as a result of their partnership with Maidstone United, this has given them amazing facilities in order to help develop the best youth footballers in the county.

They have been able to take advantage of the Gallagher Stadium’s 3G pitch to allow their young players to play at a large, well known non- league ground. This also means that players will have the confidence to play in a number of situations which will be able to help them in their development in the future.

Soccer Elite’s development of players is not just situated in Kent however, in March this year five of their teams from the under 9 to under 16 age groups descended on Milan to take part in a tournament involving similar development teams from a wide range of European nations including a feeder team for Italian giants Inter Milan, although the trip was seen as a success none of their teams came home with silverware but the under 12 and under 16 teams were able to reach the semi-finals- a huge achievement.

Since then they have also attended a tournament in Belgium when six teams travelled to mainland Europe to face similar opponents as well as development teams from Football League sides, however, none of their teams were able to navigate their way through the tournament to reach the final, their most successful team was one of the two under 10/11 squads who were able to finish in sixth position.

Since Soccer Elite started they have a had a number of players sign for various professional clubs such as Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Leyton Orient, by allowing players to fulfil their dreams they are able to maintain their interest in football and go on to become great players.

One of Soccer Elite’s best stories so far has come from 19 year old Kaiyne Woolery who signed for Maidstone United in 2012 after impressing the club whilst playing for Soccer Elite, since then he has signed for Conference Premier side Tamworth who he played for against League 1 Bristol City in the second round of the FA cup last year.

Soccer Elite hope that they will be able to continue nurturing the next generation of talent from the South East. You can find out more at https://soccerelitefa.com/.