The Elite Development Performance programme is leading the way in terms of the Bees youth structure for the 2020/21 season and consists of a mixture of mainstream Post 16 school education, whilst also representing the Bees in training sessions and weekly matches. The education side of the programme takes place at Canons High School, who have been long-standing partners of the Club.
We currently have two teams representing the Club from the EDP programme, Barnet FC Black and Barnet FC Amber. The sides play weekly fixtures in the prestigious U19 Tactic League, as well as taking part in the League Cup and FA Youth Cup. Barnet FC Black ply their trade in the F1 North division, whilst Barnet FC Amber play in the T2 North Division.
The two sides kicked off their season’s last week, with Barnet FC Amber making a short trip to Buckinghamshire to take on PDA Bucks, whilst Barnet FC Black hosted Oxford City at The Hive London.
PDA Bucks 1-1 Barnet FC – Black
The young side had to settle for a point in their opening fixture of the season. After falling behind to a first-half goal, the Bees responded in the second half with a neatly taken goal to ensure they levelled the game. Despite some late pressure from the Bees, we couldn’t find that second goal which would have seen us get off to the perfect start. However, a promising opening to the season for this newly formed side.
Barnet FC – Amber 0-1 Oxford City
The Bees, unfortunately, fell to opening day defeat at The Hive London, as Oxford City snatched the points with a second-half goal in an open affair in North London. On a chilly afternoon at The Hive, both sides started the game at a high tempo looking to get off to a great start to the new campaign. However, after a string of second-half chances Oxford took the lead with a swift counter-attack. The Bees almost snatched a point at the end, as a powerful strike was brilliantly saved by the visitors ‘keeper.
Following the first week of the season, we caught up with Head of Youth Development Sian Osmond to find out more about her role and the programme as a whole.
