The Club’s Youth coaches were recently given an education into the risks of heading in training in an insightful session delivered by Head Safe’s Nick Gates.

Moors have a proud and longstanding association with Head Safe, a charity founded in former defender Bill Gates’ honour and committed to stopping CTE in football by focusing on prevention through limiting heading in training.

The Club has consistently backed the cause through a series of linkups, the most recent being a dedicated Head Safe fixture when Moors hosted AFC Fylde at The Brewery Field last month.

Now the more practical step of putting on an educational workshop – also attended by Men’s First Team boss Graeme Lee – to enhance the knowledge and understanding of our Youth coaches has further underlined that connection.

“It was fantastic to see such a good turnout from our Youth coaches for what was an invaluable education session,” said Chairman of Spennymoor Youth, Gareth Richards.

“Nick delivered a wonderful hour of information, which certainly gave our coaching team a lot to think about and take forward when planning their sessions.

“There are guidelines around heading in training already in place for children’s football in this country but strengthening that message and really understanding the reasons that those guidelines are needed is a key learning for all of our coaches.

“We’re proud to have taken this step to give our volunteer staff this valuable insight and hopefully it can help us provide a safer environment for all of our young players.”

As well as the delivery in the classroom, Nick – the son of former Moors and Middlesbrough star, Bill – also led a short outdoor session to give coaches some practical examples of fun training drills that can be delivered in a safe way.

Click here for more information on Head Safe.