Worcester City is in the process of selecting their next batch of promising youngsters for their academy.

The St George's Lane club has the first of three trial dates starting next month on February 17 at County Sports.

Academy youth development officer Ray Woods and City striker Mark Owen will be running their eye of a number of hopefuls with further dates in April and June.

The trials are open to anyone though Woods will be taking mostly school-leavers who can benefit from two full years with the club.

As well as football coaching the youngsters, totalling 18, will study sports science at the Worcester College of Technology and come out with a qualification at the end of the two years.

It is the third intake for City and Woods' brief is to produce first team players. Academy players Liam McDonald, Dean Smith, Dan Parker and Richard Tomkins have all featured for the senior side this season and they will be bidding to earn contracts in the summer.

"The most important thing for me is to get lads breaking into the first team," he said."If you had told me 18 months ago that three or four players from the first intake would have made first team debuts I wouldn't have believed you.

"The trials are open to anybody but the standards are quite high," he added.

"As well as the basic skills of being able to kick a ball to some degree they will need to be athletes because that is more of a criteria these days in the modern game.

"But anybody who fancies their chances can contact the club or college to set up a trial."

City's academy scheme has attracted players from far afield and in its first year that included one lad who was relocating from Germany.

"I was hoping perhaps that I'd got a Owen Hargreaves but it didn't work out like that but he did okay and did well enough to play for Pershore," said Woods.

"Even if the playing side doesn't work out for some of the lads at least they will have a qualification and there is always the chance you will uncover a diamond."

City's girls youth development officer Clare Maslen is also looking to set up a similar scheme for girls again in conjunction with the college.

For more details on trial dates contact Ray Woods at Worcester City Football Club on 01905-23003 or Beryl Merriman at Worcester College of Technology.