Aztech: Encouraging Football for All, Supporting the Local Community

Victoria Park may already be creating a positive buzz in the local football community, but for the team at Aztech, the new stadium will revolutionise how they support more players’ journeys within the sport. We caught up with Craig, Frazer and Aimee to discuss the success of Guernsey’s first dedicated indoor football facility, how tech is transforming match play and the welcome rise of the girls’ game.

Can you provide some background on Aztech and its purpose?
 

Craig: Aztech is the result of Rob and Tony’s 10-year vision to establish a world-class, indoor football facility here in Guernsey founded on the principles that football is for everyone, and everyone can always improve. 

Inclusivity is at Aztech’s heart – we believe in football for all, whether you’re three years old or 70 - but our purpose-built tech element offers endless opportunities for development and improvement.

What can you tell us about Aztech’s state-of-the-art tech offering?

 Frazer: Our indoor 3G pitch and outdoor 4G pitch are a huge draw, but our Tech Zone, or ‘football gym’, has revolutionised how people play and develop. Its data-driven analysis improves players’ fitness, passing accuracy, co-ordination, goalscoring ability and decision-making. The repetition-based light scoring adds a gamification element, meaning players can see how they improve within the game. 

It’s been one of Aztech’s most popular aspects as it adds a competitive edge - one of our regulars is competing against other players in centres as far away as Egypt and UK, and is in the top three, so we’re pretty proud to support that!

We’re starting to see more about analytics in match play - can you elaborate?

 Frazer: With the increase of performance analysis being implemented on Island, we need to build on this to support players and coaches both on and off the pitch. At the new stadium, we’re bringing industry-led performance analysis software in to play to enhance player development and team performance. 

With this system, we are bringing three different cameras in to capture all aspects of performance from multiple viewpoints. For the first time, this will provide players and teams with the opportunity to receive high-quality visual feedback used in elite sporting environments. 

How has Aztech been received by the community since it opened?

Craig: We’re really pleased with how everyone has made the most of Aztech’s facilities. We welcome numerous community clubs through our doors, from the Guernsey Walking Football Club to the Guernsey Alzheimer’s Association, which hosts regular Boccia sessions with us. We appreciate that for some of the more isolated members of the local community, having a space where they can meet and enjoy a coffee and a little friendly competition is a lifeline - we’re proud that we can provide it.

We’re also taking more corporate bookings for events upstairs in the restaurant and also team-building and sports-based activities, which highlight Aztech’s versatility.

What about the girls’ game - how is Aztech supporting development there?

 Aimee: Aztech has given the girls’ game a huge boost. Thanks to the all-weather facility here, we can hold around ten sessions a week for all age groups, which has helped introduce more girls into the game. Our Wildcat session for 5-11-year-olds is a great success story – we’ve seen numbers more than double over the last few years, which means more girls will hopefully stay on and develop within the game. 

When I was starting out in my football career, we didn’t have anywhere to play that was close to this, and it felt like there were minimal opportunities to develop competitively. Things have improved a great deal since then, thanks to growing awareness of women’s football on a global scale, ambassadors like Maya Le Tissier, support from the GFA and, of course, the development of Guernsey FC Women’s team. 

How will Aztech and Victoria Park work together to encourage more girls into the game?

Aimee: The new stadium is such an important milestone for us because, as with Guernsey FC Men’s team, we’ll have our own home ground for the first time, and that’s huge!

We’ll also have two state-of the-art facilities where we can train throughout the year, giving girls of every age the chance to develop within the game, from Wildcats and the Academy upwards. We’re already seeing the buzz girls get from experiencing Aztech during school visits, and more of them are having a kickabout in the Tech Zone, which is great to see. 

More places to play means more visibility, and, hopefully, girls watching the Guernsey FC Women’s team taking to the pitch on match days will reinforce the message of football for all. 

What will Victoria Park be able to deliver that Guernsey doesn’t currently have?

Craig: It will give us some much-needed space to expand Aztech’s training across all age groups. We’re already at capacity for our Reception to Year 4 groups, so a cutting-edge venue like Victoria Park means we can accommodate more players throughout the year and deliver an even higher standard of training across both venues.

We can also provide more spaces for our popular Holiday Clubs, so we can encourage more children into the game and teach them new skills on a world-class pitch. Simply put, it’s the best of all worlds.