Everything you need in one place: how we coach, how sessions run, how we keep in touch, and how we look after every player.
Hello, and welcome to the EPA family.
I am Kevin Tarrant, the founder and Academy Director. Whether your child has just joined us or you are reading this a few months in, this handbook puts everything you need in one place: how we coach, how sessions run, how we keep in touch, and how we look after every player.
You do not need to read it cover to cover. Keep it handy, dip in when a question comes up, and if you cannot find the answer, message us on LINE and a real person will reply.
One phrase you will hear me say again and again, to players and to parents: trust the process. Development is not a straight line, and at this age the scoreboard tells you almost nothing. What matters is effort, confidence and steady improvement, and every child gets there. I have never seen a player not have their moment when it clicks.
EPA Football Academy is a professional football development academy in Bangkok, founded in 2017. Since 2018 we have worked in partnership with the West Ham United Foundation, and our coaching follows the English FA framework.
Two fully covered, FIFA-grade pitches. Sessions run whatever the weather, all year round. You never need to check the sky before training.
A professional coaching team, including a full-time goalkeeper coach.
A structured development programme for every age group, with every player’s progress tracked individually.
Our on-site cafe. Parents are always welcome to stay, watch and have a coffee while your child trains.
EPA is a development centre, not a “we must win” centre. That one sentence explains most of the choices we make.
We coach the player, not the scoreboard. Nobody remembers an under-10 result a month later. We care about whether your child is braver on the ball, reading the game better, and enjoying their football more than they did last month.
We celebrate effort, not outcomes. A child can do everything right and still be on the losing side. They cannot control the result; they can control their effort, their decisions and their attitude. That is what we praise, and we would love you to praise the same at home.
We use positive coaching language. You will not hear our coaches ask “why did you miss?”. You will hear “try to hit the target”. Small reframes like this change how a child feels about trying, and trying is where all development starts.
We say development foot, not weaker foot. It is not a joke, it is the whole philosophy in two words. Every part of a player’s game is something growing, not something wrong.
Small-sided games, lots of touches. Sessions are built so every child is involved constantly. No queues, no standing around, no one child getting all the ball.
Every player is tracked individually. Each player has an individual development plan, and you will receive a detailed monthly report on how they are getting on. Not just “attended 8 sessions”: real coaching detail about what they are working on and where they are growing.
Every player fist-bumps the coaches at the start and end of every session. Every player, every age group, every session. It means every child is personally welcomed and personally sent home, and for our youngest players it is often the first sign they have truly settled in.
Nobody starts alone at EPA. Every new player, and every player moving up an age group, is paired with an established player whose job is to include them, learn their name, help them understand the coach’s instructions and make the first sessions feel easy.
Our older players can earn a formal role welcoming and looking after new players. Today’s new starter, a few years from now, becomes the one doing the welcoming. That is the culture working exactly as we want it to.
The EPA Portal always shows the latest schedule, so if anything ever changes you will see it there first (and we will message you).
| Programme | Ages | Training days |
|---|---|---|
| Mini-Hammers | 4 to 6 | Tue and Thu 15:30 to 16:30 · Sat and Sun 09:00 to 10:00 |
| Kids | 7 to 10 | Tue, Wed and Thu 16:30 to 18:30 · Sat and Sun 09:00 to 10:30 |
| Youth | 11 to 13 | Tue, Wed and Thu 16:30 to 18:30 · Sat and Sun 11:00 to 12:30 |
| Academy | 14+ | Tue and Wed 18:30 to 20:00 · Sat and Sun 13:00 to 14:30 |
A note on weekday sessions for Kids and Youth: the first 30 minutes is optional supervised free play. It is there to give families flexibility with school finishes and traffic, and to give the children unstructured time with the ball and their friends. The structured coached session fills the rest. Arrive when you can; your child will not miss the coaching.
Mini-Hammers sessions are a focused 60 minutes: at ages 4 to 6, that is the sweet spot for energy and attention.
Academy sessions are 90 minutes at high intensity, with a professional training approach throughout. Thursday is Academy match night, with Fanzone League fixtures from 18:30 to 20:30.
Moving up. When your child is ready for the next age group, we manage the move carefully: we will talk to you first, and the buddy system makes sure they land among friends. Some players train in the group above their age where that is right for their development; that is always a deliberate coaching decision, made with you.
The Pro-Academy Pathway is our most selective programme: application only, eight places, led by me and Paul Konchesky. If you would like to know whether it could suit your child down the line, just ask.
Boots or trainers (trainers are fine for our youngest players), shin pads, comfortable training kit and a water bottle. We provide a training top when you join. Nothing needs to be expensive: appropriate and safe is all we ask.
Please aim to arrive about 10 minutes before the session so your child can settle in, say hello and fist-bump the coaches without rushing.
Please collect promptly at the end of the session. If you are running late, message us on LINE so we know, and we will keep your child with a coach until you arrive.
You are always welcome to stay and watch from Claret and Brew or the sides. Many of our parents make it their coffee hour.
Both pitches are fully covered. Rain, heat, storm season: sessions run. If anything exceptional ever forces a change, we will message you directly.
If your child cannot make it, a quick LINE message is all we need; it helps the coaches plan. Nothing is lost when you miss a day, so there are no make-up sessions to arrange: a 10-Session Pass only counts the sessions your child actually attends, and a membership gives access to every session on your programme’s schedule for its full period. If an injury means your child will be out for more than two weeks, we will pause their membership and keep their place.
LINE is the quickest way to reach us, and the quickest way for us to reach you: @epabangkok. For anything at all: schedule questions, absences, a worry, a question about your child’s development. If you prefer to talk, call us on 065 294 6935, or email kevin@epa-academy.com.
The EPA Portal is your home for everything to do with your child’s training:
Monthly player reports. Every month you receive a written report on your child’s development, prepared by the coaching team. It is one of the things we are proudest of: you will always know what your child is working on, not just that they turned up.
The newsletter. Once a month we share what is happening at the academy. No spam, and you can unsubscribe any time.
And me. I am at the academy most days, coaching. If you want five minutes, come and find me or message me on LINE. The best academies are built on conversations with parents, not announcements at them.
We keep this simple, and everything lives in the EPA Portal.
Most families are on one of two options:
Current prices for every option are on our website and in the portal, or just ask on LINE.
Renewals. When a 10-Session Pass runs low, we send your renewal invoice automatically, so nothing lapses by surprise. Membership renewals are due before the first session of the new block.
Taking a break. Travelling, exams, an injury, a busy term: if your child will be away for more than two weeks, tell us on LINE and we will pause their place and agree an expected return date with you. We will message you the week before they are due back, and their place is kept. For shorter absences you need nothing at all: just a quick message about the missed session.
Anything unclear on an invoice, message us before you pay. It is always easier to fix things early, and we would much rather you asked.
This is the section we take most seriously, so let us be direct about how it works.
If your child picks up a knock in a session, however small, the coach records it on our coaching platform there and then, during the session. I am personally notified of every injury at the academy, the same day, without exception. And we will always tell you what happened and how your child is. No injury goes unrecorded, and none goes unreported to me or to you.
First aid. Our coaches are first-aid trained. If your child ever needs attention during a session, they are in trained hands from the first moment.
Medical information. The registration form you completed when joining asks about medical needs, allergies and anything else we should know. Please keep it current: if anything changes, one LINE message and we will update our records the same day.
Photos and videos. Your registration and consent form records your photo and media preference. We only ever share positive, appropriate moments from training, and if you prefer your child not to appear in our content, tell us once and we will make sure of it.
Who to speak to. For anything concerning your child’s safety or wellbeing, at the academy or beyond it, come to us directly. EPA has two named safeguarding contacts: me, and Khun Kuk. A message on LINE (@epabangkok) or through the EPA Portal goes directly to both of us, so a concern is always seen and acted on. If you prefer, email me at kevin@epa-academy.com, or find either of us at the academy. You will never be brushed off, and it will always be handled discreetly.
We ask three things of everyone on our sidelines, and we hold ourselves to the same standard.
“Great pressing!” beats “shoot!”. Children hear everything from the touchline, and what gets cheered is what they learn to value.
One voice giving instructions keeps things clear for the players. Your voice is for encouragement, and it means the world to them.
The player having a tough day needs the touchline most. A sideline that lifts all of the children is one of the things visitors notice first about EPA.
And one for the car home, borrowed from how we coach: instead of “did you win?”, try “what did you try today?”. You will get a better conversation, and your child will keep falling in love with the game.
Thank you for trusting us with your child’s development. We do not take it lightly.