Plymouth Argyle's Head of Youth Coaching, Mike Pejic, is backing a new grassroots' soccer programme that focuses on helping children acquire ball skills and trickery. The Skills programme has been developed by the West Cornwall Football Development Centre at Cornwall College and will be run at the College's state-of-the-art facilities at its Camborne campus.

Mike, a former England international and Everton, Aston Villa and Stoke City player will be officially launching the Programme with a free taster session on Tuesday on 25th September at 5pm, anyone aged between 4 and 15 who wishes to take part is welcome to come along.

Mike Pejic, who coached current Premiership and England stars such as Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher and Aaron Lennon during his time as an F.A. staff coach, is enthusiastic in his support of the project, he said; "This is a great opportunity for us to develop essential skills with potential stars of the future. By working with them when they are young we can help build their confidence in the art of ball control, before they have the pressures of competition put upon them."

A large percentage of the coaching sessions will be spent working with the ball with the aim of helping each player become confident and able to execute a wide repertoire of moves, flicks, skills and tricks. The initiative is the brainchild of West Cornwall Football Development Officer Karl Lines, who is also a coach at Plymouth Argyle's recently-opened Advanced Development Centre.

The Skills programme, has also been endorsed by the Cornwall FA and is open to boys and girls of any ability from the age of 4 up to 15 years. Parents can pre-register their children for the Skills Programme by calling the West Cornwall Football Development Centre on 01209 616161. Places are on a first come first served basis and the first 40 children to register will receive a free gift.

The sessions will run weekly on a Tuesday evening, with sessions for children aged 4 to 11 from 5pm to 6pm, and for those aged 11-15 from 6pm to 7pm.