New football academy demonstrates team’s commitment to China
Print Edition
Liverpool expects its first football academy in China to be functional in January, a club official said in Shanghai recently. The English Premier League club has teamed up with Guilin-based Kingsborn to operate the Guilin International Football Academy — a new complex, complete with full-size pitches, practice areas, classrooms, a gym, lecture theater and medical facilities.
The academy in Guilin City in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region aims to be a development center for both coaches and young players. Coaches from Liverpool will recruit and train Chinese coaches with the goal of developing local talent.
“We will not only coach the children, but also the coaches there,” said Paul Rogers, head of Liverpool’s international digital development. “In a lot of countries where soccer is still in the developing stage, the main problem young players face is lack of disciplined coaching. The coaching structure is very well organized in England, and we are aiming to bring some of the structure we have to China and India,” he said.
Paul said the club had invested a lot of time, energy and resources in the project. At the moment, it’s a key focus for Liverpool, given the size of the fan base, the prospects for the country and the popularity of the Premier League.
“From top to bottom, it will be Liverpool involvement. We’ll try to get the young players to a certain level and give them the best possibility by introducing a Liverpool-style development structure.”
Paul, however, made it clear that any young Chinese player involved has to be good enough to win a trip to the famed Liverpool academy in England.
The club has said that the program will provide hundreds of Chinese youngsters with the chance to improve their football techniques and tactical awareness as well as develop key life skills such as confidence, motivation, teamwork and communication.
In October, when the academy was announced, Dan White, the head of soccer schools at Liverpool FC, said that it “will give us the best possible chance of developing the next generation of Chinese superstars, which can only be good news for both Liverpool Football Club and the game here in China.”
“In years to come, we hope we can say that Liverpool Football Club has played a meaningful role in the development of football in China,” White said.
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