Posted by Marketing, 19th September 2016
Global Image Sports, in collaboration with professional partner, A.C. ChievoVerona have officially unveiled their European Residential Academy at the club’s Bottagisio Sports Centre in Verona, Italy.
The ambitious and exciting project will see these first 7 young players stay at the club’s academy facility and receive dedicated around-the-clock training both on and off the field. The $4.8 million purpose-built ‘Bottagisio’ can house up to 50 players and contains offices, classrooms, a restaurant, gym, multi-purpose functional training suite, laundry room as well as 4 next-generation turf fields for delivery of the football program.
The players form part of the International Academy squad and have a detailed and thoroughly designed 12-week program (per semester) that has been put together by ChievoVerona and their technical staff, who have worked with GIS for nearly 3 years and delivered over 200 camps in North America. In addition to having access to 2 coaches, a goalkeeper coach and a strength & conditioning coach – there are medical and injury prevention training and rehab facilities available as needed. Each week, players will have to earn the chance to train alongside their peers in the ChievoVerona academy teams who make up the full-time youth component that comes into effect in Italy from the age of 15 onwards. There are also matches arranged each weekend with the local Italian partner clubs who work alongside Chievo which offers the opportunity to put their training and technical development into action! The semesters run from September to December and then again from January to May.
However, it is the hidden benefits that provide the greatest breadth and depth to this program. All players can be enrolled in Mater Academy in the city of Verona and can complete a series of online modules and academic programs that are monitored and updated online and made visible to the club, GIS and family. A dedicated GIS member of staff remains on site with the group 24/7 to ensure that their schedule is on track and they follow both the technical and academic programs laid on by the football club and educational body. Some can opt out of the Academy and continue to study their courses from back home online as well.
Each player is given Italian lessons as part of their stay and the opportunity to immerse themselves in the vibrant and cultural history of the city of Verona. Being just 10 minutes away from this metropolis that has stood here for nearly 2,500 years offers a new sense of perspective; the chance to try new cuisine, experience a European lifestyle and develop a series of skills off the field that will serve everyone later in life. Verona lies 90 minutes from both Milan and Venice with Bologna, Florence, Siena and Torino within striking distance. GIS and Mater Academy will be offering city visits to these locations as well as stadium tours of iconic Serie A clubs. Every single ChievoVerona home game in Serie A will be attended by the group as they look to cheer on the ‘gialloblu’ (yellow and blues)!
Matt Spiro, one of the academy players, said on arrival “I’m looking forward to starting the soccer and getting out on the field but also seeing Verona, learning Italian and trying to show Mom and Dad the best places to eat in the city when they come back in a few months! It’s an amazing facility and we have everything we need to hopefully be successful, I’ve enjoyed meeting my new teammates and hope we play well together.”
Mike Kelleher, COO of Global Image Sports commented, “We are thrilled to see our Residential Program with ChievoVerona underway and know that these first 7 players will enjoy themselves in such a fantastic location and facility. The program has been designed from a holistic point of view to enable the player to develop his football and technical expertise but also thrive away from it, in terms of academics, culture, history, food, language and personal growth. We feel very strongly about developing this program and look forward to adding more players to the group in January.”
If you are interested in enrolling in the Residential Academy Program and would like to find out more – please email ERA@globalimagesports.com, all completed entries for Semester 2 need to be submitted by October 31st.
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