Melbourne Victory is pleased to announce the launch of its Pre-Academy Centres.
The Pre-Academy Centres will run at a variety of partner club venues and form the first plank in the Club’s long-term vision for our Player Development Pathway (PDP), as a lead in to the Melbourne Victory Academy.
The Player Development Pathway will allow participants to train and develop their skills from a young age, in accordance with the Melbourne Victory way, building confidence in their skills at an important time in their development.
The Pre-Academy Centres will target the best developing talent throughout metropolitan and regional Victoria, offering boys and girls aged 8-12, with the environment and platform to reach their potential.
The program will work as a complementary offering to that of the player’s registered clubs.
While there is an intent to develop more geographically targeted sites, the initial launch locations will be run in conjunction with the following Club Victory partners; Whittlesea Ranges, Bell Park Soccer Club, Spring Hills Football Club, West Point Soccer Club and Knox Churches, as well as a new regional arrangement with Murray United.
More partnerships will be announced in due course.
Rob Sherman, General Manager – Technical and Coaching welcomed the launch of the Pre-Academy Centres.
“The Player Development Pathway has two fundamental aims; to help grow the game by attracting more boys and girls to football and to provide opportunities for those who wish to get better.
“The program is designed to present players with the opportunity to gain a high-quality coaching experience in their local football community while they aspire and develop, whilst also providing a tangible route in the Melbourne Victory Academy.
“We are excited by the response from clubs to host our Pre-Academy Centres and look forward to working with them in developing the game and talented players in the region.”
Melbourne Victory captain Carl Valeri said, “it’s exciting to know that current and future generations of Australian footballers have a quality development pathway in their own backyard,” Valeri said.
“For so many, myself included, the path to the top of the game had to take us overseas. We had to leave home to take our game to the next level.
“But now Melbourne Victory can offer young players with genuine coaching and development opportunities, the likes of which we didn’t have previously.”
These clubs will be the sites of our Pre-Academy Centre programs to run throughout 2019.
There are two ways to enter these programs: via a referral from a trusted scout or following participation in one of our talent identification camps to take place in January.
