DUBAI The Realmadrid Foundation Football Academy aims to develop the game among youngsters of Dubai while encouraging the youth to lead a healthy lifestyle.
“We hope that we can deliver the correct message using football as the tool to develop them off the field as much as we can develop them on the field,” Iain Shaw, technical director of the academy told XPRESS on the sidelines of the launch of the academy here in association with Baniyas Investment and Development.
“I don’t think any club can have an impact like Real Madrid. We believe we have the capability to produce the right kind of footballers. We want to make our presence felt and develop a core group of players who we can work with and then we will start to develop them over and over. We are here to make a long term impact on a community on a whole.”
Another major focus in future, will be involving schools said Shaw. “We will train the kids at out academy and provide them with a competitive edge. We will also propose schools to include our training schedule as part of their course. We will provide this training free of charge.
“We will also hold tournaments pitting teams from these schools against our academy kids which will give both a competitive edge.
Shaw said money was not on their minds when they decided to come to Dubai. “That’s not our motive when we look at schools. We are planning to develop squads at certain age groups.”
The academy will hold sessions three times a week (Sunday, Wednesday and Friday) at the Dubai Municipality Club and run until May. “We are looking to have around 200 students.
“This country has a rich diversity and we are looking at involving kids from all nationalities. Everybody should get a chance and we will provide the right platform for all,” said Shaw.
At the end of the season, 10 students will get a chance to travel to Madrid and train at the Real Madrid Club. “We have already established our academy in Abu Dhabi in March and happened to take kids from there to Madrid to give them a feel of how it is to be a member of the first team. They also got to understand the culture and had classroom sessions at the Madrid academy.”
Nader Al Marzouqi, Manager of Baniyas Sport said: “This academy will focus on developing the game among kids and also their lifestyle. Most of the kids really don’t know what to do after their schools, so this academy will make them understand many things and keep them busy, ensuring they don’t get distracted.
“We are happy to have got one of the top clubs in the world. What we understood before we signed up with Real Madrid was they were not looking at money. Their priority was to spread the game across the world and that’s the reason they have so many successful academies around the world. They are serious about developing football everywhere,” said Al Marzouqi.
