He said the academy would train St James College teachers to adopt “the Liverpool way”, but other programs would be on offer for students and the school community.
“We also have the opportunity to run extracurricular programs, both after school and in the school holidays, which is a combination of both teachers and our own external coaches supplementing the teaching resources,” Davey said.
Liverpool FC International Academy Australia general manager Rob Davey and St James College principal Andree Rice announce the new soccer program on Tuesday.Credit: Catherine Strohfeldt
“First and foremost, it’s a program designed to support the school with their values of investing into young people to make them better citizens within our communities. Football is the vehicle for that, and we happen to be backed by one of the world’s leading sporting brands in Liverpool Football Club.”
Davey said the “cream of the crop” students could later play professionally in Australia, but Rice said the benefits would extend beyond just soccer.
“Some [students] are going to end up being amazing football players, but others will be able to use those skills in a whole array of sports,” she said.
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“We believe this Liverpool way of training will actually hugely help their skills flourish.”
St James College is the second Queensland school to partner with Liverpool FC’s training academy after Ignatius Park College in Townsville, and one of 22 across the country.
St Joseph’s Nudgee College also has a Premier League partnership with Tottenham Hotspur, with the next two seasons locked in, and St Laurence’s College opened a soccer program from Manchester City FC in 2022.
State schools with specialist soccer programs compete in the Queensland Schools Premier League, and A-League teams partner with select schools offering elite sporting programs.
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