David Pullan, the club’s chief marketing officer, was in Lavasa this week to seal the agreement that will see operations kick-off by the end of 2011.
“We are setting up an academy in every sense of the term. Our physical and digital presence will be there all through the year. The entire academy training module followed at Manchester City will be replicated in Lavasa and we are positive of a successful result,” he said.
The vision is that this will be ‘football for all’ not elite development. The vision is that a football programme eventually forms part of the school and college curriculum
...David Pullan
“City’s Academy will provide the coaching materials and methods of support. In essence we will train the coaches. We are getting involved where it really matters.”
The academy will cater to the residents of the under-construction township which is an hour from Pune and will target children between the age group of 9 to eighteen years
The club will fly down coaches initially where they will then create a model for recruitment of local coaches who will be trained by the club coaches before taking over.
Nathan Andrews, executive vice-president of Lavasa said that the partnership with City was a big one:
“We are building academies in eight different sports and football is definitely a key element there. To have a big club like Manchester City on board is absolutely great,” he said.
