Manchester City and Al Jazira hope to produce future UAE stars through new academy collaboration
From the start of next season, the foundation phase (age 6-9) of the Al Jazira Club Junior Academy will be run by City Football Schools, identifying talent from a young age and offering a pathway that could one day result in a professional contract.
Trials were held in Abu Dhabi in June, marking the first step in a collaboration that saw the youngsters showcase their football skills in front of Al Jazira and City Football Schools coaches.
City's coaches are among the best in the region, having developed at the Premier League club, and all are Uefa qualified.
The new programme enhances both Al Jazira's academy and City Football Schools' existing programme, where over 4,000 players, both male and female, train with City coaches weekly across nine venues in the UAE.
Simon Hewitt, City Football Group's head of football operations in the Mena region, said linking up with Al Jazira Club Junior Academy reaffirms their commitment to providing opportunities for kids to play and boost the growth of football in the UAE.
He said: 'We're really excited to be working alongside Al Jazira Club Junior Academy to help develop the football stars of tomorrow in the UAE in what is the first step of a potential professional pathway.
"Al Jazira has been doing great work in nurturing local young players in Abu Dhabi for many years, and City Football Schools will now support those efforts. This is a unique opportunity to play our part with best-in-class coaches, who have trained at the Manchester City Academy in the UK, using the club's world-leading methodology, and this will ensure the players' development at these important early years.
'There will be weekly coaching sessions, plus opportunities for the players to play competitive matches, enter leagues like our very own Manchester City Abu Dhabi League and Manchester City Abu Dhabi Cup.
"We plan to travel internationally as well to ensure the best possible start to their journeys. Hopefully, in the future, we can see them flourish and move on to the full academy within Al Jazira Club and eventually the first team.'
Over 100 players have moved into professional academies after going through the City Football Schools programme.
Chris McCarthy, manager of the Junior Academy at Al Jazira, was equally impressed by what he saw at trials and believes the City collaboration bodes well for the future.
He said: 'This partnership will really help us at Al Jazira to progress the development of the six to nine-year-olds at the Club Junior Academy and not only allow more players to come through but also gain the important skills needed at an early age from City Football Schools' elite coaching team.
'Al Jazira Club puts a lot of focus on developing the stars of tomorrow with many going on to represent the first team and the UAE national team, and this collaboration sets a pathway from six years old where players can make that a reality with hard work on this development journey.'
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