bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Chelsea Football Club is the latest  star-studded English Premier League club to  set up a soccer school for children in Hong Kong.

Manchester United started their first programme last summer at Hong Kong Football Club and, soon after, Arsenal joined forces with the Hong Kong Football Academy to run programmes at King George V School.

Now Chelsea, the new glamour club of world football, are taking advantage of their popularity as English champions, and are conducting a series of training camps at Kowloon Cricket Club this month.

The first of three five-day camps started last Monday, with Chelsea's 'Football in the Community' coach Shaun Gore eager to show Hong Kong's young people  some new skills.

'We want to make new fans around the world by sharing the way we do things, and training kids in soccer skills is a great way to build friendships and awareness of the club,' says Gore.

More than 150 children have already signed up for five days of training with Gore, who is being assisted by local Cantonese-speaking coaches. The daily sessions last for one and a half hours,  and  cost  $1,200 per person.

Similar to the programmes run by United and Arsenal, the focus is on having fun: scoring goals, learning tricks and honing basic skills such as passing and heading.

This is the first time Chelsea  have set up a soccer school in Asia, says  locally-based soccer coach Tim Bredbury,  who helped  organise the summer school by finding sponsors and the venue.

'Asia  provides such a massive opportunity for these clubs to develop their fan base. Football supporters here don't have a close or personal affiliation with any one club. They support the team with the best players, the best team of the moment.

'For the clubs, this is a small investment. They spend millions to buy star players. But they can develop a following here by building a relationship with young fans.

'It has taken three or four months to set this up. If it goes well, and the demand is there, we hope to run more courses at Christmas and Easter,' says Bredbury, who knows Gore from a coaching clinic he attended in England 13 years ago.

The children who joined the opening week's camp  certainly seemed to enjoy the training.

'There is a lot of focus on ball skills, and the drills are fun and easy to learn,' says one  participant, Jonathan Ip, 11.

And there is a big incentive for the young players to show off their  skills to the coaches. The soccer school's sponsor, AIA, will pay for two participants to travel to Chelsea's training academy in London next summer.

Gore  says Chelsea  are always on the lookout for the next superstar.

'We will look out to see which kids have the most potential.  It  will be a great learning experience for them.'

To enrol, visit www.chelseasoccer schoolhk.hongkong.com



Footy Fun