Kiwi kids to become “AC Milan ready”

Monday 9 February 2015

MEDIA RELEASE: For immediate release

Kiwi kids to become “AC Milan ready”

New Zealand football fans aged between eight and 15 years’ old will have the chance of a lifetime this July with AC Milan launching its inaugural New Zealand-based Junior Camp.

The AC Milan Junior Camp is an immersive training camp run in partnership with International Football Camps, the official soccer training camps of the Italian football powerhouse. AC Milan (Associazione Calcio Milan) sits among the leaders in the European ‘Serie A’ league and has won 18 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) titles.

The AC Milan Junior Camp footballers will be trained by AC Milan and New Zealand football coaches who have been hand picked for the camp, eat the same Italian food as professional footballers (catered by award winning local restaurateurs La Bella Italia), learn the Italian language, have the chance to impress scout Alessandro Musicco (Italian Under 21 National team), and potentially travel to Italy to meet the AC Milan squad.

“The AC Milan Junior Camp will provide young New Zealand footballers with an international training camp experience right here in New Zealand. It will be run in the same manner as AC Milan professional squad training camps including small coach to player ratios; and will provide an inspirational glimpse into life as a professional footballer. We already have 150 footballers registered and demand for a place is high. It really will be a life changing experience for these young footballers,” says Raffaele Maiorano, AC Milan Junior Camp’s New Zealand Project Coordinator who is in New Zealand this week to meet with Wellington students and businesses interested in the International Training Camps.

The AC Milan Junior Camp will be held at Wakefield Park, Island Bay, Wellington from6¬–17 July 2015 and is open to footballers of all abilities aged between eight and 15 years’ old.

Of the participating footballers, two will be selected by AC Milan technical staff to travel to Milan, Italy, to take part in the Intesa Sanpaolo Milan Junior Camp alongside other young footballers from around the world, and to meet the AC Milan squad. AC Milan covers all costs for the trip.

“AC Milan has proven its approach of matching the best coaches with young footballers at intensive training programmes achieves positive results in the sport. It set up the International Football Camps around 10 years ago to foster this method. Many of the alumni from the Camps have gone on to play in the European ‘Serie A’ league includingKingsley Boateng,” says Raffaele.

“New Zealand certainly punches above its weight in football. The All Whites and Auckland City Football Club are recent examples of New Zealand football being on the world stage and among the top-flight football teams in Europe. The AC Milan Junior Camp will introduce young New Zealand footballers to this high calibre of international football, here on their home turf.”

Each footballer will receive two complete official AC Milan training sets including an Adidas ball, an AC Milan gym bag, training gear and a tracksuit; and award winning local business La Bella Italia is catering the Camps. International Football Camps is finalising 10 scholarships for the AC Milan Junior Camp, courtesy of synthetic turf manufacturer Polytan.

Event details:

AC Milan Junior Camp

6–10 July 2015 (8–10 year age group)
13–17 July (11–16 year age group)
Wakefield Park, Island Bay, Wellington

www.internationalfootballcamps.co.nz

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