Work on the academy was officially inaugurated by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter and OFC ambassador Christian Karembeu in 2008 and it is part of the country’s FIFA Goal Project, a programme that allows each member association of FIFA to receive funding for football development projects that respond to the special needs of their national associations.
The opening of the academy is a key step in the development of football in New Caledonia and FCF technical director Christophe Coursimault, who took on the project when he first began his role at the federation two years ago, is delighted that the official opening is now just around the corner.
“The FCF Academy will open in early 2012 and that is very satisfying for us,” he says.
“It is a real achievement for New Caledonian football, which needs this infrastructure to go further and reach a new level in player development.”
An important part of the academy is the non-footballing education of its students and FCF has therefore established a partnership with the Direction Diocésaine de l’Enseignement Catholique (DDEC) organisation and a local school in Païta, Collège Saint-Marie.
“The opening of the academy is the outcome of the efficient and dynamic work done by FCF, the DDEC and the Collège Sainte-Marie,” Coursimault says.
The generation of players born in 1998 and 1999 will be the first to use the new facilities and training programme and the intake will include players from all parts of New Caledonia.
“The young footballers who come into the programme will benefit from four trainings a week and a medical monitoring system has also been set up,” Coursimault, who coached New Caledonia to victory at the XIV Pacific Games earlier this month, says.
The first batch of players to come through the programme will be elite young males but plans are in place for the academy to be used to its full extent within the next three years to include both males and females.
For more on New Caledonia football go to www.fedcalfoot.com

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