By Max Davies
The world-renowned Liverpool Football Club, LFC, will partner with Assumption College, bringing its international academy program to students in a Victorian first.
Assumption will become the home of the first LFC academy in Victoria and will also be the first school nationally to offer a high-performance soccer school program delivered by LFC International Academy Australia in 2023.
A range of LFC community training and holiday programs will also be available to all aspiring players through Assumption College, and coaches from the area will have the opportunity to be trained and accredited by LFC.
LFC International Academy director Kevin Kalinko said the partnership with Assumption would benefit both parties.
“When we first met with Assumption, the first things we spoke about were the Liverpool values and the Assumption values, and what we found was that there was a really strong overlay of those two sets of values,” he said.
“You look over here and you can see soccer is being played and the balls are being kicked around. That’s the medium, not the message. The message is about asking ‘how do you become a good person?’ and that’s what this program aims to deliver.”
The LFC program will be available for Assumption students as an elective, with positive behavior and values to be taught to complement the improvement of soccer skills.
A goal for the program is not only to develop players technically, tactically and physically, but also to pay attention to social and mental development, career paths and life skills such as communication, teamwork and leadership.
Mr. Kalinko said a key aspect of the program would be to deliver a program that taught values and skills that could be used in everyday life.
“While we’re here watching kids play soccer, the last thing we’re actually talking about is football,” he said.
“What we’re talking about is the use of football to drive a values-based education program for Assumption College students.
“Yes, I would love to see the next Liverpool football players coming from Assumption College, but between now and then, I would love to see a values-based education program delivered, that is not only delivered but received, embedded and personalized by the players in this program.”
The program is being run in partnership with the Australian College of Physical Education, ACPE, a tertiary education provider focused on providing career pathways in sports.
ACPE provides education for specialist degrees in sport, education, health, sport business and dance, and the Assumption program is expected to benefit from the combined experience and resources to create an environment that players taking part in high-performance programs might experience in the United Kingdom.
“We will teach these players how to kick a football in the best possible way, similar to other programs,” said Mr. Kalinko.
“Where we step ahead is creating a program that drives a certain type of behavior going forward, not only when they’re on the pitch, but when they’re in the classroom, when they’re at home, and when they’re out in the community.
“It’s about demonstrating a model of behavior that their parents will be proud of, their teachers will be proud of, and that Liverpool itself will be proud of.”
For more information or to register interest in LFC programs, people can visit www.lfcacademy.com.au.
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