Training at academies that helped nurture the careers of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Robbie Fowler and Steven Gerrard would inspire any young footballers to become as good as they can be in the sport they love.
The youngsters with Liverpool ambassador Gary McAllister, academy coaches, AP Honda executives and SAT governor Sakol Wannapong, back row third left.
That belief rang true for a group of Thai youth who recently embarked on a short training course at English Premier League giants Manchester United and Liverpool.
The group (aged between 13-18) were winners from the fifth edition of AP Honda Red Champion, a project sponsored by the local distributor of Honda motorcycles which is an official partner of both EPL clubs, in conjunction with the Office of the Basic Education Commission.
The Red Champion project is a part of AP Honda’s annual football programme which involves a nationwide competition to select the best young footballers and offer them a chance of a lifetime to train at the state-of-the-art facilities of the two world-renowned Premier League clubs.
The boys, divided into United and Liverpool groups, had five-day training stints at the clubs’ academies where they trained like professional youth footballers while also testing themselves against players from the two clubs’ academies, visiting Old Trafford and Anfield and also attending Premier League games — United v Arsenal at Old Trafford and Liverpool v Manchester City at Anfield.
They also had an opportunity to rub shoulders with United stars — Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and England defender Luke Shaw — who made surprise appearances prior to the certificate presentation ceremony.
EMERGING TALENTS
United stars Bastian schweinsteiger, second left, and Luke Shaw.
Among the selected group was Nontawat Sapkamnerdmee, a member of the national winning team from Assumption Sriracha School. The 19-year-old centre-back has already taken the huge first step in his young football career after being spotted by Thai League runners-up SCG Muang Thong United who signed him up recently.
This season, Nontawat will be loaned out to a lower-tier team where he has to prove himself before hopefully becoming a part of the Kirins squad.
“My dream is to be a professional footballer in the top league in Thailand, and maybe one day playing abroad as well,” said a smiling Nontawat before jogging off to join his friends in another pass-and-move session under the watchful eyes of the Liverpool academy coaches.
The 18-year-old Tanakorn Boonyapichit, also from Assumption Sriracha School, is another standout talent who has already signed with Chaiyaphum United in Division Two.
“Training here focuses so much on all the basic skills, dribbling, passing, heading the ball, and shooting. All the things we learn here we have to keep practicing when we get back to Thailand,” said Tanakorn, who also trained at Bayern Munich when he was 16.
“Coming here means we have to adapt to many things, different language, different culture, the cold weather... everything.
“Also what I notice here is that their young players seem a lot more determined when they train. We can learn from them.”
WORDS OF ADVICE
Former Liverpool midfielder Gary McAllister, who took up an ambassadorial role at the Anfield club when Juergen Klopp came in as manager last year, presented the boys with certificates at the end of their training stint.
“As much as the skills are important as well as the other aspects of the game. I think to be humble, you know... to play with real hunger and desire to get better and also to have focus and concentration. These are all the things you need to progress to the next level, to become a professional footballer,” said McAllister.
United ambassador and former Thailand coach Bryan Robson stressed the importance of enjoying the game.
“First thing for me is you have to enjoy your football. If you enjoy it you will practise more and you will get better.
“We’ve got all sorts of different skills, passing the ball, heading the ball, tackling and dribbling. These are all different skills and if you really love football you need to practise all of them to become a better footballer.
“And fitness is also very important so you train hard.
“Another thing people usually don’t talk about because we tend to focus on individual skills. Football is a team game. So help your teammate, the movement and the way you pass the ball... that is very important as well.”
ALL ABOUT BASICS
“I was delighted to be involved with a programme that was able to give the boys the chance to train in England,” said AP Honda director Suchart Arunsaengroj. “They had the chance to train at the academy of these two world-class clubs and learn from the best coaches the importance of all the basic skills they need.
“I feel in Thailand we focus too much on results, but not enough on getting the basics right,” added Suchart. “Here the coaches put the kids through all the basics of pass and move, and try to instill in them the understanding of the game and their movement which I think we lack in Thailand.
“Even some school teachers/coaches who have come with the kids on this trip complain why all they do is practising these basic skills and ask ‘when will the boys get to play a match?’”
“All they want is results and I think we need to change that mindset. And if we can change the way these Thai coaches think, only then we will be able to improve the standard of our young footballers,” added Suchart.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
While a five-day training course was definitely not long enough to transform anyone into a world-beater, the Red Champion programme was a genuine attempt by all parties involved to offer a chance for these young hopefuls to kick start their football careers.
“This is definitely your once-in-a-lifetime experience and you may never have a chance like this ever again but let’s take this as an inspiration that you once trained at world-class clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool.
“It is now up to you all to decide whether you want to stay on this path, follow your dream and try to become a professional footballer or not,” Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand Sakol Wannapong told the boys.
“AP Honda has given you all this great opportunity and now it’s up to you to make the most of it.”
Nontawat and Tanakorn have already chosen the path of becoming professional footballers. What future holds for the rest of the boys remains to be seen.
