Inter Academy Soccer Day in Beijing

BEIJING

- Inter Academy Soccer Day was held on 6 May to celebrate the game of football. The event, organised by the Beijing embassy's official Italian school, formally inaugurated the partnership with Inter Academy Yihai Beijing.

The project will launch a series of extracurricular football courses for children aged 5-8 with the direct support of Inter Academy coaches. The aim is to promote teamwork, respect of the rules and emotional control as per the values of Inter Football Schools, one of the Nerazzurri youth set-up's leading schemes.

Right from the outset, the Italian school's teaching programme has aimed to developed motor skills and body language among boys and girls using sport. Thanks to the partnership with Inter Academy, the young participants will have the chance to train with high quality content which focuses on the individual to help them develop within their own environment as human beings first and then as sportsmen and footballers.

The Italian school is the first in the Far East to be officially recognised by the Italian government - all that within a year of opening. In the space of just 18 months, the partnership with Yihai Beijing has grown massively. There are currently more than 600 young people taking part in the activity with 30 Chinese coaches being constantly trained and two Italian instructors overseeing things for the whole season. Besides Yihai School, the main training ground for the Yihai Education group, the Inter Academy Bejing family also works with three public schools which are among the five best in the capital.

Lots of boys and girls were involved at the event along with their families, as they had their first Nerazzurri experience under the stewardship of the Inter Academy coach and local staff. Also in attendance were the Italian Ambassador to China Ettore Francesco Sequi, F.C. Internazionale's senior manager of technical operations and global youth business Aldo Montinaro, president of the school Franco Cutropia and its coordinator Mariassunta Peci, who came up with the project and is its heartbeat.

"Teamwork is crucial to achieving new goals in life and education and the Italian Embassy in China supports the promotion of football," said Ambassador Sequi. Aldo Montinaro, meanwhile, stressed how in China - not just Beijing - given the growth of the Inter Academy project backed by Suning Group, the meeting of two very different cultures has proven to be the real driving force in the current growth of youth football.

The importance being placed in youth education has brought together professional clubs with schools and families, all crucial in the development of the next generation.