Italian Serie A Club Sampdoria to Launch North America Academy
UC Sampdoria of Italy’s Serie A has announced plans to launch a North American Soccer Academy through a formal partnership with Sports Management Company Global Image Sports (GIS).
Phase one of the project will see Sampdoria’s Academy (Settore Giovanile) formally partner with a select number of youth football clubs across the United States and Canada. Each Partner Club’s coaches and players will have the opportunity to work with the Academy coaches of Sampdoria in both North America and Italy, offering an insight into the philosophy of youth player development at Sampdoria – one of Italy’s most famous clubs.
“We are delighted to be working with GIS on this project,” said Vittorio Garrone, President of Marketing at UC Sampdoria. “It provides a real opportunity for Sampdoria to develop relationships in North America and we are very impressed with the work that GIS is doing there.”
“As a leading club in Italian football with a famous history, we set high standards and we are confident that this will be a project that will meet our expectations,” Garrone continued. “This partnership is an important step in Sampdoria’s international development that in the last two years has carried out important and cutting edge projects such as the commercial and technical program in China since March 2012”
“We are very pleased to announce our Partnership with Sampdoria,” GIS Chief Operating Officer Mike Kelleher said. “To work with a club with such a proud history – including a European Cup Final against Barcelona – is a real privilege. GIS is really looking forward to developing the reputation of Sampdoria at youth level in North America and we know there will be phenomenal interest from players here to link with such a prestigious club. ”
The UC Sampdoria North American Academy will be hosting a series of Elite Player ID Events with its partner clubs during 2013-14, culminating in the UC Sampdoria National Camp. For more information on how to become a North American partner club of UC Sampdoria, contact Kevin Kooistra at Kevin@globalimagesports.com.
About UC Sampdoria: Unione Calcio (UC) Sampdoria is an Italian Serie A club based in Genoa. Formed in 1946 by the merger of Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria, Sampdoria plays their home matches at Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa. The club has won the Serie A title (1990-91), the Supercoppa Italiana (1991), the UEFA Cup (1989-90) and the Coppa Italia four times (1984-85, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1993-94). For more information, visit http://www.sampdoria.it/index.php?lang=en.
About Global Image Sports: Global Image Sports is a sports management company that provides opportunities and experiences via the formation of strategic partnerships in the sports industry. It prides itself on a professional approach to its business activities and strives to be the market leader in its field while offering its customers unrivalled service and satisfaction. For more information, go to www.globalimagesports.com
