International College of Management and Sports (ICMS) ties up with Southampton Football Club as International Academy Partner
International College of Management and Sports (ICMS) is pleased to announce that it has signed up with Southampton Football Club as its International Academy Partner in Malaysia. ICMS offers a range of diploma courses in the areas of Sports, Business, IT and Law Enforcement. The college was established in 2006 and offers the Diploma in Football Studies as its signature programme. All students in ICMS, irrespective of the courses they study, are given free access to its professional football development programme within the ICMS Football Club.
Many may not be aware that Southampton Football Club which plays in the English Premier league, operates one of the most successful and best professional football academies in the United Kingdom with a focus on player development and education. The partnership will see Southampton FC’s Academy supporting ICMS’ professional football development & education programmes in Malaysia. Mark Abrahams, SFC’s Director of Business & Community Development commented; “We’re looking forward to working with ICMS over the coming years & we’re delighted to be working with an organisation that recognises the power of sport and in particular, football.
There’s has been a natural synergy between both parties since we began discussions as we have a shared purpose and expertise in developing young people to fulfil their potential.”
The Partnership will see a range of opportunities for ICMS staff, students & the wider community to engage with Southampton FC’s renown coach & player development programme. Areas of focus include access to the highly regarded SFC player development curriculum and the SFC e-Learning Programme, as well as SFC Academy staff visiting Malaysia to deliver Soccer Clinics for young players and masterclasses for coaches when travel corridors open up and it is safe to travel. Managing Director of ICMS, Dato’ Nathan Mahalingam added; “We chose Southampton FC as they are one of the best football Academies in UK with a focus on football training and education similar to what ICMS is trying to achieve in Malaysia. Our coaches and students will benefit greatly from the years of knowledge and expertise that Southampton FC has amassed in producing top level football players for many of the top teams in the World. This partnership will bring football education in Malaysia to a new level and is also in line with our plans to develop pathways for our outstanding players to train and play overseas”.
National Football Development Program
National Football Development Program (NFDP) is a program under the management of Kementerian Belia Dan Sukan (KBS). This program is a national level program that focused to improve and develop the quality of national football here in Malaysia. The trainees of this program are players from the age of 7 until the age of 17 years old. ICMS FC and NFDP collaboration focused on this NFDP program graduates to enable them use CFC professional football development platform as another means for them to try to further their tertiary education without having to make their choice between their education or their footballing dream and career. Through this collaboration, all NFDP graduates automatically will be eligible for partial scholarship to enroll as student athlete at International College of Management and Sports (ICMS) without having to go through any Selection process. This directly enable NFDP graduates to try to make it to the professional football scene while undergoing the tertiary level of education. This education qualification also will be needful for the players personal future endeavors. The Structure of NFDP as follows:
