Number of soccer academies on the rise

Indonesian children’s growing obsession with soccer is encouraging parents to send their kids away to academies, so they may become the next soccer stars.

The impressive performance oversesas of national players like Bambang Pamungkas or Irfan Bachdim, has injected hope into Indonesian soccer.

Children’s ambitions to become the next Bambang or Irfan have led to many kids applying for much coveted spots in local soccer academies to get proper training.

Given the huge demand, it is no surprise that many new soccer academies or soccer schools have sprouted all over the country.

These academies range from local formal schools with former national players as coaches to informal soccer training centers in villages and suburbia.

Unfortunately, there is no official data stating the number of soccer academies in this country. But it is believed it may have already reached the hundreds, with the number expected to continue to rise in the future.

Apart from the local formal and non-formal soccer academies, major football clubs like Arsenal, Real Madrid and Liverpool have also showed an interest in setting up local soccer academies in Indonesia.

Some have already set up training centers and offer various programs to Indonesian children.

“It is because of the huge market,” said Ganesha Putra, the academy director of Villa 2000, a soccer academy based in Pamulang. With millions of young Indonesians raving on about the sport, the soccer academy business has indeed become a lucrative market to tap into in this country.

Every child registered in one of these schools must pay a fee in exchange for intensive training, which sometimes involves foreign coaches.

Apart from the business side, these soccer academies have helped the country find new talent, brightening the prospects for the sport in this country.

Villa 2000, for example, has produced a number of good young players who have not only won local competitions but also competitions abroad.