Friday Jan 31, 2025
Friday Jan 31, 2025
Friday, 31 January 2025 04:23 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
From left: Colombo Athletic and Football Club President Ajai Vir Singh, Ambassador of Italy Sri Lanka and Maldives Damiano Francovigh, AC MILAN Academy Coach Davide Battistini, Colombo Athletic and Football Club Director Fouzul Hameed, Colombo Athletic and Football Club Director Trevor Reckerman, Cinnamon Colombo Hotels Area Vice President Cinnamon Grand GM Kamal Munasinghe, Prima General Manager Sajith Gunaratne and SOZO Beverages Managing Director Dushyantha De Silva - Pix by Shehan Gunasekara
By Divya Thotawatte
For the first time in Sri Lanka’s history, young athletes will receive world-class training as AC Milan (also known as the Rossoneri), one of Italy’s most iconic football clubs, has partnered with Colombo Athletic and Football Academy to launch three junior camps this February.
The camps are set to be held in the cities of Colombo, Galle and Jaffna at the beginning of next month. This pioneering initiative that trains young athletes, aged 5–17, marks a key milestone in Sri Lanka’s sports history, where both boys and girls aspiring to be football players could receive training from one of the most successful and prestigious professional football clubs in the world.
This project is also significant because it further expands the Milan Junior Camp project, following a summer in which the initiative started in 23 cities across North America and Europe. The Colombo Camp will take place from 31 January till 5 February.
Colombo Athletic and Football Academy President Ajai Vir Singh said, “This is the start of a new era of football and sports education in Sri Lanka. Sports are significant for the youth and the culture, and we want the young kids in Sri Lanka exposed to an international culture. AC Milan celebrated 125 years in December 2024. So, when they come here, their success story will really infiltrate and give the kids a modern, scientific training structure. This system will cover mental health, physical nutrition, strength training — a complete and scientific package. That’s what we’re trying to introduce here.”
Singh outlined a structured five-year roadmap for developing football in Sri Lanka using the AC Milan Method. He explained that the initiative will start with training the local coaches, as they played a crucial role in introducing new ways of thinking before passing them down to young players.
“In the first year, AC Milan will visit at least three times. By the second year, they will stay for six months at a stretch, and eventually, we aim to establish a permanent coaching base here. We could have done this immediately, but it would have been too much of a system shock,” he said.
Singh also highlighted that affordability was a key consideration in the first year of the program, so fees were kept in line with other academies. While other programs charged Rs. 2,000 per session, this initiative would offer sessions at Rs. 1,500 for those attending twice a week. “We’re trying to introduce this culture without price being a barrier,” he said.
Speaking of this historic collaboration and initiative, AC Milan Academy Coach Davide Battistini said, “I arrived here a few days ago and already saw, with the coaches, the staff, and the owner of the club, how serious their intention to develop football events in Sri Lanka is. I’m interested in working with young and academy players to develop the best players we can, in terms of knowledge and in terms of quality. We all know that AC Milan represents a heritage in the world of football. I’m proud to have the opportunity to bring my experience and that of a club that has been up for over a century with incredible successes in the past.”
Battistini expressed confidence in enhancing football in Sri Lanka through the AC Milan Method, which incorporates the latest knowledge and advancements in the sport. With training under certified Rossineri coaches, the camps will not only enhance the technical skills of young athletes, but focus on a holistic approach to enhance their potential. He elaborated that the training program was designed to offer players an immersive experience of the AC Milan Method in a condensed one-week period.
Each day would focus on a different skill or aspect of the game, utilising a variety of drills and tools to address specific goals. While the week serves as an introduction to the methods used by AC Milan, it provides players with a glimpse of how the club operates throughout the season, giving them the opportunity to experience first-hand the tactical and technical approaches employed by the team.
Italian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Damiano Francovigh said, “Sports, and football in particular, are part of the Italian way of life. Everybody has a preferred football team. Every week in Italy, we discuss in bars, restaurants and even within families about what happened during the last weekend’s match, and what will happen in the football matches over the next weekend. And AC Milan is one of our most popular Italian football teams. Italy and Sri Lanka have a long tradition of culture and good relationship. I’m convinced that through this initiative, we are building up an additional strong bond between our two countries.”
Reflecting on the current state of the sport in Sri Lanka, Colombo Athletic and Football Club Director Trevor Reckerman explained that throughout the decades, the sport had not seen much development in Sri Lanka. There had been ups and downs, but there had always been opposition, he said, emphasising the importance of the goal of spreading the AC Milan’s method and influence across the country. It was an opportunity to highlight how the sport can develop in the country and thereby, take it to the next level, Reckerman added.
Colombo Athletic and Football Club Director Fouzul Hameed had similar views where he explained that the state of football associations in Sri Lanka was far from ideal. There was a lack of facilities and the original football fields were no longer available. But there was a transformation taking place where the Sri Lankan youth was embracing the sport more, though the infrastructure was lacking to accommodate this demand. However, with the start of the Milan Junior Camp project and the partnership with AC Milan, the club was putting in significant time, resources, and efforts to meet their high standards and fight for the sport’s future in the country, Hameed noted.
Cinnamon City Hotels Area Vice President and Cinnamon Grand General Manager Kamal Munasinghe also said, “Cinnamon Grand is honoured to be the official hospitality partner for the AC Milan Junior Camps in Sri Lanka. I think it’s a great way to celebrate 20 years of being Cinnamon in Sri Lanka and be able to promote Sri Lankan talent and providing a stage to showcase their talent to the world.”
In successfully bringing this project together and promoting the sport among the next generation of Sri Lanka, Colombo Athletic and Football Academy has partnered with like-minded brands such as Omega Line, Cinnamon Grand Colombo, PowerTech Cement, Prima, Sozo, Mobil 3M, Fox Jaffna, Norfolk Crescent and HardTalk.
This is the start of a journey where two organisations are paving the way for a new culture of sport to help develop the sport at a grass root level. The Colombo Athletic and Football Academy trains thrice a week in the heart of Colombo and invites sports enthusiasts to experience the game in a new way.
