London, July 12 (ANI): Former England soccer captain David Beckham is keen on opening a football academy or academies in Asia some day.
“I would love to have different academies in different places. Having academies in Asia is now a possibility. We are already looking at it. I am aiming to have as many around the world as possible, he said.
The England superstar currently has academies in both Greenwich and Los Angeles and is to open a new one in Brazil at the end of 2009, reports The Sun.
“To have two, with another coming up, makes me feel very lucky,” he adds.
He has dreams of producing a future football hero, someone who would follow in his footsteps.
Now 33, Becks was once spotted at the Bobby Charlton Soccer School before being signed by Manchester United.
“It would be great if a player made the Premiership in 10 years” time or played for their country and then did a TV interview and said they went to the David Beckham Academy. I”d be very proud, he said.
“I love working with kids and it is a case of giving them a safe place to go and to learn about different things. We have one in London, one here in LA and, hopefully, in a year-and-a-half, one in Brazil, he said.
Beckham has four years of a five-year deal to run with LA Galaxy, but has ruled out a move into management when he quits.
While he is likely to spend more time on his academies, Becks is unlikely to complete the coaching badges, which would enable him to take charge of a top club.
“Players who get coaching badges want to go into management. I have never wanted to go into management at any stage of my career. It is not something I am really passionate about, he said.
Beckham’’s academy near the O2 Arena opened in 2005. The largest sporting facility of its kind in Europe, it has a massive indoor area housing two full-sized, artificially turfed pitches alongside a state-of-the-art education and administration centre.
Boys and girls aged from 8-15 are able to participate in one, three or five-day programmes that run throughout the year.
The academy also runs a successful schools programme that consists of a training day linked with Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 learning.
So far more than 10,000 children have taken part. (ANI)