Soccer: Academy links up with top club

One of Auckland's most famous rugby schools has opened a football academy that will have a formal partnership with an English football club.

The Auckland Grammar School Kaizen Academy opened its doors last week and aims to offer selected players regular trials and scholarships with Crystal Palace FC in London.

Crystal Palace are currently in the Championship, but they were in the top flight as recently as 2005. Famous alumni include Kenny Sansom, David Seaman, Ian Wright and Andy Johnson, while Terry Venables is a former manager.

"We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Kaizen Academy," says Crystal Palace CEO Phil Alexander.

"We will be offering talented young Kiwis the opportunity to play professional football at the highest level. Crystal Palace has a history of producing fantastic kids as part of its academy programme and this partnership with Kaizen extends the reach of the club to the other side of the world."

The academy is the brainchild of former All White and 2008 Beijing Olympics coach Stu Jacobs.

The AGS operation will be his second branch, as he is currently operating a Kaizen Academy (Capital Kaizen) in Wellington. Kaizen is a Japanese theory that emphasises small, continual, incremental improvements.

"Our vision is to work with young players on a consistent basis, vastly improving their technical ability from an early age.

"The key focus is to give kids the 'technical toolbox' they need to compete, as well as strength and conditioning training. If Kaizen can turn out talented, physically-tuned players with the right mental approach, there is a wonderful pathway forward."

Former All White captain Chris Zorocich is head coach at the Auckland Kaizen academy. Zorocich, who played 77 times for his country, returned to New Zealand in 2007 after a long professional career overseas where he played under famous managerial names like Ruud Gullit.

"I did the hard yards - I was never a flashy player - just consistent," says Zorocich. "A lot of the kids here [in New Zealand] have a lot more than I did but they don't realise how hard it is to make it."

Zorocich dreams of a graduate ending up in the All Whites but his main focus is to "help them get to that next step - whatever that might be".

Since coming home, Zorocich has been impressed with the young talent on show, but says there are often crucial ingredients missing.

"Often some basic things have been overlooked - they have all the skills but haven't been taught basic moves off the ball for example - and their football brain is often pretty poor. There are so many more pathways compared to my day and we need to make sure these kids have the best possible chance."

There are currently 24 students enrolled and Zorocich hopes that number will eventually grow to 50 or 60. His group train for 90 minutes from 7am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a weights session every second Tuesday.

Jacobs talks of regular camps, tournaments versus teams from the Australian Institute of Sport and opportunities to show their wares in front of scouts from the United States.