The Mariners announced they were extending their existing partnership with the Elite Sports Academy to create a new Marine Centre of Excellence as the tournament kicked off in Russia on Thursday.
Elite already run the EVO-STIK League Premier Division club's youth teams at U18 and U19 levels and officials at the Marine Travel Arena are hailing the move to develop physical activity programmes, work experience options and employment opportunities for local youngsters as the next exciting chapter in their partnership.
As part of the initiative with Elite Training Services CIC, the community interest arm of Elite Academy, Marine's coaching staff are now getting ready to head out to local primary schools to offer free coaching sessions as England prepare to kick off on Monday against Tunisia.
Marine vice-chairman Dave McMillan said: "Elite have been great to work with since we entered in to the partnership, with impressive results for their students in the first year of the education based football programme.
"We're delighted to extend it further so that local kids can benefit from coaching in a safe and affordable environment and I'm sure the programme will be a great success.”
Elite director Paul Brannan said: "This is an ideal opportunity for young players to be coached at the highest standard without paying a fortune in fees. Successful corporate partnerships have helped fund these programmes to deliver on our social responsibilities."
Costing £16 per month, the programmes for boys and girls aged six to nine starts on Monday 20 August at Play Football in Crosby. For more information visit elitetrainingservices.co.uk and the official website of the Matriners.
Images courtesy of @MarineAFC/Twitter
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