Ready for a football experience of a lifetime?
In the conditions of a 'centre de formation' in a super League club?
The Michel Hidalgo International Football Academy welcomes you in the French national centre of high performance and olympic preparation.
"Like a pro player"
For now 15 years, the Michel Hidalgo Academy has welcomed young players from all over the world, aged between 14 and 20, who are given the chance to live their passion of football and develop their skills and talent. The Academy offers a fulfilling year of sports, culture and language immersion in France, in a project where SPORTS and STUDY mean personal achievement.
With the intensive training programme conducted by the highly qualified Academy coaches, the players will rub shoulders in a high-performance environment, with the hope to approach their dream: trial in pro clubs and access professional football. On top of that, they also train and play with one of our partner clubs, such as AS Cannes where Zinedine Zidane was brought into light. In the first weeks at the Academy, they try out in different clubs in the area, and then receive a FFF licence that enable them to play matches in the French championship.
Studies are twofold. All the students follow the online programme of their own school back home or with American High School. English speakers will also enrol in an intensive French course.
The principles and values have been set by Michel Hidalgo himself, who wished every player had a feeling of privilege as a member of our prestigious Academy. Developing confidence in himself, pleasure learning and achieving his goals are our credo that every child is one individual person, and not just a part of a whole. This is why the Academy offers a limited number of spots, as we want to ensure a very personal approach to players development and follow-up.
The Academy is located in Antibes on the French Riviera, 15 km from Nice.
You can apply for the year-long programme from 14 August 2023 to 25 May 2024.
SUCCESS STORY
Portrait of Kerynn who integrated the Academy in 2018. After 4 years with us at the Academy, player at AS Cannes 2018-2021 and at ES Cannet-Rocheville 2021-2022, Kerynn is now playing with the U20R1 at RC Grasse for the 2022-2023 season. " We have been very proud to accompany you all along your sports and academic achievements as you succeeded in 3 diplomas: School Brevet in 2019, Bachelor graduation in 2022 and football referee exam in 2022. And now drafted with RC Grasse. Awesome ! " The Academy staff
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Since 2008, the Academy has hosted 54 different nationalities : boys from South Africa, Algeria, Germany, England, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Bahrein, Belgium, Benin, Bermudas, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Cyprus, Colombia, Congo, Ivory Coast, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Kenya, Kirgisztan, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Mauricius Island, Mexico, Monaco, Nigeria, Russia, Senegal, Switzerland, Togo, Trinidad and Tobaggo, Tunisia, Uganda, USA, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe, New Caledonia (F) and Tahiti (F).
