Manchester United, Premier League and Trinidad & Tobago legend Dwight Yorke has joined Dubai’s most awarded football academy, ESM Football, as their ambassador and will help aspiring young footballers in Dubai achieve their ultimate dream through an enhanced player development model.
After a career spanning 20 years in English football, Dwight Yorke has played many significant development roles including being the Assistant Manager for Sunderland & Trinidad & Tobago. As a football analyst at major mediums and a current member of FIFA’s Development Committee, the 45-year-old has always had a long-term ambition to coach and especially to work with young players.
Yorke said “As a member of the FIFA Development Committee, I am extremely passionate about helping young footballers achieve their immediate and long term goals. I can understand the challenges of playing football in a small country and really relate to their dreams of playing in the major football leagues around the world”.
“Based on my discussions with ESM and top administrators in the UAE, I’ve found that many young players and parents feel it’s not possible to have a future playing here in the UAE. I can tell you, coming from the Caribbean, anything is possible. To see what ESM Football Academy have been doing for the last 12 years in the UAE is very encouraging and it’s only going to get better. This is where it starts and we’ll be implementing the best options and methods for each player at the academy, to give them structure and the opportunity to have a bright future” said Dwight.
Dwight Yorke has been coached and managed by many great football tacticians, such as the magnificent Sir Alex Ferguson, and he has combined his playing experience with the youth coaching methodology originated from top youth club systems to offer young players the chance to develop individual technique and enhance vision and decision making skills in various stages of the young footballers’ development at ESM Football.
In starting the partnership, Dwight Yorke will help provide his curriculum to the Academy and Development Squad Program at ESM Football Academy, which will be updated at regular intervals to include modern and up-to-date football concepts and teaching materials.
Managing Director at ESM Football Academy, James Bowring, said
“ESM Football will stick to its strong long-term vision of helping produce quality players in the UAE, that can give boys and girls the opportunities to consider a professional career in the ‘beautiful game’ post their studies.”
“We all understand the importance of youth development for the sake of young players here in the UAE. We have already seen a number of our players sign for football clubs in England post their development training with us and had several of our academy players visit top U.S. Colleges as part of our Collegiate Program” said James.
“The recruitment of Dwight Yorke will be a significant addition for our development programs by offering an invaluable insight in to playing at the highest level. This experience and view point will benefit the talent we have here and help with producing a new generation of players.”
Dwight Yorke will begin his role at ESM Football Academy mid-September 2017 and will be on the training ground at all ESM Football Academy venues, working with the Development Squads down to the Early Touch Programs.
ESM Football Academy, previously E-Sports FC, have gone from strength to strength delivering award-winning youth football programs and have become an established, leading football academy for children aged 3-16 in the UAE.
To find out more about ESM Football Academy:
Tel: 04-369 7817
Email: football@esm.ae