A partnership between the University of Wollongong (UOW) and English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur will soon have aspiring footballers kicking goals on the field while scoring credit points in the classroom.
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The EPL heavyweight has teamed up with the university to launch a "priceless" five-year player development program, as well as offer a suite of scholarships - worth half a million dollars - specifically for Illawarra students.
The UOW Tottenham Hotspur Global Football Program, announced at a dinner event on Thursday night, will see two FA and UEFA-qualified Tottenham Hotspur coaches train UOW students.
Students will train up to 20 hours per week over a 36-week period during the academic year. Applications open on Friday and the program starts in February.
Australian and international students who enrol in any undergraduate or postgraduate degree at UOW, or at UOW College Australia, will be eligible to take part.
Former captain and Tottenham Hotspur ambassador Ledley King, who was in Wollongong to launch the program, described the partnership as "really exciting".
"It's exciting to be able to come out here and see the standard of young, talented footballers, and work with them and hopefully give them a pathway through to success," King said.
"We believe in the method we have at Tottenham that allows young players to really develop a high level."
Dubbed one of the finest defenders of the modern era, King played for Tottenham for 13 years. A one-club man, King rose through the club's youth system "the Tottenham Way" and made his Premier League debut in 1999.
"I've been beneficial of coming through the youth system and I know the coaches that we have in place, they can hopefully really make a difference for the footballers of Australia," he said.
"The aim is not to come and take Australians back to the UK, but to develop the game over here for the good of the Australian football."
UOW Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global Strategy) Professor Alex Frino said the partnership was "one not seen before in Australian universities, and to our knowledge one not seen before anywhere in the world".
Asked to put a price-tag on the program, Professor Frino said it was "priceless".
"We hope it'll compete with the college elite sporting programs in the United States, which are quite common, and it's going to be of a similar structure," he said.
UOW's global brand ambassador, former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist, said students wouldn't have to choose between uni and sport. "The program offers the opportunity to combine study with the pursuit of excellence in sport, and possibly ... a stepping stone into a career in sport," he said.