Since September’s announcement of the innovative ‘Live Lab’ with Jamaica’s Mount Pleasant Football Academy, GIS is delighted to share that the academy recently made a trip to England.
Last week, the Jamaican side flew in for a visit that saw their U16s play a match against Charlton Athletic’s U16s at The Valley. Despite a 3-0 defeat, the side competed admirably, especially in the first half where Charlton co-owner Charlie Methven recounted that it was, “Extremely competitive and could've gone either way… the Mount Pleasant players did themselves proud, I’m sure as the week goes on they'll get more and more used to the conditions.”
Also in attendance was Mount Pleasant owner Peter Gould, who added: “The trip’s going to help their development, stage by stage, bit by bit. They're all young, and they've got an exciting future.
At The Valley, we also spoke to GIS student Can Ozata, CEO of leading North Macedonian football team FK Rabotnicki.
With an interest in Jamaican football, Can explained: “I’m not surprised with how impressive Mount Pleasant are playing because I know the potential. They’re doing really well, and I think what Mount Pleasant is doing with GIS is really good, it's a great opportunity for them to collaborate.”
“When I was an agent, I used to scout Jamaican football… it is an untapped market full of diamonds and there's big potential, big opportunity.”
GIS students have already started working on scouting and analysis projects for Mount Pleasant Football Academy. GIS Principal Dr Mike Walsh, who was also at the game, elaborated on this, saying, “The partnership we have allows students to apply what they're learning in a practical environment.”
One of the students doing this is Jack Chippendale, who studies MSc Performance Analysis in Football with GIS. As part of the innovative partnership, Jack has been tasked with scouting players for Mount Pleasant in the Dominican Republic, where he is looking to uncover some of the diamonds Can mentioned earlier.
Looking to go into performance analysis at an elite club, Jack believes his role with the Carribean side is a perfect fit for this ambition. “Mount Pleasant gives a great snapshot of different clubs around the world, so experiences like that are always positive.
“This was a great opportunity to build on my performance analysis knowledge so far and hopefully I can harness that to find a career in professional football.”
These hands-on projects are all before the students actually head out to Jamaica, which is scheduled for early 2025. Fully funded by the collaboration, these students will support all aspects of coaching, performance, and academy business growth at Mount Pleasant from under-15 level through to the highly successful senior men’s team that play in the Jamaican Premier League and the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup.
Providing a deeper insight into Mount Pleasant, Mike conveyed how impressed he has been with the Jamaican side.
“Mount Pleasant is really setting a precedent for the standard in Jamaica over the last couple of years with their academy programme and players in full time.
“Seeing two of the boys who played today getting first team minutes last week is fantastic, so that development is what GIS are trying to support from a performance analysis and scouting point of view, even a coach education one, trying to get that program as close to what we have here in England.”
Learn more about GIS Live Lab: Jamaica in partnership with Mount Pleasant Football Academy
Article by Zak Anani
