Global Institute of Sport (GIS) is excited to announce its new ‘Live Lab’ concept together with Mount Pleasant Football Academy, the Caribbean’s leading football centre of excellence. This groundbreaking, long-term partnership gives GIS’ sports students the opportunity to implement their university degree learnings in real-time with rising star players by diving into a world-class football academy setup in Jamaica.
Starting this academic year, several GIS students will be selected for a multi-week immersive Live Lab internship experience in Jamaica, fully funded through the partnership. The selected GIS students that travel to the Caribbean island 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.
The students selected for the Live Lab experience will receive the opportunity to support and develop Mount Pleasant’s capabilities by analysing and coding training performance utilising leading football industry software including Hudl, Playermaker and In Play as well as by providing players with tailored individual analysis and statistics on elements including sprints, distance covered, passes, shots and dribbles. Students will also be analysing opponents using Wyscout, scouting for both the academy teams and men’s first team, observing and working with coaches to deliver sessions with players from across the academy and first team, providing content for media platforms for Mount Pleasant Football Academy, compiling match reports and supporting the general growth of the academy. Students selected for this opportunity will be able to align their coursework and assignments as part of their degree towards their experience at Mount Pleasant.
Both GIS and Mount Pleasant Football Academy are looking forward to this being the start of a transformational partnership for football in the Caribbean.
Speaking about the university agreement and future impact of working with GIS, Mount Pleasant’s owner, Peter Gould, said: “Launching the Live Lab with GIS and bringing in their cutting-edge expertise to Mount Pleasant Football Academy will be a major boost in achieving further national and international success for us and our players. This partnership will help cement our position as the top destination for developing young talent in the Caribbean.”
Fellow Mount Pleasant owner, Amanda Gould, added: “We are huge believers in the power of education to transform lives and fulfil dreams, both on and off the pitch. I’ve seen first-hand how talented and passionate GIS students and staff are about the beautiful game, so I’m looking forward to welcoming them to Jamaica for a mutually-beneficial Live Lab experience for many years to come.”
Sharona Friedman, President and CEO of GIS, commented: “The Live Lab concept is the first of its kind and is reflective of our ethos at GIS in providing our students with an unbelievable opportunity to gain experience in an inspirational sporting environment. We’re delighted to partner with such a pioneering club in Mount Pleasant and for our students to have this opportunity to support a leader of Caribbean football. This will be a life-changing experience for students involved and an opportunity to put their university education to work in real-time.”
The GIS Live Lab placements at Mount Pleasant will be open to apply to by any student studying a GIS degree either online or on campus. Applications will open early in the 2024/25 academic year, with successful applicants selected to travel to Jamaica later in the year.
Learn more on the Study & Work: Jamaica page of the GIS website
