Paris Saint-Germain Academy launches its year-round programme in Koh Samui
PSG Academy Samui recently opened its second centre on the Thai island of Koh Samui, where it will host players for yearly programmes across various age categories.
Since its launch in 2022, PSG Academy Samui has provided residential training camps at Maraleina Sports Resort for young players both from the island itself and from all over the world.
On 18th February 2024, the Academy began writing the latest chapter of its story by opening a brand-new centre as well as launching yearly programmes that are already giving more than 120 young players the chance to show their full potential at top-level sporting facilities and with club-developed coaches. Unveiled in the presence of its coaches, its players and their families, PSG Academy Samui's new centre welcomed the latest generation of young Rouge et Bleu talent through its doors for an opening training session, under the supervision of Benjamin Houri, PSG Academy's technical director.
Based on one of Thailand's most beautiful islands, PSG Academy Samui now boasts two training venues, which are strategically located in the south and in the north of the island, whilst also enjoying a more central location with two seven-a-side football pitches ideally situated in Chaweng, the most densely populated area in Koh Samui, as well as another training centre at Maraleina Sports Resort with access to several FIFA-approved pitches – be they natural, synthetic or indoor – and a professional performance centre for players in the upper age categories, all situated just a stone's throw from the beach.
As a result, PSG Academy Samui is continuing its development with the aim of making the island of Koh Samui a haven in which passionate, young footballers can thrive, as explained by Marcelo Fonseca, Maraleina Sports Resort's head of marketing and business development and PSG Academy Samui's project manager: "The aim is to turn Koh Samui into a renowned footballing destination. We want to create more competitive teams and to contribute to the world of sport."
The newly opened centre will therefore allow an even wider pool of players to benefit from PSG's methodology and will strengthen the PSG Academy footprint in Asia, with centres now based in South Korea, Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, Phuket and Koh Samui.