Nike Searches For Pro With Global Competition

Sportswear brand Nike has launched ‘The Chance’- a global search for talented footballers to join the Nike Academy, a high performance training program that offers players the chance to get a professional contract.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger launched the competition in Soweto, South Africa, as part of the next stage of Nike’s ‘Write the Future’ campaign, where some of the world’s best players including Ronaldo, Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney feature in a short film about iconic game moments where headlines are written from a single pass.

The Nike Academy offers non-contract players unattached to clubs a chance to enter the professional game through world-class coaching and games against elite academies and professional reserve teams.

The best 100 players from around the world are selected by Nike through Nike Elite Training events, the Nike City Cup, happening in 32 cities, as well as exposure through the digital platform.

They will then be invited to a final trial in England, where they will compete for one of eight international places in the Nike Academy – these eight will have all their expenses paid to live in the UK for a year starting in July 2011 and be a full-time member of the Nike Academy.