03.11.2016
Through the years the Nike Academy has successfully given talented, yet unproven footballers the chance to become professionals. This has resulted in a truly impressive number of pro contracts, but the latest is just a little more special to us here at Unisport.
In 2015, we got an exclusive opportunity to closely follow some of the players who attended the popular search for the most talented football players. One of these players was Pontus Almqvist, who turned up for the trials in the Stockholm last September. He was closely watched by Joltter, as he progressed through the ranks, and in our Nike Most Wanted Youtube series we tracked his journey all the way to the Nike Academy in England.
We have in our videos shown the player journey, which is now absolutely proven to create professional football players, because last week Pontus Almqvist signed a contract with Swedish top side IFK Norrköping. It makes him the latest graduate to elevate his game by living the life of a pro player, which is what you do at the Nike Academy. Immense amounts of training, exercise and recovery is what it took to take a player, who would otherwise probably not have made it, and turn him into a professional footballer.
Pontus’ story is one Nike continues to prove time and time again is possible. With it they hope to inspire other aspiring footballers to follow in his footsteps on their own, because make no mistake, although the coaches, training facilities and high-tech recovery rooms helped, it was ultimately a burning desire and tireless will to train that got him his contract.
It’s impossible not to be a little inspired by Pontus Almqvist’s story and especially if you rewatch our videos. We have included the full series here, so you can watch it from episode one and all the way to St. George’s Park.