player jumps to kick a ball on the volley landing in front of him

On Wednesday 29th April, IHM Football Academy were due to host the IHM “Showcase Event” in Manchester. This event is usually very popular with our enrolled student players. It allows IHM student players to train and play in front of invited pro-club scouts. It gives our players the opportunity  to show exactly what they can do. Successful players are then invited back to interested clubs for a trial. In the past IHM has hosted scouts from all levels of club including; Manchester United, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Stoke City, Preston North End, Norwich City and many League 1 and 2 clubs as well as semi-professional clubs. USA soccer scholarship partners, “Soccer Assist”, also usually attend. Many players of our young players have earnt trials with clubs or won US soccer scholarships as a result. Some have even gone on to play for teams.

Unfortunately, due to the current need to stay safe and protect ourselves and our communities during the coronavirus crisis, this year we won’t be able to get our players on to the pitch and in front of the scouts. In fact, the scouts are currently unable to go to watch games, because there are no games! They are not visiting training grounds to watch young players, because there is no training!

IHM Director of Football, Mick Brennan says:

“This week I spoke to one of the Manchester United FC Youth Academy head scouts. This top club scout is currently just sat at home watching out for videos of new up and coming players on the internet. So, I thought to myself, why don’t we send video of our players to him?”

So, that is why this year IHM Football Academy is conducting a unique online “Virtual Showcase Event” and inviting a broad selection of pro-club scouts to attend. Prior to this, all IHM student players will be posting their selected video match highlights onto the IHM “Virtual Showcase Event” web page. Due to IHM’s use of Veo technology to film competitive matches, all our players have access to an online library of footage to choose from.

On Wednesday 29th April 2020 at 09.00 hrs (UK time) IHM Football Academy will be releasing a link to a live web page to all of our 63 UK club contacts, our network of international scouts and coaches and to “Soccer Assist”. This means that our student players will still have the opportunity to impress and catch the eye of UK and international pro and semi-pro clubs, as well as US university and colleges offering soccer scholarships in the USA. IHM partners, IPSO (“International Professional Scouting Association” and “Footballers Global” (an online international football scouting network), will also be invited to view the player profiles on our pages. In short, this represents an awesome chance for all of our players to show case their talent and potential even during the lockdown.

IHM Football Academy is a football boarding school. That is, a private boarding school, open to international students, with a football academy. IHM is currently taking registrations for the August pre-season and September new academic year.

Contact us now: [email protected]