Twenty Saudi intermediate and secondary school students will attend the Arsenal Soccer Academy for a two-week training program as part of Mobily Soccer League agenda, Mobily announced after the School League concluded last week. Mobily signed an agreement with Arsenal Academy to enable Mobily Saudi stars attend a summer training camp at the English club and participate in one of the tournaments hosted by Arsenal during July 2010. Mobily decided to have Arsenal as its next summer location after different successful experiences with Spanish and Italian academies during the past three years. Before flying to London, about 30 young students who have been picked from different regions by a specialized committee will join a short camp in Riyadh to feed them with extra courses and skills before announcing the final list of the delegation, which is headed by well-experienced Saudi coaches. “This agreement came after three years of successful summer camps with Barcelona in Spain in 2006, AC Milan in Italy in 2007 and Arsenal in 2008,” said Humoud Al-Ghobaibni, Mobily's Vice President for Corporate Communications and PR. “After a lot of experiences with these different schools and academies, we came to a conclusion that Arsenal is the best in term of experience, facilities that will enrich the delegation and then enhance their soccer skills.” Through sponsoring the school league, Mobily aims to build professional environments inside schools and then build sports generations to feed Saudi national teams and clubs. Arsenal Academy has consistently produced footballers ready for first-team action with both Arsenal and other professional football clubs. The Under-18s finished in the top half of the table last season. The most prominent example of a player progressing through the current system is Ashley Cole, who established himself as first choice left-back for both club and country before his move to Chelsea. A number of former Academy youngsters have made their mark in the Carling Cup, taking Arsenal to three successive semifinals and a final appearance in 2007.
