The Bolton Wanderers Football Club International Soccer School have been busy spreading the Wanderers word as they visited Chung-Yong Lee's homeland of South Korea.
The ISS visited the Asian country as part of a two week soccer camp in July run by four coaches from the BWFC programme. The team was led by coach Mick White and he believes that the trip generated an increased interest in the club. Mick said;
"I have been very lucky with BWFC doing many trips abroad and this was by far the most interesting and at the same time very challenging. The kids were very good considering they spoke little English, yet we all know the language of football. We worked hard on and off the pitch to show what the club is all about and the exposure we got from TV and other media was terrific. The country certainly embraces the English Premier League and, with having a Korean player in Chung-Yong Lee doing as well as he is, that added to what was the best soccer camp I have done."
Despite the hard work, White was surprised to see the passion for the game in the East. He continued;
"We attended a couple of League games and the enthusiasm shown took us all by surprise and I mean that in a pleasant way. The camps themselves were a great success with the kids showing great attitude towards learning and backed that up by some decent talent. We hope, in the future, to build on these camps and look to do more next year, to spread the name of BWFCISS in other areas of South Korea. I would like to thank all who showed great hospitality and made us feel very welcome".
The club are looking into possibilities surrounding sending a full-time coach out to South Korea, and head of the ISS Dave Bailey believes it's well worth the effort;
"We are looking at a coach out in South Korea full time but I can't say too much yet. I can say this is very exciting opportunity not just for the ISS but for the club as a whole. We will be looking to expand the brand and great reputation we have here at BWFC and with the future of the club being very optimistic, I see this as a great challenge. It's the way forward to show just how far we have come as a soccer school, a club and an organisation in such a short space of time."
