Kitchee announced today that Kitchee Academy has been certified as the first Hong Kong “Two-Star Elite Youth Academy" under the “AFC Elite Youth Scheme” by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). As of late June 2023, there are a total of 11 club-associated academies in 6 nations or regions in AFC (including Australia) that have been certified as “Two-Star Elite Youth Academy".
Since being recognized as the first "One-star Elite Youth Academy" in Hong Kong in 2021, Kitchee Academy has been improving its facilities and providing different football development programs to develop and produce top homegrown talents in youth football. Mr. Ken K. Ng, founder of Kitchee Academy, said, “It’s such a great honor to be granted the Two-Star recognition. We have had a series of significant improvements to the Academy since being granted a One-Star status. Kitchee established the CUHK Medical Clinic@Kitchee and the Kitchee Bistro to provide support of sport science, sport medicine and sport nutrition to our football players of different age groups. The Clinic has also been equipped with advanced medical and training equipment, which provide a collection of physical and performance data for each player for the coaching staff to design our players’ individual training programs. Furthermore, we have appointed Double Pass, a Belgian football consultancy, to strengthen Kitchee’s coaching education, to significantly raise the level of our youth players. These efforts undoubtedly contributed to our success in applying for the 2-star accreditation.”
The AFC Elite Youth Scheme is divided into 3 levels. Academies achieving the 2-star certification must pass or exceed the standards set for 20 performance categories, including the qualification of the coaching staff, development plan, infrastructure, fitness, sport science, football philosophy, finance, etc. Kitchee Academy will continue to pursue the next accreditation level of 3-star, and more importantly, to nurture more local talented individuals for Hong Kong Representative Team, as well as to export players to play on the more advanced leagues.