The week-long program will also visit Shepparton and Mt Gambier, with coaches selecting one player from each region to attend the academy.

The chosen player will get a chance to train at the elite facilities and showcase their talent to the Celtic coaching staff – an opportunity that could provide the pathway to the next level of soccer.

The 47-time Scottish League champions Celtic Football Club will bring its well-renowned coaching academy to Ballarat in a massive coup for soccer in Ballarat.

Some of its elite coaches will be in attendance, however there will be no players at the camp.

The training academy will be open to boys and girls of all abilities from ages 7-18 while local coaches will also get an insight into the elite minds of the Celtic coaches in the coach-the-coach session.

Ballarat was hand-picked by the Regan Milstein Foundation (RMF), an organisation dedicated to providing children extra opportunities in sport, to host one of the academies.

Ballarat RMF academies representative Andrew Barnett said the outstanding facilities of Morshead Park made Ballarat an obvious choice to host the former European Cup winners. 

“It’s a big thing, it’s a great experience for them – it’s good for Ballarat,” Barnett said.

“They wanted to keep it to regional areas.

“Then they looked at who is going to be able to best accommodate...with the facilities that we have down at Morshead Park being A-class – they looked at it being the home of soccer in the regional area.

“They’re coming here to pass their knowledge onto our local talent and up and coming talent and we’re not just working with certain age groups, we’re working with the whole soccer community.

Barnett said this could be the start of a valuable partnership.

“If this all works well it could become a really good partnership for Ballarat and soccer and Celtic.”