How Manchester City are opening their doors to 'Next Gen' sports industry leaders

Young participants and students taking part in Next Gen, City Football Groups residential educational sports industry experience at Manchester City Football Club
(Image credit: City Football Group)

Football is constantly evolving and at the cutting edge of the beautiful game’s evolution is The City Football Group and their flagship club Manchester City. The group’s City Football Leadership Institute is an educational enterprise created to provide real-life insight for students and professionals who want to know more about the business of football and sport. 

As part of their mission they have created a totally unique opportunity for the next generation of sport industry leaders to gain access to the heart of Manchester City, via a residential experience course they are calling Next Gen.

Next Gen takes place in Manchester and New York this summer and invites students aged 14 to 17 years old inside the world of Manchester City. Offering hands-on immersion into the business of sport at the highest level, students will be granted a totally unique experience as to what a potential career in this sector could look like.

City Football Leadership Institute’s innovative summer course brings 14 to 17 year-olds inside the exciting world of the European champions Manchester City and shows them how the business of sport really works.

This immersive and interactive course covers a wide range of areas associated with high profile sporting organisations. From commercial sponsorship and performance psychology, to data analytics, social media, e-sports, fan engagement and more.

Young participants and students taking part in Next Gen, City Football Groups residential educational sports industry experience at Manchester City Football Club

(Image credit: City Football Group)

What to expect

Key practical experience students can expect to receive includes:

  • Access to the commercial experts at City Football Group who make the big deals happen. 
  • E-sports sessions where the potential of this rapidly growing, multibillion-dollar industry is realised via peer-to-peer competition inside a live gaming arena. 
  • Data analytics workshops designed to build an understanding of data’s role in high-performance sport and explain exactly how it is used as a tool to boost individual and team performance. 
  • Discussions on the future of fan engagement, exploring the impact of technology and innovation on the supporter experience. 
  • Insight into the mind’s impact on performance via the application of special learning techniques and strategies that are designed to improve an individual’s focus.
  • Exposure to the social media and marketing experts at City Football Group responsible for creating industry-leading content across a large variety of platforms, with an opportunity to test new skills by creating social content for a new campaign.

Young participants and students taking part in Next Gen, City Football Groups residential educational sports industry experience at Manchester City Football Club

(Image credit: City Football Group)

Students also enjoy various group activities outside the classroom, such as:

  • A VIP Etihad Stadium Tour that takes young delegates behind the scenes into the sanctum of Pep Guardiola’s First Team dressing room, then pitch-side via the players’ tunnel.
  • An after hours visit to the National Football Museum for close-up experiences with historic memorabilia, and access to the museum’s cutting-edge interactive football games.
  • Insight on the performance environment of players from the Academy staff.

Young participants and students taking part in Next Gen, City Football Groups residential educational sports industry experience at Manchester City Football Club

(Image credit: City Football Group)

Key course information

Next Gen is open to budding entrepreneurs and young adults interested in pursuing a career in the sports industry and who are aged between 14 and 17 on the course’s 21st July 2024 start date.

Week one takes place from 21st July to 26 July 2024. Week two runs from 28 July to 2nd August 2024. Next Gen New York will take place from 4th to 16th August. A 15 per cent early-bird discount is available if you apply before 11 March. Prices will increase after this date.

City Football Leadership Institute are hosting an information evening in a virtual open house via zoom on 5th March 2024 that is free attend. You can register HERE

Next Gen is an incredible opportunity to kick-off a career in the global sports industry and help expand a teenager’s educational and aspirational horizons. They will emerge from the experience having gained valuable networking skills and practical work experience with a strengthened CV and solid foundations for the next stage of their careers.

They will have also had fun, made new connections and developed people skills via an industry experience like no other.

Full details of the course can be found HERE. Follow the City Football Leadership Institute on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn