WITHIN the next few months, Pulse Premier Football will send their first batch of graduates out into the big, wide world, with some jetting across the globe for the next stage in their development.

The Chippenham-based academy began operating out of Stanley Park in 2013 and are coming to the end of their second educational year.

Youngsters between the age of 16 and 19 train full-time and represent Pulse in educational leagues whilst also studying for BTEC national diplomas in sport, with education provided by SCL (Soccer Coaching Ltd).

And the academy also aims to help young footballers boost their chances of carving out a career in football abroad with scholarships at American colleges or deals to live and play down under.

Winger Dylan Smith, 18, and midfielder Charlie Maddison, 17, have secured sports scholarships across the pond whilst 17-year-old midfielder Jack Sanderson, from Chippenham, is set to spend next season playing in New Zealand.

“I’m planning to go to America and do a scholarship out there. I’ve got offers from New York, Texas and Chicago at the moment,” said Smith.

“It will be so much different, I reckon. Playing full-time football is what you want to do, isn’t it?”

Fellow Pulse youngster Maddison said: “I’ve got four in South Carolina and one in Phoenix, in Arizona.

“One of the reasons why I started the course was because I wanted to try and get a career in football, and they help you with scholarships in America.”

Lee Collier is Pulse’s head coach and the former Chippenham Town and Bath City is in charge of organising the academy’s training session and competitive matches during the season.

Collier is looking forward to sending his first clutch of alumnus out into the world and is hoping to see the academy thrive after a successful opening few terms.

“ Last year was mainly first-year boys. We sat down with them at the start of the year and they told us where they wanted to go, and this is the proof now that the programme works,” said Collier.

“Some will be going to higher education and some will be going elsewhere – it’s just about giving them opportunities for that next step in their life plan.

“We’ve got connections over in New Zealand with quite a lot of club managers, coaches, agents. They come to us and ask if we’ve got any players that would be interested in going over.

“It’s not the same route as what America offer in terms of a scholarship but you can go into employment and play at one club.

“It’s about placing them. We’re not talking about somewhere down the road, so we’ve got to make sure it’s the right place for the boys.

“We run a full-time football programme, so we combine it with education. It’s all based from Stanley Park, so there’s no travelling around.

“We played in the Wilts FA U20 higher education league but SCL will be starting their own educational league that we’ll play in and we’ll also go into the British Colleges League.”

Pulse are currently in negotiations with Wootton Bassett Town FC with a view to their students making up the club’s Wiltshire League Development team next season.

The academy will soon be holding open days for prospective new pupils. For more information contact Collier on 07975 679931 or visit pulsepremierfootball.com.