The Olé Football Academy, commonly referred to as Olé, is a national

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centre based in the city of

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in the

Wellington Region Greater Wellington, also known as the Wellington Region (Māori language, Māori: ''Te Upoko o te Ika''), is the southernmost regions of New Zealand, region of the North Island of New Zealand. The local government region covers an area of , and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Considered the premier football academy in New Zealand, Olé are currently represented at the senior level by Central Premier League side Western Suburbs, and have produced a number of New Zealand internationals in both men's and women's football. Founded in 1997 by Dave Wilson and his son,

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, the academy was directed by Declan Edge from 2012 to 2020. 2020- 2022 the Technical Director was Ben Sippola. As of 2023, the new Technical Director is Alan Koch who has taken over the management of the academy. Coach Koch is also the head coach of Western Suburbs Football Club. Olé Football Academy shares a partnership with Western Suburbs. Prior to this, Olé partnered with ISPS Handa Premiership club Eastern Suburbs for the 2018–19 season, in which Eastern Suburbs won the title for the first time in their history – a success largely attributed to the Olé academy, whose graduates consisted of the majority of the team.

Notable graduates

The academy's two most notable graduates are current

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

midfielder Ryan Thomas and Beşiktaş winger Tyler Boyd. Others listed are either current internationals, or have represented a professional team outside New Zealand following graduation from Olé Football Academy.

References

External links

Olé Football Academy website
{{Football in New Zealand 1997 establishments in New Zealand Association football academies