Mount Pleasant Soccer Club hosting JMG Soccer Academy from Belgium

MOUNT PLEASANT, SC – The Mount Pleasant Soccer Club (MPSC) is proud to be hosting the prestigious Jean-Marc Guillou (JMG) Belgian youth soccer academy here in Mount Pleasant for a three-week long cultural and sporting exchange. The JMG Academy has brought 19 of their players between the ages of 10-14 as well as two coaches to interact with MPSC players and coaches on various levels.

The unique soccer group arrived from Belgium on Aug. 3 and began practice with MPSC on Aug. 4, and their schedule is packed with practices, games, cultural activities and more through Aug. 25. The only program of its kind in the world, JMG Academy is the first top-flight European soccer academy to ever visit Mount Pleasant – and this is the academy’s first appearance in the United States.

The JMG Academy is a full-time, tuition free soccer school for aspiring professionals with a unique vision that includes aiming at technical perfection and fostering youth players’ character development. The academy’s execution of its training is unique as well; for example, academy players train barefoot and are said to make soccer a “spectacle.”

“For those who have seen the academy in training, there is no other experience quite like it,” said MPSC Academy Director of Coaching Matt Parmer, who promises that the academy’s visit will be a landmark in MPSC’s history. “We have a feeling that the impact of their visit will be felt for a long time to come.”

Says Parmer to his MPSC parents and players, “A look at the JMG program might just have you setting the bar a little higher.”

“To have an organization such as JMG traveling from Europe to Mount Pleasant says a lot about the world wide appeal of sports, especially soccer and how it is truly a common language for children of all ages,” said Mount Pleasant Recreation Department Director Ken Ayoub. “Many thanks to the members of the Mount Pleasant Soccer Club for making this visit possible and creating a truly unique experience for both the JMG players and the host Mount Pleasant families.”

JMG has academies in Africa, Asia and Europe, with one in approximately 3,000 applicants being accepted for the Belgian academy. The academy’s players train for 20 hours per week, 10 months per year for six years. The Belgian youth players visiting Mount Pleasant have just completed their first year of the program.

Founded by former French soccer player Jean Marc Guilliou, who played at the 1978 World Cup, the academy aims to the roots of soccer, symbolizing not only the game but also the concepts of freedom and the joys of childhood.

“It is a dream come true that Mount Pleasant will experience soccer that does more than unite performance and show, or unite ambition with humility,” said MPSC Developmental Program Coordinator and Coach David Jordan. “In the upcoming weeks the soccer we will see will ignite our dreams. It will bring together two worlds. And the soccer we will have these next few weeks belongs to us all.”

The JMG Academy came to Mount Pleasant following an invitation sent in March by Parmer, Jordan and local soccer supporter and promoter Tom Jermyn. Jermyn and Jordan first met representatives from the academy while with an aspiring professional soccer player on trial at the Belgian First Division Club Westerlo. After several meetings and a second trip to closely observe the program, the MPSC officially sent the invitation, and the JMG Academy accepted immediately.

Many members of the Mount Pleasant Soccer Club as well as the booster club are generously donating their time to make the exchange program possible. The local families that are hosting members of the JMG Academy are Bunky and Cindy Wichmann, Blake and Aimee Pierce, Charlie and Jane Heffron, Lawrence and Sara Friedrich, Peter and April Shevlino, Nico and Freddy Corontzes, Chris and Elizabeth Fischer, Douglas and Cheryl Majewski, David and Robin Richards, Michael and Alison Bourland, Kevin and Marianne Allardice, Kevin and Vera Ball, and Lisa and Shawn Aversano. The Mount Pleasant Soccer Club Boosters include Kevin Carter, Mike Bosch, Ralph Lundy, Shauna Nelson, Robert Donato, Lisa Aversano, Bunky Wichmann, Terry Ansley and Dawes Cooke.

“All of these individuals deserve special thanks for helping make the visit happen, and without them, this could not be the success that it is,” said Jordan. “The ideal of a community working together for the advancement of their youth is alive and well in this cultural and sporting exchange. It shows the tremendous energy, talent, and giving spirit that, with this exchange, is at its very best in the Town of Mount Pleasant.”

The JMG Academy will continue their exchange with the MPSC through Aug. 25. This week’s schedule includes training and games at various soccer fields throughout Mount Pleasant, and a soccer tennis tournament on Aug. 11. For an up-to-date itinerary on the academy’s visit, go to www.mpsoccer.com.

For more information on the Mount Pleasant Soccer Club and the JMG Academy’s visit with the club, go to www.mpsoccer.com or call Matt Parmer at 843-408-5504.


PHOTO CUTLINE: Shortly after their arrival to the United States, members of Belgium’s JMG youth soccer academy (in blue) train with the Mount Pleasant Soccer Club players (in red) at the Mount Pleasant Recreation Department’s Woods-Flowers Soccer Complex. During the prestigious academy’s first visit to the United States, the Belgian players’ visit will serve as a cultural as well as sporting exchange with the Mount Pleasant youth players (photo by Ken Ayoub).