ACG Tauranga Primary and Secondary School is set to be the home for New Zealand's newest Ricki Herbert Football Academy Talent Centre.

Ricki Herbert is a former New Zealand international and professional footballer who has represented New Zealand at FIFA World Cup Finals both as a player and as a coach.

His academies offer coaching, inter-centre competitions, holiday programmes and national camps, and have partnerships with top English club Fulham and football clubs in South America.

And for those interested in learning more about the academy, a welcome evening has been organised at the school which will be attended by Ricki on the night of May 9.

'Having already established a relationship with ACG through our talent centre at ACG Strathallan in Auckland, we knew the school was a good fit for the Bay of Plenty,” says Ricki.

The new partnership will provide two coaching sessions a week with a professional coach from the Ricki Herbert Football Academy from Term 2.

The curriculum, which covers all age groups from 5-18, has been developed by Riki, while sessions will take place at ACG Tauranga. Schools, clubs and families around the area are all invited to be involved.

ACG Tauranga Principal Shawn Hutchinson says the partnership between the school and the Football Academy aligns well with the school's values.

As a new school, ACG want to build positive and sustainable relationships with the community, he adds.

'We believe making our world-class facilities available to community groups will lead to more opportunities for young people to participate in regular, high-quality sporting programmes.”

RHFA Tauranga Head Coach Shaun O'Brien says he is looking forward to kick-starting the new academy.

With Tauranga experiencing massive growth as of late, the academy saw there was a need to open a second Talent Centre in the city to cater for busy families keen to get involved in football.

'ACG Tauranga has a real desire to move forward on the sports front, and we're looking forward to helping with that.”

Anyone wanting to learn more about the Ricki Herbert Football Academy Talent Centre is invited to attend the Welcome Evening which takes place in the staffroom of ACG Tauranga on Keenan Road in Pyes Pa on Tuesday, May 9, from 5.15pm. For more information call ACG Tauranga on 0800 222 355