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Red-hot Jamie Vardy launches academy for non-league players

Alex Morton / Action Images

There are few accomplishments in English football greater than a player progressing from non-league football to the Premier League.

Leicester City goal machine Jamie Vardy should know.

Just five years ago, Vardy was toiling for non-league Stocksbridge Park Steels FC in the eighth tier of English football, uncertain if his aspirations of playing in the top flight were to become a reality, or just a pipe dream steeped in futility.

Fast forward to 2015, and Vardy leads the Premier League in goals, has equaled Ruud van Nistelrooy's scoring standard in 10 consecutive top-flight matches, and has his Foxes in first place.

After a meteoric rise amidst club-record transfer fees for teenagers and unproven commodities, Vardy is hoping to assist those looking to emulate his career arc by founding an academy for non-league footballers.

"I know there are players out there in a similar position to where I was, that just need an opportunity," the 28-year-old told The Guardian.

Vardy has announced plans to launch a week-long residential camp for 60 non-league footballers. The players will receive top-notch coaching and guidance with the possibly of playing in front of professional scouts.

"More and more players are dropping out of the system early. For me, it was at Sheffield Wednesday, when I was 16, because they thought I was too small. I remember how that felt and it’s difficult to come back from (that) or even think about the professional game.

"I’ve thought for some time that something could be done about it, and, after several conversations with my agent, John Morris, and my fiancee, Becky, we decided to set up V9 to unearth talent and give those players a shot - hopefully at earning professional contracts but also to learn and understand what it takes to be a professional at the highest level."

Vardy and Morris will accept applications next May, with hopes of kicking off the academy 12 months later.

For every Vardy or Queens Park Rangers' Charlie Austin, there are footballers of a similar ilk who simply get lost in the shuffle of scouting, something Vardy and his agent would fancy fixing.

"We believe there are many more Jamie Vardys out there," Morris said upon launching the website for the Leicester City star's ambitious endeavor.

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