Wells has done so well at Bradford City FC he has been offered an improved and extended contract after he drew attention from championship clubs. Bradford does not want to miss out on any further students the Academy produces in the coming years and recognizes the value the RIASA program has to professional clubs. In addition to Wells, RIASA recently had two of its former students signed by Finnish professional club, Kemi Kings, Joey Spivack from New Jersey and Christian Eissele from Florida. Dave Baldwin, RIASA CEO said, “We’ve already set up a couple of games where a mix of the Bradford City First and Youth teams have played against RIASA. In addition, one or two of the students have trained with the club. RIASA students will now be able to play in the professional academy set up in a league format as they represent Bradford City”. Mark Ellis added, “The working relationship with Bradford will allow our students to play as representatives of Bradford on a weekly basis against other professional academies – we presently do play showcase events against other academy teams, such as Manchester City FC last week, and will continue to do so – but now the opportunity is open for some of the RIASA students to play for Bradford City FC on a regular basis as part of their development and exposure”. Nahki Wells believes he will be the first of many to emerge from the university program, which is directed by Richmond, The American International University in London. Wells said, “ “Hopefully, I will give others the motivation to know that the opportunities are there if you earn them. There’s a lot of American and Caribbean talent out there ready and willing to break through. I never had any doubt I could make it but RIASA helped me to really understand the (English) game and get used to it”. Wells went on to say,” Nowadays people come in from other countries on a two-week trial and that’s not enough time to adapt, even if you have the talent. RIASA gives you that time, and with the ex-professionals running it, you have the right people looking at you.” Brian Haley, RIASA International Football Director echoed Nahki’s point. Haley said, “we recently had a player scouted in Dallas, Texas who was over in the USA from Australia – he was a very good player. When he learned about RIASA he set up a weeklong visit to the academy in the hope that he would be seen and signed – that just does not happen. Players need time to acclimatize to the game, develop and be provided with the right mentoring to make it in the game. Players ask me all the time; can you get me a trial? We can but we know, just like it was with Nahki, it takes time to develop and allow clubs to see you– this is the value and opportunity of the RIASA program”. Haley concluded, “In addition, this is not just a football program it offers a high level University degree program that will make students stand out at their graduation – it provides a life changing opportunity on several levels for students and that is part of our mission statement”.

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