PORT Adelaide plans to establish an academy for high performance coaches in an attempt to become a "global leader" in the field.
Speaking at the club's annual general meeting on Friday night, chairman David Koch said the ambitious project would see the club partner with its own high performance manager in Darren Burgess, as well as several local institutions.
Burgess' reputation has surged from strength to strength since returning to the Power after several years as the head of fitness and conditioning for both the Socceroos and English Premier League giants Liverpool.
He was credited for playing a vital role in Port's resurgence last year.
Although seen as a long-term initiative, Koch said the club would look to trial the academy next year.
"Our plan is to start a pilot program of this academy next year, in 2015," Koch said.
"Under the guidance of Darren the academy will train the new generation of high performance coaches to not only help our club, but other clubs in Australia and also internationally.
"We see this as an innovation that keeps us at the cutting edge of high performance coaching.
"High performance coaching is the new frontier of sport, not only AFL, but also a whole range of other sports.
"We think we can become a global leader in that area, in a partnership with Darren and also partnering with other South Australian institutions to make a significant contribution to sport in this country."
