We are delighted to announce the signing of a contract by Léman International School with locally-based company, Icon, to manage the provision of services on campus outside school hours. To introduce the company to you, we have put some questions to their director, Mr. Andy Mcauley. Andy, who is a native of Scotland, has been resident in Chengdu for 13 years and is married to Sophia, a Chengdu native, and they have a young son Iain. In the last few years his company have provided coaching, camps and PE classes for many schools; local, bilingual and international, including running our last Summer Camp in 2019. Icon will be surveying our parent community to find out the types of service which are desired by our families. We look forward to seeing the menu of activities Icon put together for our students, starting with this year’s 2021 Summer Camp on our campus.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your company’s vision?
Our company is striving to be a leader in multi-sports coaching and sports consulting as well as event management in South-West China. We provide a broad portfolio of sports services, specialising in; coaching; events; league development, and consulting. In order to achieve our goals, we believe that it is important to collaborate with local organisations, as well as clubs and companies across the globe, in order to create mutually beneficial relationships based on a passion for sport. By creating these relationships, we believe that we can bring an international service to the Chinese market. The cornerstone of our presence in South-West China comes from our sports coaching, where we set ourselves apart by offering sports coaching and events in a fun and culturally diverse environment. We aim to educate and develop children through sport, helping their personal development and creating a lasting impression. By combining this with the highest quality of coaching, we believe that we can build a strong community and drive sports participation in South-West China.
Q：Why do schools choose to engage the services of Icon?
Icon is the longest-standing company of its type in Chengdu. We've been providing coaching services and hosting events since 2011. People see us as trustworthy and reliable because our reputation has been built up over the last decade. This has contributed to our longevity in the Chengdu market, and our continued growth over the past ten years.
Q：Why do parents and children like your product?
We take care to provide a quality product that parents can trust and have confidence in. From the childrens’ perspective, we always strive to make all of our courses interesting and engaging. Our coaches, and any outside providers we contract, are properly qualified, vetted and multilingual. We always value parental and school feedback to help us improve and refine our offering.
Q：What events have your company run in the past?
Our company has been running the Chengdu International Football League (CIFL), the largest international sporting community in South-West China, for 10 years. More recently we've become recognized for the Chengdu Mini World Cup, winning Chengdu Expat "Event of the Year" twice in a row. We're also well known for our Summer and Winter Camps, with our 2019 Summer Camp at Léman being especially popular. In the past we have also run residential camps as well as elite coaching.
Q：Why are the benefits to your company in working with Léman?
Léman is in many ways the ideal partner because of the great facilities on campus such as the swimming pool, the state of the art football pitches and running track as well as modern, well-equipped classrooms. We can run a diverse range of courses in the same location. The campus is safe and secure. Like us, the school places a high value on premium standards in the quality of provision, health and safety, and parent and child satisfaction.
Q：What is your vision for the program at Léman?
We would like to develop a program to offer the students a greater variety of courses. We will offer courses from leading organisations who can supply a quality product and value for money. As a parent myself, I understand how difficult it is to juggle afterschool activities with homework and other obligations. The more choices and convenient options a parent has the better. We plan to produce an exciting menu of courses combining a variety of sporting and academic choices.
Q：How will this be an exciting development for the south Chengdu area?
There are certainly a lot of development plans in the areas surrounding the campus. We see Tianfu New Area as being one of the most exciting areas to host international events and courses. We're excited to be able to offer a service for not only Léman students but also people who live in the vicinity or those from further afield who are drawn to a vibrant nature of Tianfu New Area.
