About ESA
Elite Skills Arena
At ESA we provide an innovative range of training arenas designed to improve sports performance. Our main focus is football and we work with everyone from major professional clubs and academies, to training centres, facilities and large companies for activations.
Essentially, using our arenas, players get more touches of the ball in less time, accelerating their development in core attributes. To date our products have been used over 850,000 times worldwide, across 6 continents. All ESA products utilise state-of-the-art LED light and vibration technology and are based around the mantra of repetition.
Teams using esa equipment
Meet the ESA East Asia team
Sam Trayford
General Director
Sam has been in and out of Hong Kong his whole life having been born in the city. He has had a huge passion for football from a young age playing in both Hong Kong and the UK. This passion is what led him to be involved with Elite Skills Arena (ESA) UK. He returned to Hong Kong in 2017 bringing the ESA brand and the products that come with it. He helped expand the brand across East Asia in regions such as China, Thailand and Japan. Having identified the quality of training and enjoyment participants get from the use of ESA products he decided a permanent location was needed, and so the ESA East Asia Training Centre was born!
Chris de Laiglesia
Technical Director
Chris has been coaching in Hong Kong since 2015 working with players of all ages, ranging from 2 year olds learning the basics up to adults playing in the Hong Kong professional league. Having been introduced to the private coaching sector over the course of the lockdown in Hong Kong, he found that this particular area was not quite catering to the needs of the players and wanted to provide a more immersive experience.
Chris has had the playing experience with pro team Kitchee (Hong Kong) and semi-pro team Ventura County (California, US). He found himself wanting to continue being involved in football and coached the Johns Hopkins University Club Soccer team as a volunteer in 2011-2012. With a FA level 1 completed back in 2004, he knew he needed to further his football education, so he enrolled with the IFA (Northern Irish Football Association) UEFA B course in 2016 - 2017 and as of June 2021 is currently on the FAW (Football Association of Wales) as he looks to continue through the UEFA coaching tiers.
Youth Teams Managed:
2015-2016 KCC 2007 Boys (HKJFL U9 Prem/Champ)
2015-2016 KCC 2004/2005 Girls (HKJFL U12 Champ)
2016-2017 KCC 2008 Boys (HKJFL U9 Prem/Champ)
2016-2017 KCC 2005/2006 Girls (HKJFL U12 Champ)
2017-2019 KCC 2003 Boys (HKFA U15/U16 Div 1)
2019-2020 APSS 2008 Boys (HKJFL U11/U12 Prem/Champ)
2020-2021 KCC 2010 Boys (HKJFL U11 Prem/Champ)
2022-2022 KCC 2008 Boys (HKFA U15 League A)
2020-Current APSS 2011 Boys (HKJFL U10-U12 Prem/Champ)
Men's Teams Managed:
2016-2018 Boca Seniors (Yau Yee League, Div 1/2)
2020-2021 KCC HKFA Team (HKFA Men's Div 3)
2019- Current KCC Cavaliers (Legal League Div 1/2)
Women's Teams Managed:
2021-Current Major League Football Academy (HKFA Womens' Div 1)