The Third ECA (European Club Association) Youth Conference successfully took place last week at the Allianz Arena, home to FC Bayern München. Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Performance Director, Patrick van Leeuwen participated in the conference and made a presentation about the Club’s Football Academy to the 123 representatives from different clubs. ECA, committed to the continued development of youth football at European football clubs and, in accordance with its key pillar of knowledge sharing, provided the opportunity for ECA Member Club representatives to gather and discuss best practice and quality areas for improvement at professional youth academies across the continent.
Following the ECA Youth Academy Study, the biggest ever survey conducted by ECA with 123 participating clubs, the key findings from this study were presented to ECA Member Clubs in attendance. The study, initiated by the ECA Youth Academies Task Force, a specialized Task Force comprising of representatives from FC Schalke 04, Everton FC, Olympiacos FC, RSC Anderlecht, FK Crvena Zvezda, Maccabi Tel Aviv FC, Aalborg BK, and Juventus, was developed with the aim of outlining a set of common good practices for youth academies at European football clubs. In turn, the ECA Youth Conference provided the perfect platform to present the resulting 12 Professional Youth Academy Quality Areas to attending ECA Member Clubs.
In addition to the presentations, there were also important panels and discussions dealing with the following topics: “Strategic Importance,” location and financial accountability of youth academy management. Another topic that was discussed was “recognizing talents,” with the goal to increase professionalism in recruiting young players. Another important element that was discussed was Cognitive therapy, encouraging youth departments to deal with the world of football and academic studies at the same time.
In general, the conference dealt with different topics connected to football and youth departments and the essence of the differences in the youth academies in different countries in Europe.
