Thursday, March 19, 2020

To Turin and Back: A Juventus Experience


Last year, I began coaching at the new Juventus Academy in Washington, D.C. The club was just getting started and I was hired to coach two under-10 boys teams. One of the perks of coaching at the DC academy is the option to travel to Italy for a one-week coach training course. I jumped at the opportunity and in February 2020 I traveled to Turin to learn from coaches and staff at one of the top academies in the world. (In case you were wondering, I was there from February 15-22 and left just before the coronavirus outbreak struck Italy. That's a story for a separate blog post. In the meantime, let's wish everyone who is affected by the virus the best.)

Back to the course. It was an incredible experience. I met Juventus Academy coaches from all over the world - from Russia to Columbia - from Bahrain to England. We spent our mornings in the box suites at Allianz Stadium overlooking the pitch. There we watched presentations from Juventus coaches and staff and enjoyed tasty breakfasts and lunches. In the evenings, we took a bus to one of their national academies where kids train and play in the hope of being selected for their main academy. We also visited their Vinovo training center where their selected youth train. We even got to watch Cristiano Ronaldo's son train with his team.

In addition to the time spent in the classroom and out on the pitches, we were able to watch the first team train as well. Being so close to players like Buffon, Dybala, and Ronaldo was pretty surreal. This was open to only a small number of people and was a much more intimate setting than watching them play at the stadium.

Here are some pictures from my trip:






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