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More than 150 talented young players from countries such as the UK, Guatemala, Singapore, the USA and Canada attended an intensive immersion programme at the ESC LALIGA & NBA Centre in November. The LALIGA Training Stages programme, a high-performance placements initiative developed in Spain for international teams and players, was solidified with the opening of the ESC complex, which became the nerve centre for LALIGA’s grassroots football development projects, alongside the experience gathered around these types of programmes since 2015.
Since the launch of these LALIGA Academy sports projects, more than 220,000 players have been trained by top coaches using the LALIGA Methodology through various programmes, including those players who have experienced the Training Stages at the ESC LALIGA & NBA Centre. These programmes are aimed at professional teams, national teams and international academies, who are working to raise their competitive level by combining training, workshops and matches against LALIGA youth sides and the teams from LALIGA Academy Madrid, LALIGA’s international academy in Spain.
Francisco Javier Hernández, Head of LALIGA Academy, said: “We’re very pleased with the strengthening of the high-performance placement programme, as it shows the existing level of interest in this type of top-quality initiative. In addition to helping players to raise their competitive level through workshops and training, the stages offer a 360º experience of the LALIGA ecosystem, with official visits to stadiums, museums such as LEGENDS and training centres. They also have the opportunity to play matches against the youth teams from LALIGA clubs, as well as talents from the LALIGA Academy, our long term project based at the international academy in Madrid.”
Juan Florit, Head of LALIGA Football Department, stressed: “We have been working on this kind of sports project since 2015, thus accumulating a wealth of experience, expertise and know-how. More than 220,000 players from all over the world have been trained under the LALIGA Methodology. This represents the philosophy and fundamentals behind the working models of the LALIGA EA SPORTS and LALIGA HYPERMOTION youth academies, which are international leaders in academy training and the development of young players. Our overall vision is based on aspects such as the integral development of the player, the improvement and optimisation of individual performance, and the improvement of cognitive capacity and understanding of the game. Such programmes help to create a framework of opportunities for growth, visibility and improved competition for these players.”
Four intensive placements in November
One of the stages involved a selection of talented Singaporean youngsters as part of the LALIGA partnership between the Singapore government, Sports SG and the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), and is one of the cornerstones of the ambitious long-term ‘Unleash the Roar!’ initiative. The project represents a long-term vision to improve the local football ecosystem and unite the nation around its common aspirations for Singaporean football. This is the second long-term training camp at the ESC Centre under the agreement, following the success of the one held in November 2022.
Another stage is also part of a long-term project: LALIGA Select. This is a talent detection and development programme launched in 2021 by LALIGA North America together with the ISL Agency and forms part of the organisation’s strategy to support the growth of football in the USA. The USA has the second largest number of federated football players in the world, with more than 4 million, so LALIGA’s commitment to talent detection and development has very high growth potential.
The list of noteworthy programmes is completed with the stage for young footballers from the United Kingdom, a country where LALIGA Academy has two editions of LALIGA Camps UK, and another with players from a Camps programme that had its first phase in Guatemala, which shows LALIGA Academy’s commitment to the LATAM region, where it is growing rapidly with projects in countries such as Peru, Colombia and Argentina.
