Fcommanding soccer players, creating dreams. The Spanish football has been an example for the rest of the leagues for years in the formation, growth and development of grassroots football. A ‘factory’ of young talents that The league wants to continue promoting after creating an ambitious National Plan for the Optimization and Improvement of Quarries.
“It’s about listening to them because the professionalization of grassroots football doesn’t have to be only the responsibility of the clubs, but also of LaLiga. It is a kind of guide with a global vision that each club can then adapt to its needs and circumstances“, assured John Floritresponsible for LaLiga Sports Projects, in the VI Meeting of Quarrieswhere managers and directors of the quarries of the clubs of LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank.
The Plan includes the strategic areas and spaces for improvement to take national grassroots football to another dimension. It is not about ‘touching’ the philosophy of each club, but about laying the foundations for a collective understanding. That is, breaking down the barriers between the clubs. “There was no philosophy around share experiences or knowledge collectively. Each had their own grassroots culture. Grow from a collective point of view for individual benefit.
Training footballers… and people for society
Beyond reaching the sporting challenges and to accompany the quarry on its way to the elitethe Spanish clubs are clearer than ever that they are training people for the future of society: “Within Celta’s philosophy we have several objectives. Within the quarry we want to train players, try to prepare them so that they are ready to make the professional leap and the second is to help in the formation of people for society. We try from our field of football to transfer a series of values to young people,” he says. Eduardo CovelHead of the RC Celta youth academy.
In the first year of youth there were only two boys who were studying and for us that would be a great failure as a club
Within the plan that they have presented, much emphasis is placed on reinforcing the comprehensive development of young footballers: more support in the psychological, nutritional, emotional… and academic aspects (one of the key points for LaLiga). An ambitious objective for 2025, where it will be tried that the 80% of youth players over 16 years of age are enrolled in Baccalaureate and the 40% have university training or higher education.
“It cannot be that you dedicate your entire childhood to being a footballer, sacrificing studies, family… for something that is very difficult. There are many who start and very few who arrive. Recently I was told that in another team, in the first year of youth, there were only two boys who were studying. For us that would be a great failure as a club.“he counted patxi daggertechnical director of Osasunato try to explain the values that the rojillo team seeks for its quarry.
The success of LaLiga with the quarry
Philosophy and style have always been very present… but when we talk about football, the important thing is the results. And there, LaLiga continues to dominate European football. The latest study of CIES Football Observatorywhich reveals that there are seven LaLiga clubs in the top 10 of the ‘Big 5’ (the five major European leagues) with the highest percentage of minutes conceded to their homegrown players this season, made it clear that Without the quarries, Spanish football would not be understood.
“I have not been the most talented and I never stood out in the teams. I was in my place without raising my voice, but each season that rose, others were left behind. The secret is perseverance. When something went wrong you had to hold on and push forward. That is why I identify myself with values such as humility. That has led me to be in the first team for eight seasons”, said the rojillo youth squad David Garciawho is breaking it this season, to surprise with his ‘secret’ of success.
A look at the past to drive the future. The process to improve the quarries is carried out in four initiatives that are already underway (2016-21): Quarry Meeting, LaLiga ProPlayer (scholarship project to study in the United States), LaLiga Training Hub (exclusive and free training for grassroots football professionals) and La Liga Academy Manager (digital optimization tools).
Villarreal’s European dream and its greatest success
The yellow submarine, semi-finalist in the Champions League, in one of the most admired teams in the world. An example of a quarry for a small municipality of just over 50,000 inhabitants that has known how to do things well: “We have invested a lot in the quarry project. Currently, we already have 9 soccer fields in the sports facilities and also the change that we have made in the structure of coaches. They are very complete, they are trainers who are also dedicated to being on top of their studiesthe environment of his family, of the representatives, etc…”, he told us Hector Fontex-soccer player and director of methodology of the Villarreal CF.
“With each player we have a different project. We already know that entire teams do not arrive, but individual players from generations. Everything is structured a bit (agenda, schedule…) and that makes them have a very furnished head. In addition, We are lucky to have a psychologist in each team: he puts on his boots and goes out on the field, provides the coaches with tools, hours of study. In this section we are a bit pioneers. Fernando Roig made it clear to us that 50% must be dedicated to sports work and the other 50% to responsibilities, values and studies. It is important to also work on the person”, he concluded to explain part of the success of the ‘groguet’ youth academy.
Monchi’s clone
“The first most important project we have in the R&D department is to know what will happen when you are not Monchi. We have created a machine, which is obviously not Monchi, and that is why people know that it is being formed around him. We are turning all that technology into an application to try to understand all of Monchi’s head and alleviate the blow the day that, hopefully in a long time, he will not be with us”, explained Jose Maria CruzHead of R&D&i Football Sevilla FC.
Another LaLiga team that continues to rely on the quarry to continue growing is Sevilla. The team of Julen Lopetegui works daily on a plan that started years ago: “We have more than 100 employees dedicated to the quarry, so it is important that they are the best trained. This year we have won by establishing the structure, so that everything does not depend on specific people and we have adapted to the model that we are following. We have an R&D department, a data department where we have a data scientist, a computer engineer, a project manager and a physicist. The idea is always to try everything in the academy and try to consolidate everything to take it to the first team”, he assured.
A milestone for Spanish quarries: its five pillars
The National Plan for the Optimization and Improvement of Quarries Linked to LaLiga Impulse It has 5 fundamental pillars on which the foundations of the growth that is sought for Spanish football are sustained.
1- Infrastructures and resources: One of the key areas for the Impulse Plan, which is especially relevant in the case of quarries: it is recommended to invest in adequate infrastructure, such as the improvement of sports cities, and technological tools.
2- Comprehensive attention to the player: differential area of the Plan, which points out the need to approach the training of the player from a holistic point of view, not only sports. In particular, attention will be paid to their academic and personal training and the care of psycho-social or mental health aspects. LaLiga thus reiterates its commitment to academic training in academies, which it reinforced in 2019 with the launch of the LaLiga ProPlayer programme, which offers scholarships to club academy players to combine sports and studies at US universities.
3- Development and transfer to professional football: an area that will reflect the success of the initiatives and that represents a commitment by the clubs to a more sustainable growth of their professional teams through their academies, the detection and retention of talent in Spain and greater financial rationality in the market of signings. As indicators of long-term success, the plan includes academy players who are part of the first team, players called up in national teams or those who end up being part of clubs in the five major European leagues.
4- Training model and transfer to competition: addresses the philosophy and training plan from a methodological point of view. The clubs must have their own established philosophy and training proposal that guides the activity and development of the quarry.
5- Structure and development of professionals: focuses on the professionalization of the quarries, marked by a key element: even more demanding requirements in terms of training, specialization and stability of technicians, guaranteeing a professionalized and quality structure.
