Birkirkara FC Youth Academy Press Conference

by Ayrton Galea - 27th October 2015

Birkirkara FC held a press conference at the Eurosport outlet in Birkirkara, addressed by Club's President Dr. Adrian Delia, the Youth Academy's Chairman Mr. Ivan Mizzi, and the Director of Youth Coaching Mr. Mark Bondin.

Youth Academy Chairman, Mr. Ivan Mizzi opened the conference by saying, "Two years ago we set off on a long journey, and we have not reached our destination yet. We will never reach a destination, as I believe that arriving would mean stopping working. We believe that in some sectors we made very important steps forward, while in other areas there is still work to be done.

"There were a lot of changes. There were administrative changes and technical changes. We can pride ourselves on having all of our coaches, all qualified, and all are willing to continue learning. This season we have no less than seven coaches that are taking the course to achieve a UEFA B License, besides those that already hold UEFA A and UEFA B licences. It is a source of pride that we have found a set of hand-picked coaches that fir the Club's plans.

He added, "One of the persons who is essential for the Academy, is the director of Youth Coaching, Mr. Mark Bondin. Mr. Bondin was there when we started transforming our Nursery. We have to say that we did not start from scratch, but we built on the solid work of the Nursery. Our Nursery was one of the first Nurseries in Malta, established in 1983. However, we felt that it was time for a reform because from a prestigious nursery, it was becoming one of many, and we felt it was time to revamp it and make it stronger.

Mr. Ivan Mizzi concluded by saying, "We would like to thank Eurosport for hosting us. It is not a coincidence that we are here today. Besides being one of the main sponsors financially, they are also our technical sponsors. Eurosport helps every sector of the Club and our relationship is very strong, and we hope that we continue working together for a number of years."

Mr Mark Bondin, who was appointed the Director of Youth Coaching in April of last year, explained that the Academy is working on challenging the 'status-quo' of Maltese Football and how things work in local nurseries traditionally.

Mr Bondin said,"Our main objective is to prepare players for the Club's Senior Team and the National Team, both mentally and technically. If a player is physically and technically able to make it to senior team football, but fails mentally, he will never make it.

"The Club is divided into three main sections which are the Senior Team, the Women's Team and the Youth Section. The Youth sector is divided into four groups:
Under 5 to Under 7 - Fun Group
Under 8 to Under 11 - Development Group
Under 12 to Under 13 - Pre-Competition Group
Under 14 to Under 17 - Competition Group

"We also have a strong setup for girls football. Birkirkara FC was always on the forefront of Women's football and it pioneered in this area locally. In the Academy today we have separate girls's teams for the Under 11s, Under 13s and Under 16s. The numbers are still growing and we are going from strength to strength.

"The first idea that we are challenging is that parents take their young children to a nursery, just for fun. We disagree. We believe that the children should come to learn, and by learning they will enjoy the experience. By learning, and enjoying the game, the final result will be winning. Fun is an important part of the mixture, but it does not start and end there.

"Another challenge that is being tackled by the Academy is what is understood by the word competition. When we prepare our players for competition, we do not mean the team's competition against an opponent. We must understand that the first challenge and the first competition is within the team. The players have to compete between themselves to find their place in the starting eleven. They have to strive and work hard. We challenge them to perform at the best level and to achieve the desired targets.

"We have given a lot of importance to the coaches we chose. We can pride ourselves of not only having qualified coaches, but coaches who are willing to take the next step in their coaching career. Besides qualified coaches, our teams enjoy the services of a physical trainer and goalkeepers' coach working, with them. The Academy is linked with the Senior Team thanks to the Assistant Coach, Mr. Josef Mansueto.

"Darren Farrugia is the Academy's Physical Trainer. Darren had been with the Birkirkara FC Senior Team, but we persuaded him to join the Academy, so that we can benefit from his experience. He works with all the sectors of the Academy, paying particular attention to the older groups, where he actively joins in their training sessions.

"Reuben Debono, the goalkeepers' coach, was also convinced to join our Academy from senior team football. He has experience in Premier League both as a goalkeeper and a goalkeeper's coach. Even here we are doing something different from most other local nurseries. Reuben is working with the goalkeepers five times a week. He joins the teams during their training session, so the goalkeeper gets individual attention. The idea is to train our goalkeepers the same way they would train with our Senior Team. This obviously comes at a cost but our Academy is lucky enough to have to full backing of the Club's Administration.

"The Youth Academy also has two physiotherapists, a podiatrist and a fitness consultant to help the players in their physical and development needs.

"The Academy has partnered up with Coerver Coaching, and our players can have extra sessions to improve their skills. Coerver coaching specialises in honing the player's individual skills. Besides providing Coerver sessions from our premises, we have fully qualified Coerver coaches in our Under 11, Under 12 and Under 13 groups.

"The Academy sought ways to overcome the limitations of its facilities, in the sense, of not owning an 11-a-side football pitch. We made an agreement with Savio College to use their facilities for training our Under 13 to Under 17's teams. But we did not stop there. We started a partnership with Dingli FC on two fronts. With Dingli Swallows struggling to form an Under-15's Team, we loaned them a number of Under-14's players, and they are coached by our Under 14's coaches. Most of their training sessions are held in Dingli's 11-a-side pitch, with some training sessions being held at Infetti. We also reached an agreement with Dingli so that our U19 team trains in their facilities."

Mr Bondin concluded by announcing that the Academy will organise an Open Day on Sunday the 8th of November, between 09:00 and 12:00, with the participation of the Senior Team. Parents of players who wish to see how the Academy operates are encouraged to attend on the day. More details about the Open Day will be communicated shortly.

Club's President, Dr. Adrian Delia, highlighted the fact that the Academy is now under the helm of the Club. "Like the Chairman of Youth Academy said, we have started a long journey and today we have arrived at a certain point but there's a very long way to go. However, we have to recognise the progress made from when we started this reform. We left from a point where the Nursery was alienated from the rest of the Club. Not even the logo and the kits were the same at the time."

"We are at times criticized for pushing to increase the number of foreigner players in the Premier League, but our plan is to have as much Youth Academy products in the Senior Team as possible. However, it is very important, and I can say this as a parent, that our players grow up challenging themselves.

"One of the things that you have to face when having a long squad is that you will find players that are still not used to the mentality of challenging themselves to earn their place in the team. This shows the importance of going through the situation when you're still in the youth ranks of challenging yourself because else, you're not going to break through. As Mr Bondin said, the players must learn from a young age the meaning of competition - first competing for your place in the team, then competing as a team, to win the league, to leave a mark in UEFA competitions."

"Together with Mr. Mizzi, we have made the plan for the next 3 to 4 years. It comes at a financial cost, but we are committed to continue investing in the Youth Academy. We don't want money in return. What we want is players that will make it to the Senior Team."

"This will be Birkirkara FC in the future. This investment will help us have a Senior Team made up of Youth Academy products, that are passionate and in love with the Club, and who will be the backbone of the team. "

comments powered by Disqus