On Monday and Tuesday the 21st ECA General Assembly was held in Split and the first day a meeting at Poljud was held on the topic of football academies, attended by representatives of many European football clubs. On behalf of the Hajduk Academy, U-19 coach Mario Despotovic presented a clear path of a player from the Academy to the first team based on the performances of the player within the recognizable Hajduk style of the game, but also on a daily hard work...
- The ECA is in the process of developing more frequent and intense exchanges between the Academies of different clubs, so the presentation of Hajduk Academy has provided a good insight into what we want to accomplish with this process - said Edwin van der Sar, Chairman of the ECA Youth Working Group.
- We have had the opportunity to hear a lot of practical methods of playing style and the way they are transferred to the training process in Hajduk, and this is a very progressive approach based on practical applications on the field. We in Schalke always hope to learn from others, especially from clubs like Hajduk who have a long tradition of youth football. Today we have learned a lot at Poljud and I want to express special gratitude to the people who presented it - said Bodo Menze, Schalke FC Director of international relations.
- We all know who Tomislav Ivić was and how much he did for Hajduk, and he was also a great inspiration for our club. Times have changed and today more than ever before, the youth academy is the fundamental part of Standard. - said Pierre Locht, R. Standard de Liege.
- At the meeting of the ECA Youth Working Group at Poljud, discussions focused on important issues such as the future development of the UEFA Youth League, training compensation and child training, but equally we had the opportunity to gain a detailed insight into how Hajduk Academy maximizes the use of limited resources it possesses, and the ways in which it develops, basing its strong football philosophy on Dalmatian roots. Clubs across Europe are willing to learn from each other, especially when it comes to technical matters, so this meeting was of great importance to members of our working group - said Olivier Jarosz, Head of ECA Club Affairs and Administrator at Youth Working Group.
- It was a pleasure to be a part of the meeting of the ECA Youth Working Group at Poljud and to learn from these gentleman how and in what way they intend to improve youth football in the future. We've presented "What we want to achieve" and "How do we intend to achieve it" in our youth academy. The key message would be to have a clear path from our Academy to the first team based on the players' performances and our recognizable playing style, but also on our work with children on a daily basis, applying a holistic approach to football training. We also showed how we develop the skills of our coaches, explaining the principles of the football style we insist on so that delegates can gain insight into the type and profile of players we want to develop - said Head of Hajduk Youth Academy Krešimir Gojun.
