Vitesse/AGOVV Football Academy
A successful professional training course for prospective football professionals
The Vitesse Football Academy is a vital part of Vitesse. Since 1990, the club has been providing a high-quality education to young talent. This all-round education of young people takes time and is not something that is done with a view to achieving short-term results. Vitesse has been reaping the benefits of its active youth policy for some years now, and those very considerable benefits more than justify all the patience, effort and funds that Vitesse has invested.
At Vitesse, we believe that clubs that fail to invest in youth training will not survive in the long term. After all, such clubs have to rely completely on new players from outside. Thanks to our education programme we have the time and the opportunity to inculcate our own, technical house style into our young trainees. Moreover, the bond with our surroundings is stronger because some of our first-team players come from the region. In short, a club with its own education programme can breed players who are rooted in the club culture, traditions and mindset.
Of course, clubs with no youth training programme do save on training costs, but on the other hand they never get the chance to generate the considerable income that well-trained young players can bring in when they transfer to another club. Moreover, every professional football club in the Netherlands should see it as their obligation to offer a good training programme because that is the only guarantee that Dutch football will remain on the highest level. Whatever the pros and cons of the argument, we strongly believe in youth programmes at Vitesse.
A high-scoring Academy!
In 1990, a limited budget was made available for the launch of the Vitesse Voetbal Academie®. That budget has since been increased to ten percent of our total budget, which is further proof that we take our youth training very seriously. And the results reflect this:
• In all categories of youth football, a Vitesse team has been crowned champion of the Netherlands one or more times.
• The Academy trains an average of around 120 players, many of whom are regularly picked for representative teams in their age groups.
• Over the past years, several players from our Academy have made it to our senior squad. And given the quality of the talented youngsters currently taking part in our training programme, this is just the start!
• The Academy is attracting huge interest both inside and outside the Netherlands. We regularly receive delegations from clubs and sports federations that want to learn more about our training methods.
An all-inclusive education
How does the Vitesse Academy work? First of all, the club employs professional scouts to attract the best talent from the region and beyond to Vitesse. We offer our young players training and education in the following three areas:
A Training in technical football skills.
B Regular schooling in the special Top Sport classes.
C Character Building.
The Academy pupils gradually become familiar with the professional sport environment. The bar is set deliberately high. The boys are not just trained for the sake of it, and the main focus is on performance. In return for their hard work, the club takes very good care of the boys.
The Academy actually involves intensive interaction between the manager of the Vitesse/AGOVV Academy, the trainers, the medical staff, the school that we work with, the parents of the boys and the teachers on the Character Building course. Everything is arranged for the boys − down to the last detail.
All of Vitesse’s youth players are trained to play according to the club’s technical style. All teams play in a 4-3-3 formation, although in every team there are some subtle variations to this. The boys are surrounded by a fully-staffed coaching team. Our training accommodation is located at the beautiful National Sport Centre in Papendal, which we also plan to turn into our match centre in the near future.
In the meantime, Vitesse has progressed so well that we can safely say that the boys who qualify from the Academy are guaranteed a good future. Some of them transcend Vitesse’s level and transfer to teams abroad. And if the boys do not make it at Vitesse, in almost all cases they are accepted by another professional football club. Moreover, if they still do not make the breakthrough they will of course be disappointed but it is not the end of the world. Thanks to their good all-round education, all students at the Academy are excellently prepared for a career in society.
Character Building
The Character Building course is relatively new in the training structure and focuses on the following subjects:
• Increasing the boys’ self-confidence.
• Positive thinking, also in times of adversity.
• Working together in a group.
• Dealing with problems in sport and in the boys’ personal lives.
• The role of an agent.
This type of programme helps the boys to develop into professional footballers in a balanced way and to learn to cope with their future status. Without exception, students who have graduated from the Academy can say they have enjoyed a multi-faceted, thoroughgoing professional education. And if they are talented enough, they are now ready to perform to the best of their abilities. Both on and off the field.
Vitesse: a youthful policy
The main goal of Vitesse’s Football Academy is for players to regularly go on to play for the A squad. In practice, this goal is being achieved on a regular basis. Players that have been trained by the club and are therefore familiar with the club culture and style of play are now recognisable as such to the club’s fans. Admittedly, the training programmes are expensive, but they are indispensible to the survival of the club. Like to know more?
For more information, contact the Head of Academy at the Vitesse/AGOVV Football Academy on telephone number +31 26 48 22101.
Correspondence address:
Vitesse Football Academy,
PO Box 366, 6800 AJ Arnhem
