Feature Article #1

Madrid Summer Camp – First Report

Dear Parents, Now we have almost completed the first week of camp I in representation of my whole staff here in Madrid am happy to present to you this report about the development of our camp so far. Before I get into the report, I would like to express to you our thanks for giving us the chance and the confidence [...]

admin | July 6th, 2010 | Continued

Feature Article #2

Edukick England BWFC ISS Football Studies Players Train in the Famous Reebok Stadium

The year-long football study’s immersion scholarship programme we have here at BWFCISS with our international gateway partners EduKick had the experience of a lifetime. The players got to train on the Reebok Stadium pitch itself!

The Reebok stadium is one of the most iconic stadiums in the world and with its state-of-the-art Desso system pitch. BWFCISS manager Dave Bailey and his team put them through their paces in a three-hour session which ended in a full 11 v. 11 game at the end.

admin | May 27th, 2010 | Continued

Feature Article #3

EduKick England Alum Named All-American

One of EduKick England’s alumni has had a banner year. Austin Otto, who’s now a freshman at Iowa Central Community College, was named Second Team All-American by the National Junior College Athletic Association. He made 19 goals this past season with the Iowa Central Tritons (13 more than any other player on the team), which, [...]

admin | April 16th, 2010 | Continued

Feature Article #4

EduKick Alumni Update: Mason Hampel

Mason here,  I am 19 years old and currently playing in Holland with GVV UNITAS.   We play in the forth division Dutch league.  I work part-time and play footy in the evenings with a game every Sunday. Experience: EduKick Spain 2006-2007 In 2006 I was in the year long Spain Madrid program.  I left home [...]

admin | March 17th, 2010 | Continued

Feature Article #5

How to Choose the Best Football Academies Internationally

So you’re ready to begin your international sports adventure, and eager take your game to a completely new level. But which football academy is right for you? Where can you find the best mix of training and exposure? We’ll cover the fundamentals for choosing an international football academy in this article, and help point you [...]

admin | December 30th, 2009 | Continued

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PEAC SCHOOLS’ SOCCER PROSPECTS SHOWCASE

You are invited to join us for . . .

PEAC SCHOOLS’ SOCCER PROSPECTS SHOWCASE

Friday July 30, 2010 from 4:00-6:30 pm.

Location: PEAC Burloak Facility 952 Century Drive, Burlington


Players will attend a training session offered by National “A” License coach Rafael Carbajal.

THE SOCCER PROSPECTS SHOWCASE includes:

On Field Training with PEAC Soccer Coaches at PEAC Burloak Facility

Information Session about Academic & Athletic Programs & Tour of PEAC School

PEAC is an independent day school for grades 6 through 10 that has built a soccer-specific program for players who wish to achieve excellence academically and athletically.

Our goal is to continue to build an elite soccer development program, which will draw a great deal of attention from post-secondary schools and many local elite teams.  For more information about the PEAC School, visit www.PEAC.ca

Itinerary for PEAC Soccer Prospects Showcase:

3:45pm – Registration – PEAC School at Burloak facility

4:00pm-5:00pm – On-Field Practice Session with PEAC coaches

5:15pm-6:00pm Presentation about PEAC & Soccer Program

6:00pm- 6:30pm – Q&A, Tour of School

Please note that space is very limited for the event, and you need to RSVP by no later than Wednesday July 28th.   Please reply directly to armanda@peac.ca to confirm your attendance at the event.

We look forward to seeing you and your child on Friday July 30, 2010 for a great night of athletics and academics.  We are confident that our school will provide your child with the best academic and athletic development program in Canada.

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Summer Camp JULY 2010


Dear Parents,
Now we have almost completed the first week of camp I in representation of my whole staff here in Madrid am happy to present to you this report about the development of our camp so far. Before I get into the report, I would like to express to you our thanks for giving us the chance and the confidence to be your daughters/sons’ mentors for these 3 weeks. We have been educating, through football & language young adolescent for the last 25 years and we recognize the commitment that this big challenge represents. We are personally committed 24/7 to make a big impression on each one of our campers, so they can understand and identify the potential (strengths and areas of improvement) that they possess to become the best individual and athlete that they can be.
Our recipe to achieve this is simple: involvement and empower. We get them involved in what they love the most (the game) so we can empower them to be the best that they can be. We listen to them and together we identify those factors that really help them grow inside and outside the field. The group of players that we received is what we call ¨transformational level¨. They are transitioning from recreational to a more serious level concept.


With this in mind we started our camp July 1st. Campers arrived safely and our first priority was to have them recover from their long trip/jet lag/ landing in a foreign language & culture. We assigned them to roommates by age and similarities. After a long deserved rest on July 2nd we met with them and introduced them to our philosophy, daily schedule, rights and obligations. We toured the residence so they could know first hand where everything is located. Asking for things in Spanish and the Mediterranean diet (a bit different than what they are used to, but much healthier) was the first hardship that many of our campers had to face. We made adjustments so all campers could progressively adapt to the new physical environment. Fortunately and after a couple days everyone has adapted very well to the healthy contents of Spanish and Spanish meals. Parents need to know that with every meal I personally approach each camper and his plate to see if they have eaten all and I offer to each one of them an alternative in case they don’t like something. Everyone is eating right and being fully satisfied so they can work hard during practices and games.
On July 2nd they had their first 2 daily practices: Early morning Physical Conditioning, Reduced area team accurate passing and possession after, individual technique development third and game playing, tactics and positioning last. WE TRANSMITTED TO THEM ALL THE BASIC CONCEPTS THAT ARE KEY TO SUCCEED AT FOOTBALL. Which are: be fit, be quick, be precise, be confident, be with the ball, have the initiative, and control the ball to control the game. These are exactly the same ingredients that
Spain‘s national team used to win the EUROCUP, last June year in Austria and now trying to win the World Cup..
On July 3rd, we introduced them to more tactics, we continued with our daily practices and we prepared them for their first game. We also started with our Spanish lessons by teaching them all Spanish vocabulary that applys to football. On July 4th they played their first local friendly game against SANSE RACE. Our campers played a great cohesive game and tied 5-5. Even though it was their first game we felt super happy to see in the field lots of the ingredients that we have been teaching them during our daily training sessions. Saturday afternoon Bernabeu stadium tour was postponed to give our campers the chance to see world cup games together. Following day we went to monumental and full of culture
Toledo and to the bullfight ring. Today is July 6th, they played another local team (Juventud SANSE)for scrimmage and game understanding development. Tomorrow there will be individual technique tests for all campers.Their legs are becoming to be very tired because of the effort in all sessions. Today we had a regeneration day also, with active rest. Before we go and train again in time to watch the first WC semifinal at 8:30 pm.

I wouldn’t like to finish this report without sharing with parents our feeling of fortune and joy for being the witness of the true and genuine friendship that is occurring among all of them. We have campers from all over the world: Russia, Japan, Germany, China, Belgium, USA, Canada, Cayman Islands, Kuwait,Spain etc… They are connecting so well together naturally and smoothly without reservations, all trusting each other through the common language, they all speak love for football. Watching them playing together, singing together and laughing together after just one week of being together is a gift that makes all of us believe in what we are doing will stay with them for a long time. You as parents of this such a nice group, should feel proud of your own kids for being so open and willing to accept other cultures and languages. Well done for you too.
Now it is almost 11 pm and I need to go through rooms to see that all are healthy and ready for tomorrow’s practices and games that we have this week to prepare next week Madrid Cup International Tournament.
This is all for now. Please contact me with anything. Nacho has published photos online.

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World Cup 2010: Randal Smith & Victoria Warf


Joey Bilotta at Victoria Warf, Cape Town!

Joey with a lion!

Joey with Randal Smith!

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World Cup 2010: Table Mountain & USA match

Off to Table Mountain like tourist with Zane our driver:


He’s giving his predictions for the World Cup. The world will never know.

Check it out! You can see Cape Town far far below!

Then Germany – Serbia match over lunch.

2nd match: USA - Slovenia...GO USA!!!

Then, we were off to stadium to attend the England – Algeria match!!

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World Cup – Italy-Paraguay Match Day!

It’s Day 4 of the World Cup, and we’re ready for the Italy-Paraguay match!

Italy - Paraguay Match Day - Breakfast!

Ready for the match!

The Italy-Paraguay match!

Rooting for Italia!

The game starts at 2:30 p.m. ET, 1:30 p.m. CT.

Stay tuned here for more updates from South Africa and the World Cup!

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South Africa – More Than Just the World Cup

Here are two short videos from South Africa. We’re having a great time down here!

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EduKick is at the World Cup!

Hey everybody! From June 11-23, we’re at the World Cup in South Africa!

This is the only way to fly.

This is the only way to fly.

So far, we’ve had a lot of fun seeing soccer friends…

Breakfast with friends!

Enjoying the wine!

The boys!

…and taking a look at some of the gorgeous sights down here in South Africa. Seeing as how June means winter south of the equator, it’s pretty cold here!

Cape Point in South Africa

Joey at Cape Point

Be sure to stay tuned here for more pictures and more updates from South Africa and the WORLD CUP!

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Register Now for an Invitation to the BWFC International Talent ID

A once-in-a-lifetime soccer opportunity is coming to Toronto. On July 24, EduKick and the Bolton Wanderers Football Club will host an International Talent ID for 60 lucky boys between the ages of 15-19.

At this one-day event, aspiring players will have the chance to train with Dave Bailey, manager of the Bolton Wanderers ISS, and his technical coaches. Sixty players will be pre-selected to attend this event.

As if that weren’t enough, Bailey and his team will then choose two lucky boys to go to England to train for a week! They’ll get to spend five days training at the Bolton Arena with the BWFC ISS staff, entrance to a BWFC Premiership game at the Reebok Stadium, and a tour of the Reebok stadium. In addition, they’ll be recognized at halftime of the football game as having won this contest.

For full details on what the two winners will receive, click here.

“EduKick is very excited and honored to host this unique event in downtown Toronto with our friends at SoccerWorld Polson Pier,” said Joey Bilotta, vice president of EduKick. “Real football dreams will be realized on Saturday July 24th at SoccerWorld Polson Pier! I would like to invite all qualified players from the Greater Toronto Area to consider joining us!”

Want a chance to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Then fill out this soccer resume and send it to:

SoccerWorld Polson Pier
176 Cherry Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 3L1

You can also fax your resume to: 416-466-0454.

If you’re selected, the cost to attend the International Talent ID is $50, which includes lunch and a T-shirt.

For more information, you can contact jill@soccerworldcentral.ca or email info@edukick.com.

Don’t miss this chance! The deadline to submit your soccer resume is July 17, so don’t delay!

We look forward to seeing you there!

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End of yearlong program – Trip to Candás

Edukick Madrid´s 2009-2010 Year-long program comes now to an end. It has been a wonderful year with our kids doing an excellent work and progressing in every aspect that Edukick cares about; spanish fluency, education, personal development, cultural enrichment and, of course, football.

Our staff here in Edukick Madrid has been delighted with the way this group has evolved and we are extremely proud to see the progress made by each boy during this year. We are now saying goodbye to kids who are much more mature than when they came here on September. They have their feet on the ground and a much solid perspective of their goals for the future. They are commited to their dreams and they are now willing to put on the effort that takes to reach them. We are saying goodbye to kids that have learned to live with a very diverse group from people from all around the world and to become good friends with them.

We are also saying goodbye to a group that has improved their football skills dramatically. A group of people that have been fighting hard to be an important part of their local football teams and that have achieved to do so. We are saying goodbye to a group that has an extremely wide potencial of reaching whatever goals they set for themselves and we wanted to celebrate this. We couldnt find a better way to do so than making a trip to Asturias to do what we like most; play football!

Candás is a small town located by the sea in the northern province of Asturias, hometown of the Aragoneses brothers Poli and Anselmo. Asturias is well know by its combination of mountains and sea, good food and friendly people, lovely towns and historical traditions. Everything in Asturias is green and we had the chance to enjoy that from the very first day we reach Candás playing a friendly match in a wonderful natural grass field from where all the next pictures where taken. No need to say; the boys couldnt enjoy more the game. The result really didnt matter that much but EdukickMadrid won 2-1.


Asturias is well known by its delicious food. We had the chance to prove that label is well deserved throughout all our trip. We set our meals base place in “El Cubano” a local restaurant with a very friendly atmosphere in which we where treated extremely well. For every meal big pots of food where placed in the middle of the tables and everyone could serve themselves as much as they wanted. And pots keep on coming and coming… Entrance, second entrance, soup, meat and fish where served for almost each meal. And of course the desserts… check out the picture of Pancho figuring out what to do with the desserts served during one meal! We could also try a bottle of “sidra” a local drink made out from apples and which has a very peculiar way of being served. It has to be “escanciada” this means thrown from the bottle into the glass as Penku does in the picture in order for it to get its ideal texture and flavour. Next pictures come out from our meals.

During one of the days we had a surprise for our kids and after going for a walk by the beach we went on a boat trip. We had very good weather and the trip was really nice. For some of the boys it was their first time on a boat and we all enjoy it a lot.

We also had some time to take a walk through the town on Candás. Some boys couldnt resist the temptation of taking a bath in the sea and they did it twice. We had a nice and peaceful time getting ready for the evening match.

We had the chance to play a second football match in the nearby city of Gijón against the competitive team of C.D. Roces who plays in División de Honor of Juveniles. The game didnt start as we wanted as by half time we where two goals back. Second half started with another goal against which made it 3-0 but made also EdukickMadrid react. Showing all the strengts of a seriues team we managed to come back to draw the match which ended in a 3-3 and was a wonderful way of ending our trip. Next pictures are from this second match against Roces, no matter the score, we all loved the game!

So it has been a lovely way to end up the year. We really desire the best for each one of this kids in their lives and we hope next yearlong group is as good as this one and we can repeat a trip like this to celebrate it! Hope most of this years boys are with us again to continue growing up as human beings, getting the culture experience of a lifetime and of course, building up their football dreams. Enjoy the Summer and stay in touch through facebook!

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