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.