Dave, Goal Keeper Coach for the Bolton Wanderers, helps goal keepers to develop the different areas of themselves that they use in order to be an effective goal keeper.

BWFC ISS Coach James Ward puts students through the paces at our “Explosive Power” core fitness session at the Bolton Arena gym.

Experience the international football experience of a lifetime!
Call 1-905-469-5661 to start your elite football (soccer) training today.

EIFA offers “Academic Year Football (Soccer) Academies” in England, Spain, France, Italy, Brazil, Mexico and Canada!

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Every week students are coached on the complexities and the simple elements of the game.
This improves their individual performance as well as the teams performance.

Students work on the tactical side of their game. Together they work on shape, movement,
set plays, defending and attacking.

Experience the international football experience of a lifetime!
Call 1-905-469-5661 to start your elite football (soccer) training today.

EIFA offers “Academic Year Football (Soccer) Academies” in England, Spain, France, Italy,
Brazil, Mexico and Canada!

Check out our new England E-Brochure!

Coach Bailey chats with the players to help them become more organized within the game. Each week EduKick England players prepare for the following game and work on the tactical side of their game together. It is important that they learn how to work as a team both in the game and in their training.

BWFC ISS Manager Bailey and Coach James Ward Chat with Student-Players

Players get a pep talk as well as a talk on how they can improve their game. The students are coached weekly to build their stamina and endurance to maintain a high level of aerobic fitness. During these sessions the students develop fitness and strength to allow them to compete and increase their physical presence on the field.

Experience the international football experience of a lifetime!

Call 1-905-469-5661 to start your elite football (soccer) training today.
EIFA offers “Academic Year Football (Soccer) Academies” in England, Spain, France, Italy, Brazil, Mexico and Canada!

Check out our England E-Brochure!

EduKick France Academy players train daily under the direction of Michel Hidalgo Football Academy professional technical French coaches.

In addition to technical and physical training with EduKick France Coach, Alan Aschbacher players are also inserted into French football squads according to their age and level.

Legendary French National Team Coach and EduKick partner, Michel Hidalgo with EIFA founder Joey Bilotta (right) and General Manager, Jon Morgan (left) in Cannes, France.

EduKick France also features a very unique opportunity for younger footballers! The JUNIOR COURSE is for international football players 12-15 years interested in an academic year abroad in the French Riviera! Junior Academy players are very fortunate to have HIGH QUALITY technical football coaches that include former French Internationals Bruno Bellone & Christian Perez!

Experience the language, football, and cultural experience of a lifetime!

Call 1-905-469-5661 to start your elite football (soccer) training today.

Year Long Football (Soccer) Academy with elite football training!

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(Even longer when you’re working with more than 20 young energetic players who are mad about not having the ball within their reach for more than 20 seconds!)

This video shows a great exercise for individual technique, shielding, timing and decision making. A great real-game situation for players.

The purpose of this drill is to keep your ball at all times within the boundaries of the central circle.

If you can, you have to try to kick other player’s ball outside the circle.

If your ball gets out of bounce you get eliminated.

Great exercise for individual technique, shielding, timing and decision making, a great real game situation for players.

See for yourself!

It was a great reunion for Anselmo who was the mental coach for the Spanish men’s national team in preparation for the 2006 World Cup. After meeting with the players Anselmo shared his exciting experience with us.

“Spain’s world champ players are great players,” said Anselmo. “But their humbleness and respect for the game and opponents is absolutely out of this world.”

CASILLAS & MARCHENA

Captains of the Spanish National Team, Casillas and Marchena said they were happy to be counted among the top football players in their generation. They were very happy to see Anselmo.

Casillas recalled back in 2006 asking Anselmo “Do you think that we, Spain, can win it all?”

“This team is a winning team, and soon you will see the results,” Anselmo assured him.

The prediction proved true, with a string of stunning Spanish victories leading to a European Championship win in 2008 and a World Cup win in 2010.

Casillas said he would always be grateful for what he learned while working with Anselmo, and considers himself a more mature player now. Marchena agreed, and even talked about getting old, now that he is 32. However, Anselmo pointed out that getting older is not a bad thing in the world of football.

“But now you are a much better player all around,” said Anselmo. “You know better, you understand the game better in situations on and off the field.”

TORRES & INIESTA

Torres and Iniesta talked and joked with Anselmo. “You were a better player than us,”.

Anselmo laughed, congratulating them on their recent championship win, and for being new fathers. Iniesta has one girl, while Torres has two boys.

The Spanish players also talked about the secret to their football success: “Training, hard work, collective playing, and being humble.”

As for tactics, they believe in short, accurate passing and precise playing. “Control the ball, control the game” is their motto.

“Our EduKick Madrid Academy philosophy is identical to the Spanish national team,” said Anselmo. “We train our players to follow exactly the same goals and values.”

Training with the EduKick Madrid Academy helps players realize their potential as part of an elite team. They constantly strive to achieve bigger and bigger results.

SERGIO RAMOS & DAVID VILLA

Sergio Ramos and Villa were also very happy to see Anselmo.

“They seemed very relaxed and content to be part of such a great legendary team,” said Anselmo. “They are making history for their incredible collective technique.”

Villa discussed his Champion League Final goal against Manchester United. Then he and Iniesta explained the details of Barcelona and Guardiola’s team approach for big competitions.

EduKick Madrid teaches these same tactics as part of the Academy program.

“We also train our players in the Spanish and Barcelona way of playing football. We love what we do and we are fortunate to have talented young players with our program.” said Anselmo

MEMORIES OF VICTORY & DEFEAT

Anselmo’s best memory of working with the Spanish national team came on the heels of a defeat by France. “All the young players were literally crying in the locker room,” he said.

The coaches approached each one of the players, comforting them. “We told them, ‘Next time, when you have the chance, you will win,’” said Anselmo.

Two years later, the team came back at big tournaments, going on to win the EUROCUP. Two years after that, they came back again to win the World Cup in 2010.

“The basis of our reasoning is this: To win big, you have to have lost big before,” said Anselmo. “That first loss four years ago was the base for coming back so strong to win it all. We believed in every player’s potential to achieve big, even after they were hurt by the previous big loss.”

“This is a big part of the EduKick Madrid Academy philosophy and something we teach to all of our particpants,” said Anselmo.

EduKick Elite Football Training Academy in Madrid, Spain

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I’m very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”
Bill Shankly
English soccer manager

“Football’s a difficult business and aren’t they prima donnas. But it’s a wonderful game.”
Queen Elizabeth II
To Premier League Chairman David Richards, November 2006

“If a team wants to intimidate you physically and you let them, they’ve won.”
Mia Hamm
American World Cup Soccer champion

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“I’m here to score a lot of goals. It’s my speciality, that’s what I’ve been brought here to do, and I want to score plenty ; like I did with Barcelona. And here, there’s every reason to think I can do it.”
Ronaldo
Brazilian soccer player

“The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn’t move, kick it until it does.”
Phil Woosnam
Welsh soccer player and manager

“In football everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team.”
Jean Paul Sartre
French philosopher

“Every single day I wake up and commit to myself to becoming a better player.”
Mia Hamm
American female soccer player

Train 5 days a week with pro football coaches

“The vision of a champion is someone bent over, drenched in sweat, to a point of exhaustion, when no one else is watching.”
Anson Dorrance
American women’s soccer coach

“Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man.”
Pele
Brazilian soccer player, considered possibly world’s greatest

“Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”
Roy Keane
Irish soccer player and English football club manager

“Pele called me the greatest footballer in the world. That is the ultimate salute to my life.”
George Best
Northern Ireland soccer player, from his autobiography, The Good, The Bad and the Bubbly

Travel and train in football academies in England, Italy,
Spain, France, Brazil, Mexico

“The goal was scored a little bit by the hand of God, another bit by the head of Maradona.”
Maradona
Argentinian soccer player, on goal against England in 1986 World Cup

“Football is all very well a good game for rough girls, but not for delicate boys.”
Oscar Wilde
Irish writer

“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.”
Mia Hamm
American female soccer player

“The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be almost impossible. It’s the biggest sin in football to make him do any work.”
George Graham
Scottish soccer player and manager

Watch Football Videos from around the world!
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“Italians can’t win the game against you, but you can lose the game against the Italians.”
Johan Cryuff
Dutch soccer player

“Some people tell me that we professional players are soccer slaves. Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence.”
Bobby Charlton
English soccer player and 1966 World Cup winner

“Whoever invented football should be worshipped as a God.”
Hugo Sanchez
Mexican soccer player and coach

“Five days shalt thou labour, as the Bible says. The seventh day is the Lord thy God’s. The sixth day is for football.”
Anthony Burgess
English writer

“In Latin America the border between soccer and politics is vague. There is a long list of governments that have fallen or been overthrown after the defeat of the national team.”
Luis Suarez
Mexican journalist, quoted in The Soccer War by Ryszard Kapuscinski (1969)

“Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.”
Mia Hamm
American female soccer player

“When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.”
Jose Mourinho
Portuguese soccer manager

Take your game to the next level with academic year football development academies in England, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Brazil. Contact EduKick International Football Academies (EIFA) at info@edukick.com or visit www.edukick.com.

Quotes provided by: AllGreatQuotes

It is a harsh reality that only a small percentage of aspiring players make it to the signing of a professional contract. Young players should understand this, and pursue a solid educational background in order to prepare for the likelihood of life outside of the beautiful game called football.

However, if you’re determined and willing, then you have a better chance of achieving your football dreams than most. In part two of this article series, we’ll cover three more tips for young aspiring players.

4. Good Character – Good character is “key” to making it as a pro (despite the occasional headlines you read about footballers behaving badly). It is important to remain humble and ensure you maintain a good moral character. Professional clubs are looking for players who are technically gifted, but of equal importance is the character the player possesses. Quite simply, a player with a bad attitude or temperament or behavioral or legal problems will not be easily introduced into a dressing room of a professional club that possesses a harmonious atmosphere.

5. 100% Effort – Always give 100 percent of your energy, effort, and focus to give yourself a chance of reaching your goal. Any player that gives 100 percent effort 100 percent of the time will inevitably increase his or her chances of success. Effort, hustle, and commitment are intangibles that allow less gifted players to even the playing field (so to speak). A hundred percent effort whenever a player steps on the pitch, in addition to skill and ability, is essential in a player becoming a professional player. Total commitment is required to be successful.

6. Representation, Contacts & Self-Promotion – Young players should begin now on their football curriculum (soccer résumé), adding all experience, awards and football accomplishments. Football video résumés allow young players to email coaches, scouts and FIFA agents their personal highlight reel, which can be effective in securing a trial with a professional team.

In North America, the MLS uses the college draft to bring in rookie professional players annually. If players aren’t in college, or play football in a country outside North America, then they are more dependent on either contacts in pro football or scouts or agents that serve to introduce young players to professional academies for trials (typically only 2-3 days until clubs know if they want to see the player longer).

The dream of playing professional football – walking down the tunnel into a stadium full of football fanatics cheering you on – is the dream of all serious young soccer players. For those determined enough to follow the tips above (and in Part 1 of this article), they have a chance. And where there’s a chance, it’s possible.

My final advice to aspiring players worldwide: train every day with dedication as if you’ll play professionally, but study also, with similar enthusiasm, should you not. Remember football is for everyone to enjoy, not just the professionals!

EduKick International Football Academies (EIFA) offers academic year football development academies in England, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Brazil. Contact EIFA at info@edukick.com or visit www.edukick.com.

But it takes more than talent. Aspiring young professionals must either secure good, honest representation and football contacts, or tirelessly self-promote in order to secure the all-important trials with professional football clubs.

It is a harsh reality that only a small percentage of aspiring players make it to the signing of a professional contract. Young players need to understand this, and pursue a solid educational background in order to prepare for the likelihood of life outside of the beautiful game called football.

Now that we have covered the difficulty associated with this football dream, let’s move on to discussing just how one may go about becoming a professional footballer.

1. Dedication & Determination – To become a professional athlete in any sport takes exceptional dedication and determination. Young people who are not willing or able to stay on course — no matter what — will not succeed in reaching their dream of becoming a professional player. The amount of training required quickly separates the willing and potential professionals from the unwilling amateurs. By simply dedicating yourself to full time participation in your football (soccer), you give yourself the opportunity for continued development.

2. Regular & Progressive Training – Professional footballers often point to a coach or coaches they had when they were younger that taught them well and motivated them on road to becoming a professional. Attaining qualified and accredited coaching from a young age (6-8 years old) and maintaining that over the important development years (8-17 years) is essential in a young person’s football development.

While individual time with the ball mastering skills is also essential to becoming a pro, without the direction of an organized, competitive youth club football, it is unlikely a player will continue to play through college or make it to the pros.

For European-based players and other players around the world, the path to a professional career is quite different. In England, for example, young players hope to join a professional Club Youth Academy or School of Excellence.

Within the Academy system, players train between 5-10 hours per week, depending on age, in the hope of becoming one of the professional club youth scholarship players. At 18, deserving players are offered a “senior contract” and become an official professional player.

Ask yourself how your situation compares to a youngster who is spending at minimum 10 hours per week under the guidance of a professional coaching structure between the ages of 8 and 18 years old.

3. Positive Attitude - There will be challenging times while following your dream to play football professionally. Times when you will question yourself and ask if it is all worth it. It is important, at such times, to retain a positive attitude. Accept constructive criticism or rejection and use the knowledge gained to improve your game and mental strength.

Many professional players heard statements like “You aren’t big enough” or “You just don’t have what it takes to make it” before they made it to the pro ranks. The main reason they made it? They kept a positive attitude throughout their football development years and always believed in themselves.

Following these tips will help you increase your chance of making it in the world of professional football. Stay tuned for part two of this series!

EduKick International Football Academies (EIFA) offers academic year football development academies in England, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Brazil. Contact EIFA at info@edukick.com or visit www.edukick.com.