The Yellows Academy side go into their second year of footballing and personal formation
Villarreal Mini E, an U8 side in the academy who compete in the ‘Clasificatoria 6 de Castellón’ league, are this year in their second year of competing, while the young footballers continue to learn the ins and outs of the Yellows Academy methodology, as well as continuing to learn important values. Carlos Fandos, one of their coaches, explained how they work with the children to help them learn during this young stage of their youth football career: “We think the most important thing, at the start, is to know the club they belong to and know what it represents, as well as its values. At this age, it’s more important to teach them as people than as footballers.”
Some of the youngest members of the Yellows’ youth set up are taught about values such as ‘team spirit, humility, respect, education, perseverance and feeling of belonging to a club’, according to the coach, who added: “We’re looking for personal development for the kids, as at ages like this, the most important things are their studies and their personal relationships. At the end of the day, we want to show values in the sporting world that they can use in their daily life.” The dynamics of the dressing room, with games, videos and other activities are part of this growth of the Mini E pupils, just like many other Yellows teams.
However, of course, the biggest part of the teaching-learning process takes part on the pitch at Miralcamp, with the tasks designed by the coaching team. “What our methodology needs is general drills, with individualised attention to be able to pay attention to each of our players, as every player needs a different sort of supervision and has different objectives. We also want our players to be able to play in different positions, for them to know how to position themselves well in space and to strengthen the basics in terms of motor skills,” explained Fandos about the concepts that they work with in the Mini E.
The coach knows the responsibility that every member of staff in the Yellows Academy has, as they can become role models for their players: “The most important figure in their life is their parents, although it’s true, that due to their interest in football, we can become very important for them, as we’re part of their daily routine and we can become a role model to follow for them.” Through football, children’s attention and discipline evolve. Fandos also emphasised how learning and having a competitive spirit are much more important objectives than the results in various competitions: “For us, them being competitive is important, although in the dressing room, the children don’t feel any pressure to have to win every game. What we want is for them to have as much fun as posible and to give their all.”
Finally, the coach underlined that the main aim is personal growth: “Our objective, from day one, was for the players to try and understand the club’s values and to improve individually, and collectively as a team.”
