Pre-Season Tours

Outline of Opportunity

There is an opportunity for three clubs to take their apprentices, plus three supporting members of staff to Europe on a pre-season tour.

The tour will take place over two working weeks and will be funded by LFE / Leonardo Da Vinci mobility programme.

Mobility Programme

Week 1

The UK teams will each be housed at separate venues linked with a top European side. The host Club will provide access to and use of their top class facilities as well as training sessions with their own coaching staff. Clubs will also be given the opportunity to undertake their own training and development programme.

Week 2

The second week will see all three teams come together at a central facility to continue the tour in new surroundings.

A series of friendly games against top level European teams will take place across the two weeks.

The placement duration has been provisionally set at two weeks (29th July – 10th August 2013) in line with the time available in between domestic fixtures for both the sending and receiving partners.

Aims for Apprentices

The aim of this opportunity for Apprentices is:

• To improve and develop football skills
• To improve the knowledge and understanding of the European opportunities in football and other careers
• To experience a high quality social and cultural programme including the use of basic language within the host country
• To understand the pathways available into Europe as either a footballer and/or in alternative careers

The specific areas of training and development aimed at improved performance as a footballer would include work on:

• Strength and conditioning – the physical attributes required to perform at a professional level
• Technical ability – the technical attributes such as ball control, passing, heading, shooting required at a professional level
• Tactical awareness – the positioning of players and the awareness of how to break teams down at a professional level
• Psychological preparation – the mental attributes and preparation required in order to perform at a professional level

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