Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: Young football enthusiasts in Oman will soon get to learn from coaches from one of the best clubs in the world, as the Juventus Football Academy takes to the pitch this September.
Kicking off on September 10, the Juventus Academy will run its programmes at two schools in the capital: the Muscat International School in Qurum, and the A’Soud Global School in Seeb.
The academy is open to children across six age groups: under-6s, under-8s, under-10s, under-12s, under-14s and under-16s.
Run in Oman by Mosaic Sports, the new Juventus Academy will be a direct replacement for the Arsenal Soccer School, which was launched in 2009, and under the agreement with the Italian giants, all of the existing Arsenal coaches will now travel to Italy to absorb the Juventus coaching style to impart this knowledge to the Sultanate’s youth.
One of these coaches is Gerald Lami, whose philosophy seems to fit in with that of Juventus, which aims to grow people before players. “There are a lot of things that go into a career of a footballer and people may not often see that because a lot of it is mental,” he said. “Football is such a harsh industry where one person says ‘I’ll take you on board’ but the next person might say ‘you’re not good enough,’ so mental toughness is more important than the physical ability that you have.
“You have to be prepared for everything that comes because you are always going to have downfalls, but it is how you bounce back that determines your path, so to me, it is all about the mental strength,” added Lami. “There are so many avenues in football you can go into, as long as you are around the game, so that is my advice to people: don’t give up on the game because it can give so much back to you.”
Said Al Bulushi, the new general secretary of the Oman Football Association (OFA), said academies like this represent a step in the right direction towards improving grassroots football in Oman.
“Academies like this are something we are very keen to promote because this way, both Omanis and expats who live here will learn to play football the right way with proper technical skills and high-quality coaching, and this will see lots of young players enter our youth teams, our Olympic setup and then, our national team,” he said, speaking exclusively to the Times of Oman.
“Our dream is to one day see Oman play at the World Cup, and more facilities for youth players will help improve the quality of our grassroots football tremendously,” he added.
“OFA is looking forward to improving the youth teams in Oman and this is very good.”
Juventus setting up base in Oman would mean more youth would be able to improve their football skills, and other academies are looking forward to the healthy competition this will generate. “Academies springing up in Oman can only be good for the level of football to raise the calibre of players, and it will we welcome to have another competitor,” said Chuck Martini, head coach of the Muscat Football Academy.
“Having more academies will give more options to the children, despite the competition it generates, and will also motivate us to ensure we have proper quality controls, and I have no doubt this will raise the quality of players,” he added. To register, please call 24572711 or email [email protected].
