The aims and the purpose of the work in the youth training centre are, above all, the ‘development of players for the first team’ and ‘the awareness of a social responsibility in the region to work with young people’. In this way, it also ensures a positive image transfer because it increases the potential for local fans and sportspeople to identify with FC Augsburg.
1) Development of players for the first team
The basic idea of the youth training centre is the principle of elite training. FC Augsburg sees itself as a club which puts long-term development ahead of short-term success. A meticulous coaching team ensures a high quantitative and qualitative development possibility for the players. Additional sessions in technical, tactical, special and athletics training, but also school lessons, are the cornerstone for the development of high player quality and a homogenous squad, as specific strengths can be developed and weaknesses reduced. The intended low turnover in the teams underlines the customised and personal character of the project and is a foundation for a future career in professional football.
In order to systematically prepare the prospective players for the professional world, it is important for the club to strive for the highest possible league in all teams from the reserves (U23s) to the performance sector (U19s-U16s), so that the skills they have learnt can be used and further developed in high-level competition. The main attention is on the specialisation of the footballers.
The development sector (U15s-U12s) serves in a sporting sense predominantly to prepare the players for the transition to a full-size pitch by learning about and consolidating technical skills, tactical schooling, and gradually increasing values in endurance, fitness and speed.
For the youngest Augsburg players in the foundation sector (U11s-U10s), fun and the passion for football are the priority, along with the joy of exercising, playing and team sport.
2) The awareness of a social responsibility in the region to work with young people
FC Augsburg’s main goal here is the production of local talent. On the one hand, the local rooting is strengthened through cooperation with a total of seven partner clubs in the Augsburg area. On the other hand, the club is also able to secure itself young local talents for the long-term.
And the local clubs at grass-roots level can also profit from the training undertaken by FC Augsburg because they can recruit well-trained players who did not quite manage to make the leap into professional football. FC Augsburg sees it as an obligation to keep helping these players even when their time at FCA is over.
The club makes it possible for youth players who are not from the area to carry out their footballing education at FC Augsburg and settle in quickly by providing them with somewhere to live, including the appropriate support (like boarding houses).
Alongside sporting matters, schooling and vocational training for the youth players are key in the FC Augsburg approach. For example, FCA’s partner schools offer coordinated timetables, as well as educational supervision in private lessons and supervised homework sessions at the youth training centre.
FC Augsburg also methodically accompanies its players on the path to professional life and is there for them to offer help and advice, for example, through informational events or providing them with internships and apprenticeships at numerous businesses in the Augsburg area.
