Grassroots youth football: plenty of activities and new initiatives in the coming days!

As the season draws to a close, the Grassroots Youth Sector is offering a wide and varied range of activities. First and foremost are the Final Phases of the San Marino Under-12 Championship. As in December, this will not just be a straightforward clash between the top teams to assign the 2021-22 spring title. The meeting between Folgore/Cosmos 1 and Juvenes-Dogana 1 remains the flagship event of Saturday afternoon in Fiorentino, but from 16:15 there will also be plenty of room for all the other teams, who will face each other in four sessions of matches. The grand final to crown the champions will instead kick off at 18:00 at the Stadio Federico Crescentini, with the awards ceremony to follow. For some of these youngsters, this will be their final season in the Grassroots Youth Sector before stepping up – from next year – to the Representative sides, hopefully wearing the San Marino Academy shirt. This is why the Welcome Day, aimed specifically at players born in 2010 who are about to make the big leap, takes on particular importance. On Wednesday 11 May, in fact, there will be an opportunity to share expectations and opinions, fears and curiosities with the Under-13 players who have just completed their first year with San Marino Academy, along with their coaches. To round things off in style, the same 2010 age group will then take part in a two-day tournament – the Respect Cup – which will get underway on 17 and 20 May at the Montegiardino facility. At long last, the Primi Calci and Mini Calci tournaments are also returning, after being postponed in recent years due to the health emergency. Here too, two sets of fixtures are planned: the Primi Calci Tournament, dedicated to players born in 2012-13, will be played in the evenings of Friday 6 and 13 May. A prestigious location, as the matches will be played on the pitch at the San Marino Stadium, which for the occasion will be divided into four "seven-a-side" pitches. In addition to the U10 teams from our own league, who yesterday completed their internal tournament, several teams from the surrounding area will also take part in the "Primi Calci", and have been included in the draw. The Mini Calci Tournament, on the other hand, will kick off one week later, starting on Saturday 14 May and concluding on the 21st. The champions of tomorrow, who have spent the year in the Under-8 football hubs, will enjoy two afternoons full of emotion: on both days, kick-off is scheduled for 16:00 at the San Marino Stadium. And if that were not enough, alongside the Summer Centres and Bianco Azzurri Camps, the free UEFA Playmakers activities, in collaboration with Disney and aimed at girls aged between 3 and 8, are also starting up again. From 16 May, every Monday and Thursday, Faetano will open the doors of its facility from 17:30 to 18:30. This time, the activities will be themed around the animated film "Incredibles 2". All this in the awareness that sport helps to develop social skills and vital motor abilities for life, contributes to better health and offers the chance to make new friends. For information and registration, please visit the website of the San Marino Football Federation (www.fsgc.sm).

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