League: from next season the San Marino Academy enters the fray

The 2023-24 BKN301 Campionato Sammarinese is about to open a historic chapter in the story of our football. For the very first time, in fact, a San Marino Academy side will line up among the teams at the starting blocks in the race for the title. It will be a team of players born between 2001 and 2004, with the stated aim of offering – first and foremost to San Marino players, and then to any Italians recently registered with the club – significant playing time and a high standard of preparation. The limited use of San Marino Under-23 players in clubs, with some exceptions both at home and abroad, is a trend that has prompted reflection, as have the natural difficulties faced by players just out of youth football in finding their place in the adult game. The project behind this newly created team within San Marino Academy aims to provide a solution. It is by no means a fallback option, given that the coaching staff currently being put together will largely mirror that in charge of the San Marino Under-21 national team, ensuring high quality standards and continuity in training. Starting with Matteo Cecchetti, who will be entrusted with the technical management of a squad that will provide a large part of the pool for the relevant national team selection – though obviously not the only one. Head coach Cecchetti – who is also San Marino Under-21 CT – makes no secret of his enthusiasm for this breakthrough: "I am extremely pleased that this interesting project can actually get off the ground; I have very positive feelings about it. It is a proposal tailored to the needs of the boys and a response to the difficulties that – at this age – almost all of them encounter." The reference is clearly to their first steps in senior football, their playing time and the development opportunities this new project can offer them: "The transition from youth football to the first team is always delicate, even more so in our context where – for obvious reasons – there are no regulations requiring clubs to field young players. This team is intended to be a pool capable of providing adequate preparation for the international challenges that the young San Marino players involved will frequently have to face." All of this without any constraints: "Those who choose to embrace this project will be aware of the quality and consistency of the work that will be proposed week in, week out; that does not mean that anyone who has the chance to gain good-level experience elsewhere should feel obliged to come back into it. On the contrary, they will be encouraged to take those opportunities." This is a historic step, made possible by the intense work of the football associations of San Marino and Italy. The fact that San Marino Academy, a club affiliated to the FIGC, will be able to compete in the Campionato Sammarinese with its own men’s first team – made up of players born no earlier than 2001 – is the result of an agreement ratified by the two federations involved. All of this, of course, has been endorsed by UEFA.

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