Welcome Day at the San Marino Stadium

Transitions are widely recognised as the most important and formative stages in anyone’s development, and boys and girls in the Grassroots Youth Sector are certainly no exception. After many years spent within their local football centres, they are now about to embark on a new adventure: the San Marino Academy.

To make this step as smooth and reassuring as possible, the Welcome Day is one of the most significant and appreciated events within the San Marino football youth development pathway. Boys and girls who have just completed their journey in the Grassroots Youth Sector, taking part in the San Marino Under-12 Championship, met yesterday afternoon with players coming off their first season in the colours of San Marino Academy. It is a demanding leap that brings a new series of commitments and the need to manage them: who better to explain what to expect than those who crossed that threshold only a few months ago? For this reason too, the opening moment of heart-to-heart discussion between players – in the presence of the coach-educators from San Marino’s football centres and the heads of the CEF Project – played a role that went far beyond the symbolic. Afterwards, it was time for training sessions and mixed-team matches because, while open dialogue helped to ease fears and clarify expectations, the universal language of football once again proved its unrivalled power to bring together boys and girls united by their passion for the game.