Four age groups, year-round training, and the care of a specialized coaching staff. And that is only the beginning. The Wisła Junior project, operating within the structures of Wisła Kraków Football Academy, is attracting increasing interest. Ultimately, it is also intended to provide a pathway into the Academy. “We want to build a pool of players and, on that basis, create a scale that will have a positive impact on the playing level at our Academy in the future,” says project coordinator Konrad Czajkowski. More initiatives aimed at the youngest children are also planned.

The Wisła Junior project has been operating within the structures of Wisła Kraków Football Academy for several years, and in recent weeks a number of interesting initiatives have been prepared for the children. The project currently involves 79 children divided into four age groups (born in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021), with training taking place throughout the year. During the summer months and school holidays, the youngest participants can use the grass pitch at the complex on Piastowska 26, while when the weather outside is less favorable, the sessions are moved to the sports hall.

“We also offer additional specialized football training for children born in 2018 and 2019, which takes place at the AGH sports hall. This is the borderline age group that still has the opportunity to train during the week,” project coordinator Konrad Czajkowski explains.

Building a Wisła identity and opening the door to the White Star Academy

The entire vision of the project is based on four main pillars: image, training, marketing, and commercial development. The first two dimensions are particularly important.

“We would like the Wisła Junior project, which has already become an inseparable part of Wisła Kraków Football Academy, to be not only a place where children meet and build a sense of identity connected with Wisła, but also to have a scouting dimension. The children taking part in the project can grow up and develop their football skills and motor abilities according to our working methodology. Ultimately, we would like as many children from our project as possible to join the Academy,” adds Czajkowski, who, in addition to overseeing the project, also serves as coordinator of the U12–U7 development stage.

Together with the other coach-coordinators, he has already developed a training model for the entire Academy, which is to apply from the U8 team onward. Ultimately, the Wisła Junior project is intended to provide training in the U9–U4 age groups, while in the youngest age groups the main emphasis from the very beginning is placed on general physical development.

“It is very important that, for such young children, the coach also serves as a friend and playmate. Children pay a great deal of attention to the kind of personalities we are, rather than to us as coaches. The most important thing is to encourage them through appropriate communication and messaging, as well as through a smile. Technical and theoretical values take a slightly secondary role in the younger age categories, although, of course, expertise remains very important and must not be forgotten. The message conveyed to such young children must be joyful. Our strategy in the youngest age categories is based on general physical development activities with elements of football. Purely football-related elements are introduced later,” the project coordinator explains.

“During the sessions, we pay attention to movement, to how the child performs physically, whether they move fluidly, and whether they are physically capable. We focus on elements that will help them in their future development. If a child is already fast, agile, and active from an early age, and also works well with the coach, that is a sign to us that they have excellent potential for the future in the older age categories,” adds Konrad Czajkowski.

Crowds flock to R22. The new initiative is already producing results

The project is not limited to training sessions alone. Before Wisła Kraków’s home matches at R22, pre-match training sessions are held for the youngest children. From a development perspective, these allow coaches to identify natural football talent among children who come to us from different parts of the country.

“The response was very positive. Many people traveled a long way to attend. Some of the children already involved in the project were happy to come to the sessions and then head to the stands. It is worth adding that our children have free tickets for matches played at Reymonta 22 and were happy to take advantage of this combination. The project is still in its infancy and at an early stage of development, but we have already managed to recruit children to the Wisła Junior project. It may not be a spectacular number, but considering that we are the only center in Poland running training sessions of this kind, we have to admit that the project has enormous potential,” says Czajkowski.

After each training session, a special database is prepared and updated, containing information about all participants.

More initiatives for the youngest

The project is developing rapidly, and the coordinators are working to attract an ever-wider group of children from Kraków and the surrounding area to the sessions.

“We want to build a pool of players and, on that basis, create a scale that will have a positive impact on the playing level at our Academy in the future. We want to organize regular events for the children who train with us, such as Children’s Day and Wisła Day, as well as offer them additional activities. I would definitely like to maintain the pre-match training project within our structures. In addition, we have an idea related to our coaches’ activities in the family stand during matches. We would also like to strengthen our marketing efforts on social media. We also want to take our offer to preschools and conduct sessions there, while also offering them sessions at our facilities combined with all the benefits available to the Wisła community. There is also a plan to organize Open Days in various districts of Kraków, where children could take part in different training sessions led by our coaches,” Czajkowski tells us.

SEE PHOTOS FROM THE WISŁA JUNIOR TRAINING SESSION

Five coaches dedicated to the project currently look after the youngest participants, but the coaching staff will also soon be expanded.

“We have established internally that there can be a maximum of 12 children per coach during sessions. Therefore, with 40 people in a group, there will be at least four coaches. In such a situation, every child will receive full attention. Our best calling card is the quality of the sessions: the concept of harmonious sporting and social development for the child, a qualified coaching staff with many years of experience, continuity of location and no changes thanks to having our own sports facility, and, above all, equipment that enables the sessions to be conducted effectively. Of course, in addition to these things, every one of our players can take advantage of benefits such as participation in pre-match training sessions and other one-off events,” Konrad Czajkowski concluded.

We encourage you to sign up for the Wisła Junior project!

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