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On October 1st, sixteen Coerver® Coaching players from Scotland, South Africa and USA travelled to Portugal to form the SL Benfica International Development Program.
The month long programme will afford players the chance to train and play as an SL Benfica player. They will work intensively with the club Academy coaches, whilst being based at the Portugese Champions Caixa Futebol Campus.
Week 1 Diary
DAY 1 Today the players arrived from the respective countries. All were welcome to the fantastic hotel with the group setting in and enjoying dinner together.
DAY 2 The morning began with the short journey to our home for the next month Caixa Futebol Campus. The players are put through their first training session today. A high tempo technical session starting with Coerver® Ball Mastery.
DAY 3 An action packed day, began with us taking in an offensive masterlass from SL Benfica U15 championship squad in the morning against Sporting Lisbon. After lunch we watched the Benfica B team before our first evening tactical session. Another high tempo session with the boys showing great work ethic. Giving coaches a chance to analyse and set some areas of focus before the first game on Wednesday.
DAY 4 A well deserved rest day for players giving a chance to socialise and get to know their new international team mates more. The Boys are working really hard and have also been busy with their studies.
DAY 5 Another full day today with a tactical training session in the morning in preparation for Wednesday’s game. The players also had their first lesson in Portuguese after lunch before a technical training session in the afternoon. This afternoon we welcomed our second Goalkeeper who arrived for his first session from Livingston FC in Scotland.
DAY 6 The First matchday, the boys were naturally excited about their first match, after setting some objectives and goals over the past few days. A lot of hard work and some great moments produced for the boys a very good performance with the SL Benfica Elite International development program v SL Benfica game.It was great for the boys to come out the game with a win and even more lessons learned
DAY 7 Full schedule today after last nights game, the players had the chance to meet with SL Benfica Academy players, as part of SL Benfica family. Today also included both technical training and tactical training, preparing for their first away game on Saturday.
One of the young players from Scotland is Archie Roue who has been part of the Coerver® programme since age 7, he said 'For me this is a great opportunity which links both Coerver® and Benfica together. The technical sessions are about ball mastery and 1v1 which is something we focus on at Coerver®. The tempo and the standard of the boys is very high which helps me develop my transitional play but mainly it has boosted my confidence.'
Coerver® Scotland and Portugal Director Gordon Craig said 'What an amazing few days so far for the players. It’s a great opportunity for them, this is an experience that will not only develop the players in a best v best culture but also see them grow in stature due to the quality time we are afforded to work with them. Seeing young players from all over the world mainly from Coerver® mix so well is fantastic. It will give these boys friends for life and no doubt be a massive positive life experience for the'
Thanks go out to the Coerver® Coaching family in particular Coerver® Coaching Scotland, Cayl Coetsee from Coerver® Coaching South Africa , Rick Moss Coerver® Coaching Texas, Simon Whitehead Coerver® Coaching Minnesota and to all the clubs such as Motherwell Football Club, Livingston Football Club, Airdrie Football Club to mention a few.
Thanks to all the schools and teachers who have supported the boys in preparing study whilst with us and lets not forget the supporting parents for allowing these players the opportunity to travel with us to Benfica on this unique ground breaking programme.
BE PART OF SL BENFICA THIS OCTOBER , JOIN US IN LISBON FOR PLAYERS AND COACHES CLINICS
PLAYERS full info http://tinyurl.com/pqe6seo
COACHES full info http://tinyurl.com/p6dtnho
