Representatives of Espanyol Barcelona visit the Wisła Academy

For the past two days, representatives from the Helsinki branch of the Espanyol Barcelona academy visited the Wisła Kraków Football Academy. Our guests had the opportunity to see behind the scenes of the White Star Academy and speak with coaches working both in Kraków and with Central Junior League teams based in Myślenice. The purpose of the visit was, among other things, to discuss establishing mutual cooperation.

Kimmo Tamminen (board member of the Espanyol Barcelona academy in Helsinki) and Adriano Bujalence Sanchez, who serves as sporting director, visited Krakow on Thursday and Friday. Representatives of the Finnish club met with Krzysztof Kołaczyk, director of the Wisła Kraków Football Academy, and coach-coordinators Adrian Filipek and Michał Jania, and on Friday they also visited the base in Myślenice. The meeting was initiated by Konrad Czajkowski, coach of the U-10 team and coordinator of the U9-U7 phase.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss establishing mutual cooperation. Both sides assure us that this will certainly not end with one meeting.

"We had a very interesting meeting with representatives of the Espanyol Barcelona branch in Helsinki. I must admit that we are very interested in the Barcelona club's working methodology, which I hope we will be able to take a closer look at. The Helsinki academy is seeking support and further development opportunities for its players outside of Finland. We have explored common avenues for possible cooperation. It is possible that we will soon see one of the Helsinki academy teams in Krakow," emphasizes Krzysztof Kołaczyk, director of the White Star Academy.

"I had the opportunity to come to Poland three years ago, and the Poles proved to be very open and helpful people. That's why I decided to come back. I must admit that Krakow made a huge impression on me, especially the market square and the city center, where you can find many interesting places," said Adriano Bujalence Sanchez, sports director of the Espanyol academy in Finland.

"We're working to ensure our players can develop and improve their skills. We want to provide them with the best possible conditions. The most talented players can travel from Helsinki to Barcelona for trials and see what training at Espanyol is like behind the scenes. We're very keen to exchange experiences with academies from countries that maintain a very high standard of training. And this is undoubtedly the case in Poland and at the Wisła Kraków Academy. We'd like our most talented players to have the opportunity to gain new experiences not only on the pitch. I hope we'll be able to develop an optimal model of cooperation," adds Sanchez.

Four years of the Spanish training model in Finland

The Catalan club's academy in the Finnish capital has been operating for four years. Currently, it houses teams in the U16-U10 age groups. Eight coaches work with the young players, and Adriano Bujalence Sanchez, who also holds a UEFA Pro coaching license, oversees the methodology and models drawn from Spain.

The U16-U14 teams compete at the highest league level in Finland, and the most talented students from the Helsinki academy are already playing in the provincial teams.

It is possible that soon we will be able to see young players from the Espanyol branch in Helsinki during tournaments organized by the Wisła Academy.

Our guests from the stands at R22 will also watch Friday's Betclic I league match, in which the White Star will face Warta Poznań.