Education through play and sport. The Wisła Junior project is growing stronger.

Four age groups, year-round training, and the support of a specialized coaching staff. And that's just the beginning. The Wisła Junior project, operating within the Wisła Kraków Football Academy, is enjoying increasing popularity. Ultimately, it will also provide a pathway to joining the Academy. "We want to build a player base and, based on this, create a scale that will positively impact the level of competition at our Academy in the future," says project coordinator Konrad Czajkowski. Further initiatives aimed at the youngest players are planned.

The Wisła Junior project has been operating within the Wisła Kraków Football Academy for several years, and in recent weeks, a number of exciting initiatives have been prepared for the kids. Currently, 79 kids are participating in the project, divided into four age groups (born 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021), and training takes place year-round. During the summer and holiday months, the youngest players can use the grass pitch at the complex at Piastowska 26, and when the weather outside is unfavorable, classes are moved to the sports hall.

"We also have specialized football training for children born in 2018/2019, which takes place at the AGH University of Science and Technology. This is a junior age group that still has the opportunity to train during the week," explains Wisła Junior project coordinator Konrad Czajkowski.

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

The entire project vision rests on four main pillars: image, training, marketing, and commercial. The first two dimensions are particularly crucial.

"We would like the Wisła Junior project, which has become an integral part of the Wisła Kraków Football Academy, to not only be a place for kids to meet and build their Wisła identity, but also for it to have a scouting dimension. Kids participating in the project can develop and grow their football skills and motor skills using our methodology, and 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 training phase.

Together with other coach-coordinators, he has already developed a training model for the entire Academy, which will be implemented starting with the U8 team. Ultimately, the Wisła Junior project is to include training for U9-U4 groups, with the youngest age groups receiving the greatest emphasis from the outset on general development activities.

"It's very important for such young children that the coach also acts as a friend and playmate. Children pay close attention to our personalities, not just our coaches. It's crucial to encourage each other with appropriate communication, a message, and a smile. Content-related values ​​take a back seat in the younger age groups, although, of course, content is crucial and cannot be forgotten. The message to such young children must be very joyful. Our strategy for the youngest groups is based on general development activities with elements of football. The purely football-related elements only appear later," explains the project coordinator.

"During classes, we pay attention to the movement aspect, the child's motor skills, whether they perform movements smoothly and are agile. We emphasize elements that will help with future training. If a child is fast, agile, and active from an early age, and also cooperates well with the coach, it's a signal to us that they have a very good future in older age groups," adds Konrad Czajkowski.

Crowds flock to R22. New initiative yields first results

And the entire project involves more than just training sessions. Before Wisła Kraków's home matches, pre-match training sessions for the youngest players take place at R22. From a training perspective, this allows coaches to recognize the natural football talents that come to us from various parts of the country.

"The response was very positive. Many people came, traveling many kilometers. Some of the kids already participating in the project were eager to attend the sessions and then head to the stands. It's worth noting that our kids have free tickets to matches played at Reymonta 22 and were happy to take advantage of this connection. The project is still in its infancy, in its early stages of development, but we've already managed to recruit kids to the Wisła Junior project. It may not be a staggering number, but considering that we're the only center in Poland offering such training, it's clear 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 coordinators are working to attract an increasingly larger number of kids from Krakow and the surrounding area to the classes.

"We want to build a player base and, based on this, create a scale that will have a positive impact on the level of competition at our Academy in the future. We want to organize events for children who regularly train, such as Children's Day and Wisła Player Day, and offer them additional activities. I would definitely like to maintain the pre-match training project within our structures, and we also have an idea related to the activity of our coaches in the family stand during matches. We would also like to strengthen our marketing efforts on social media. We also want to reach out to preschools and conduct classes there, but also offer them classes at our facilities, combined with all the benefits awaiting the Wisła community. We also plan to organize Open Days in various districts of Krakow, where children can participate in various training sessions led by our coaches," Czajkowski tells us.

SEE PHOTOS FROM WISŁA JUNIOR TRAINING

Currently, the youngest players are being looked after by five coaches dedicated to the project, but the training staff will also soon be expanded.

"We have internally agreed that there will be a maximum of 12 children per coach. Therefore, there will be no fewer than four coaches per 40-person group. In this situation, each child will be fully cared for. Our best assets are the quality of the classes, which means a focus on the child's harmonious athletic and social development, a qualified coaching staff with many years of experience, continuity of space and the lack of changes due to our own sports facility, and, above all, equipment that allows for effective training. Of course, in addition to these things, each of our players has the opportunity to take advantage of benefits such as participation in pre-match training sessions and other non-cyclical events," concluded Konrad Czajkowski.

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

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