A Nerazzurri Bridge at Inter Campus in South America

“Here at Inter Campus, we very rarely take two-week-long trips. Both because we don’t want to overdo things during our courses and because of the tight schedule which means that we’re busy somewhere around the world for at least 10 days a month.”

This latest trip to South America, however, was both an exception and a test for the coaches. They had to work out how to best use the resources, as well as organise logistics and institutional meetings with the project manager. On top of that, they had to adapt the training content to the needs of the children and coaches.

With that in mind, Colombia and North-East Brazil have both a lot in common and many differences.

In Colombia, for example, there is a consolidated group of coaches. They have a very good level of technical and practical expertise after years of training, as seen by the results they achieved in the tests the coaches ran on their latest visit. Plus, almost all of the boys and girls (around 400 attended the Christmas party) know the coaches, call them by name and can’t wait for them to come back to Colombia.

Thanks to the tireless work of Ricardo Martinez, the local coordinator, and Viviana Mutis, who represents the Crecer Jugando foundation, there are always coaches at the courses despite the fact that the majority of them have to travel great distances to attend. There are those who have to get up at the crack of dawn and travel for four to five hours or even those who live days away like Cesar, coach at the Puerto Carreno site, close to the Venezuelan border which will be the destination the next time they visit.

“You reap what you sow and Colombia and Brazil were no exceptions!”

In Brazil, meanwhile, the projects are widespread and very different from a technical perspective. Recife, the old stomping ground, which now boasts six different sites, has a tight-knit, well-trained and motivated group of coaches. They’re always keen to ask questions and over time they have really bought into the methodology, agreeing on its effectiveness and using it in every training session. We should also mention the relentless coordinator Augusto Lira, involved since 1997 and crucial in the project’s continued growth, along with coaches Lucas, Marcelo, Luciano, Leonard, Edmilson and Claudio.

The project in Camocim, a small village in the State of Ceara, is still very much in its infancy. Only open a year, it has made giant strides since it was inaugurated in the spring of 2016. Coaches Jorge and Ana Clara, who will be replaced by Dan Dan next season, have a clear idea of how to structure their training sessions, with the help of school activities. Thanks to the passion of the coaches and the flexibility of Brincar de Viver – who provided the coaches with an Inter Campus office complete with lots of Nerazzurri seats to run the training courses – the scheme continues to develop and the children are growing in every area.

Finally, following on from Inter Campus’s recent visit, they stopped by the Pititinga and Maracajau projects. These two sites are fortunate to work with handyman Braz, assisted by Milena who chairs the Vida a Pititinga foundation. Braz works with four groups of boys and girls of varying ages under the auspices of the foundation. With only two days available, the schedule was very hectic and really diverse. Inter Campus coaches held a tournament with all four groups at the Centro Sportivo Giacinto Facchetti in Pititinga, trained on the beach at Maracajau and then played some futsal on the concrete pitches nearby. After all that, they went over some new training ideas with Braz – as ever in line with the methodology – and helped him to correct the most common mistakes, such as low intensity and demonstrating a piece of skill.

“What more can we say? As ever, you reap what you sow and Colombia and Brazil were no exceptions!“