Valletta FC revamp youth development sector

In their bid to strengthen their youth development sector, Valletta FC have appointed a number of new coaches and restructured this sector as the club aims to adopt a more professional approach. Details were given during a press conference at the Golden Tulip Vivaldi, St. Julian’s on Saturday.

As from the coming season Valletta FC Youth Nursery will change its structures and therefore shall be re-named into Valletta FC Youth Development Sector, this is in line with the policy laid down from within the heart of Valletta FC, where the Club is one entity which holds within it a number of branches; the Youth Development Sector being the one which represents the club in the age categories from 4 to 17 which will be primed towards the development of these children and youths with the aim to introduce graduates of the Academy into the first squad.

With this in mind, the Youth Development Sector has appointed Nicholas Baldacchino as the new Head of Coaching and Development who shall be leading the technical side. Nicholas is a UEFA A qualified coach, who also has a Director of Youth Coaching qualification from the MFA and who has been in youth football for the last 19 years, during the past two seasons he has been Head of Coaching at Mqabba FC Youth Nursery.

The Youth Development Sector shall have a newly improved structure where the Junior School; for Children from 4 to 11 shall be under the watchful eye of Leonard Farrugia, A coach who has vast experience in coaching after a great career as a player mainly with Valletta FC and the Elite Academy which shall cover the Under 13s up to the Under 17 categories. These teams shall be setup in a highly professional manner were each team shall have a highly qualified coach, assistant coach and be assisted by a goalkeeping coach and physical trainer.

In order to facilitate the ongoing development of our players, Valletta FC has extensively invested in the Salinos facilities with the construction of a new synthetic pitch, by maintenance at these facilities and investing in training equipment. A full size football pitch has been made available to the Elite Academy through a lease agreed with Zurrieq FC.
A high level technical programme shall be followed by the technical staff and the Youth Sector is planning of giving a number of experiences abroad to its players through tournaments and a number of trials.

Valletta FC Youth Development Sector shall be introducing a girls team within its ranks as from next season and shall be investing in qualified technical staff that shall be taking care of a team made up of girls with the aim to develop players for a future ladies team.

The Youth Development Sector has already started promoting the girls team and shall visit a number of educational facilities in order to promote this venture. Those interested in making part of the girl’s team may do so by contacting our administration.

Meanwhile the senior team’s technical staff shall be improved through the recruitment of a second Assistant Coach, Godfrey Grima who is a qualified UEFA A coach and who shall be assisting Paul Zammit together with Assistant Coach Gilbert Agius. Grima has vast experience in local football and has worked within the Youth setup for many years and is an esteemed coach within the sector. Mr. Grima shall have the responsibility of analising matches and have the IT responsibilities with the technical team. He shall also be keeping a close eye on the Under 19s team and the Elite Academy’s competitive teams – Under 17 and Under 15 categories.

The Under 19 shall be lead by Adrian Buttigieg, UEFA B coach which has vast experience with a number of Clubs and has also coached and assisted within the top flight.

Together with the technical team which is unchanged from last season, Coach Paul Zammit has added Godfrey Grima, Nicholas Baldacchino and Adrian Buttigieg to his team in order to strengthen the technical setup mainly in relation to the youth setup which is being given great importance from the Head Coach and Administration of Valletta FC.