11 Feb 2025
Aspire Academy student-athletes have once undergone an intensive football winter training camp in Antalya, Turkey. Their return follows a successful visit to the same facilities last year. This year’s camp featured 141 student-athletes and ran from January 29 to February 6. The programme brought together vital training sessions, both practical and theoretical, as well as friendly games against a variety of opponents.
The comprehensive camp brought together student-athletes across all age groups, except the U17s, supported by a dedicated team of 20 coaches, 15 teachers, and administrators.
Their daily routine included academic classes to ensure they kept up with their schoolwork. Aspire Academy’s innovative curriculum means the student-athletes continue to learn and gives the teachers the chance to make use of their different surroundings to deliver contextual learning experiences.
The training camp featured 19 high-calibre training matches, pitting the Academy’s student-athletes against distinguished opponents, including the Kuwait U-18 National Team, the Besiktas Academy, FC Krasnodar, Hertha Zehlendorf, Park Antalya, and Kalekapispor.
Edorta Murua, Football Technical Director at Aspire Academy, emphasised the importance of training camps to the development of maturity for footballers:
"Travelling with the team offers unforgettable life experiences that enrich both education and worldview. Living together, building relationships, and sharing spaces—both on and off the field—play a vital role in personal growth and maturity. It’s an opportunity to develop character while taking full responsibility for the individual goals each person sets out to achieve."
Murua also added that competing against teams from around the world brings a new challenge for Aspire Academy's student-athletes:
"We cannot overlook the true sporting objective—the reason for these trips: to understand the reality of football, how other teams and coaches see football. To compete against teams and national selections that push us to a highly demanding level, one that challenges the limits of high performance.
"This week gives us the opportunity to fast-track both personal and athletic growth. Every time we return to the Academy, we know things won’t be the same, and the expectations will reach a whole new level."
Organising training camps on this scale demonstrates Aspire Academy's commitment to developing sporting and educational excellence. It shows the young student-athletes that they can pursue their sporting passions while building crucial life skills. The experience stands as a testament to the Academy's innovative approach to developing well-rounded student-athletes who excel both on and off the field.