Artem Kravets, the adviser to FC Dynamo Kyiv president Ihor Surkis on the development of youth football, has spent a few weeks in the United Kingdom as a part of his study program. In Manchester, Artem visited the academy of famous Manchester City to see how they work. Before that he was in Amsterdam to visit Ajax academy.
Artem has told the club website about his study and shared impressions of the experience he’s got:
- Where exactly are you studying?
- The training is arranged by the European Association of Clubs. All the clubs that are part of it get a lot of training offers. The course I’m taking is mostly for directors of football schools, but a great variety of issues were discussed there – from strategy of club development to the development of community. Training is held both online and offline. There’re only three offline meetings. Two have already taken place – in Manchester and in Amsterdam. The third will take place in Brugge. That one will conclude the nine-month program.
Based on topics we cover (some in 3-4 lessons, some in 6-8), we get homework. For example, we had a lecture on club strategy, so we need to develop a strategy for our club or create a strategic plan for another team. Today, for instance, we had a practical session on community development using the example of an Irish club, which showed and told what kind of problems they encountered, etc. All information is stored on the website for all course participants, so one can review it.
The program is very interesting, we communicate mostly online, via Zoom, there’s a lot of useful information. Of course we currently have a difficult situation in our country, the war is ongoing, but, as they say, it’s never too late to learn. There’s no such thing as too much knowledge.
- What are your impressions of the educational process?
- I really like it. I’m very grateful to Dynamo for arranging this training for me. At first, when applications were submitted, I wasn’t accepted due to a certain misunderstanding. But then we talked directly to the organizers, and the problem was solved. I’m actually really satisfied, as from the very beginning, when I got to Dynamo, I perfectly understood that I needed to learn a lot. I was lucky to find this program that gives a wide range of knowledge in different spheres.
- Is it possible to integrate the experience of foreign top clubs with Dynamo academy?
- It is possible, at the academy and at the club in general. The most brilliant stuff is simple. There’s nothing extraordinary about it. We just need to be willing and capable of implementing these ideas.
- In which ways Ukrainian football schools are lagging behind or par with top academies?
- In Amsterdam and Manchester, we were a part of group that included representatives of London Arsenal, Manchester United, Sporting, Roma, Borussia Dortmund and many other European clubs, and I want to note that all of them speak very positively of Dynamo academy. They say we’re raising a lot of talented players. And it’s true. We have a lot of talented players all over the country, not just in Dynamo. We need to facilitate their progress and help them move in the right direction. In terms of talent, we are second to none, but we need to create suitable conditions for them, arrange training courses for coaches, because a lot depends on them.
- How difficult is it to develop Dynamo academy in times of war?
- There’re certain aspects greatly affected by war. First of all, a lot of children went abroad. Also, we all understand that the situation in the country is difficult, so it is wrong to demand to invest large amounts of money into the development of youth football. Of course, we need to invest, develop, but one should approach everything with a cool head. We all realize that our major goal is victory in this war.
- Have a lot of our kids left abroad?
- I joined the club after the start of the full-scale war, and I only know what coaches say. Now, having familiarized myself with statistics, I know that some age groups have lost nine-ten players each. The best ones left and practically no one has returned. It’s hardly possible to bring them back, since they’ve either signed contracts with foreign clubs, or have settled abroad with their families. That’s tough, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We understand people who are worried about their safety.
- You’ve joined the UAF committee for the development of youth football. What are your responsibilities?
- I’m not even sure how many people there are in the committee. Definitely over 20. The first meeting was held in the House of Football, the chairman of our committee is Oleksandr Shevchenko was there. We discussed primary issues, in which direction we should move, what needs to be developed in children’s and youth football. The meeting lasted over two hours, there was a meaningful dialogue, without all these bureaucratic votes. We also had online meeting. In general, we don’t have specific tasks for certain people. Everyone can bring up any issues at any time. Each of us can share his vision of solution of this or that problem.
Anyway the UAF has the last word, where they have a profile committee for our field, but they really communicate with us to know first-hand what kind of issues we have and to help us deal with those. So far I have quite optimistic impressions of the work of the committee, which tries to cover a wide range of issues related to children’s and youth football. We’ll see how it works in future.
- Which major ways of the development of children’s and youth football in Ukraine do you envision?
- The first task for the children’s and youth football committee is training programs for coaches. This is a huge issue as we practically don’t have anything like that. With all due respect to coaching licenses they receive, there is practically no up-to-date knowledge there. We need special programs and institutions to give youth coaches knowledge. Our committee has already brought this issues up and the UAF is considering it. There’re a lot of issues, but we should move step by step.
