The traditional season's opening meeting of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division was held yesterday at Kfar HaMaccabiah near Tel Aviv. Guest speaker was senior team head coach, Paulo Sousa

Slightly less than a fortnight before the official start of the 2013/14 MTA Youth Division season, the division's staff gathered at nearby Kfar HaMaccabiah for their season opening meeting. Present at the meeting were all members of the professional, medical and logistical staff, who spent the day conducting a comprehensive review of the activities of the Division last season and the preparations for the season ahead. Among other speakers, the club's psychologist, Noam Ayal, spoke about the need to find ways of releasing youngsters from the various teams that will cause them the least emotional harm. He was followed to the podium by the head coach of the senior team, Paulo Sousa, who spoke to the Division staff and answered questions from the various Youth Team coaches.

In addition to coach Sousa, the Youth Division's director of football, Nir Levin, addressed the staff regarding professional matters that had been placed on the agenda in the run up to the new season. He was followed by Dr Boki Yaron, head of the physical fitness department, who presented a review of the Division's activities in this vital area. A number of new faces at the meeting were the coaches and assistant coaches who recently joined the Division's professional staff, like Youth Team assistant coach Gili Landau and assistant coach of Maccabi's Under-17s, former Maccabi star Gadi Brumer. Landau, Brumer and the rest of the new members of the staff were officially introduced at the meeting as members of the Youth Division staff for the 2013/14 season.

The new season will officially kick off next Saturday, the 7th of September, with the season opener of Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" (Under-19s) in the Youth Premier League. The season for the younger youth teams will start two weeks later. Click here to see a complete list of all the Youth Division teams and coaches for the 2013/14 season.