The third Maccabi Tel Aviv “Avi Cohen” Youth Academy team, Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv (U16) has begun training for the upcoming 2018/19 campaign. Head Coach Eran Sassi is in his first season at the Academy while Ben Kaplan will be the assistant coach, a role he filled last year with the Under-15 South side. The squad that began training today is a combination of the two Under-15 teams from last year.
Head Coach Eran Sassi looked ahead to the new season, “The moment I joined the Academy I received all of the necessary information from the Performance Director in order to begin the season on the right foot and the first training session ran extremely well. I know that Maccabi Tel Aviv has the highest professional demands and I believe that I’ll be able to handle them and enjoy working with the young players at the Academy.”
Category: Youth Teams
Youth Academy Teams Head to Training Camp in Bulgaria
Over the next few days, two Maccabi Tel Aviv “Avi Cohen” Youth Academy teams will arrive in Bulgaria for preseason training camps that will last for 7 days. The Under-19 and Under-17 sides are preparing for the 2018/19 campaign and will play a number of friendlies against teams including CSKA Sofia, Lokomotiv Sofia, Slavia Sofia and others.
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Football Development at the Youth Academy
The teams will hold two training sessions per day and each side will face 3 local opponents. Throughout the camp, the players will have a schedule that includes training and video sessions, as well as working out in a gym and in a swimming pool.
Schedule:
Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv (U19)
24.7 – Slavia Sofia
26.7 – FC Germanea Sapareva Banya
28.7 – PFC Septemvri Sofia
Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv (U17)
25.7 – CSKA Sofia
27.7 – Lokomotiv Sofia
29.7 – PFC Septemvri Sofia
Football Development at the Youth Academy
Over the past two seasons, the Maccabi Tel Aviv “Avi Cohen” Youth Academy made significant changes and progress under Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen who brought his unique philosophy to the forefront. Following the last couple of season’s success and just ahead of the start of the 2018/19 season, van Leeuwen looked at how the Academy has continued to evolve and develop: “We are very happy with the progress made over the past two seasons. The Academy staff has worked very hard for us to be in the position that we are in today. We will continue on the same path this coming season.”
Moving Forward:
The Youth Academy teams will continue to develop the same way that they have over the past season and the staff will continue to achieve this by implementing an intensive training program. In addition, a new element that will be focussed on this season is personal development. Along with the team planning and structure, there will also be a strong emphasis put on individual development where a number of players will work on their own personal progress in addition to the development of the team itself. Van Leeuwen added: “The program will not only take place on the pitch but off of it as well with the goal of developing the player within the world of football. They will work on various specific programs that will not include training with a ball.”
Another positive effect from the past season that will impact the future is the number of loaned players moving to one team. Van Leeuwen talked about the continuing progress of the players: “We are always looking for the right path to develop the players. Not everyone is ready to make the jump form the Youth Team to the First Team and we have to find the right way to prepare the players. Some of the players will move to Beitar Tel Aviv/Ramle in the hope that they will receive significant minutes in the realm of a professional team that is made up of adult age footballers.”
Staff:
A number of changes were made in the Academy staff. After the personal development of some of the coaches, they received opportunities at other clubs. The professional staff always looks to make sure to find appropriate replacements to continue the growth of the coaching staff.
Bulgaria Training Camp:
The Under-19 and Under-17 teams have already begun training for the upcoming season and will also head to Bulgaria for their preseason training camp where they will play friendlies against local academy teams including: CSKA Sofia, Lokomotiv Sofia, PFC Septemvri Sofia, Slavia Sofia and FC Germanea Sapareva Banya. The other Academy teams will begin to train gradually over the month and by mid-August all of the sides will be participating in their training program for the 2018/19 campaign.
New programs for the upcoming season:
- Coach development – The goal is to continuously promote and improve the Academy’s coaches and this will be done by inviting foreign experts who will give special lectures to the staff. In addition, van Leeuwen discussed ways to further develop Israeli coaches and football in general: “There is the thought of helping football development by organizing a congress of coaches who work in youth football. The congress will be able to deal with practical and theoretical development by sharing information and working together.”
- International Tournament – The Academy will continue the tradition started last year with an International Youth Tournament. The goal is to organize a tournament with quality International youth teams. On the local level, this will give other teams in Israel the opportunity to participate in the tournament and gain significant experience. For the younger age groups, there will be an attempt to organize tournaments as well in order to gain experience in a different type of framework.
- Increasing football time – This year, the football hours for the Academy teams will significantly increase. The amount of training sessions will increase from the younger ages all the way to the Club’s Under-19 team.
Patrick van Leeuwen concluded: “We are looking forward to the start of the season for all of the Academy teams. We are welcoming both the veterans along with the new players who have joined the Academy to the Maccabi family and hope that we will help them improve and become even better players. What was in the past will stay in the past and we will ensure that we will be stronger as we look ahead to the continuing development of the Youth Academy.”
The Under-17 Team opens up training
The second team of the Maccabi Tel Aviv “Avi Cohen” Youth Academy opened up training as the Under-17 side, Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv began preparations for the 2018/19 season. Head Coach Eliezer Ben Aharon who won the league championship last campaign is in charge for the third straight year while Jeffrey Yishai is now the assistant coach. Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen and assistants Raymond Atteveld and Robin Verheul were in attendance for the opening session.
Ben Aharon talked about beginning again anew: “It’s a lot of fun to begin with a new team and at an age group that I know well. My impression from our first meeting is that the players are ready to work hard and can’t wait to learn as they all want to reach both their personal and team goals. We will be leaving for our training camp in Bulgaria next Monday where we will have three friendly matches. I believe that we can succeed this season and accomplish at least what we have done over the past few years at the Under-17 level. Good luck to the players and the new staff.”
Back to Work: The Under-21’s Season is underway
The Maccabi Tel Aviv “Avi Cohen” Youth Academy began training sessions today for the 2018/19 season as the Under-21 side Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv was the first team to start preparations for the upcoming campaign. Head Coach Guy Tzarfati, assistant coach Nissim Dvash and new goalkeeping coach Shura Uvarov were all on hand as the squad will head to their training camp in Bulgaria next Monday.
The Under-21 team who won the league title last season, will be comprised of veterans from that squad along with players from the Under-17 side who also won their respective league championship. The session was attended by Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen, together with assistants Raymond Atteveld and Robin Verheul. Head Coach Guy Tzarfati who is entering his third season with the team led today’s session and spoke about his feelings as the new campaign begins: “It’s great to get back to the Penguin Pickup Training Ground at Kiryat Shalom to see the guys and the staff. Today is the start of our journey to put together a team that will battle and that’s also intelligent on the pitch. Of course, the goal is to put an emphasis on developing the players and prepare them to make it to the next level, the first team.”
Youth Academy Staff 2018/19
The Maccabi Tel Aviv “Avi Cohen” Youth Academy has a wide range of departments whose goal is to promote and streamline the development of young players. Just before the Academy teams open up training, the staff is already preparing for the upcoming season. Let’s meet the medical and sport science departments whose responsibilities include the continuous evolvement as per the philosophy of Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen.
Medical Department
The Youth Academy Medical Department staff aims to give optimal attention to each and every player that requires it, from health, rehabilitation, anthropometric monitoring and medical-sport education whether they are in the South or North Branches or if they are players on the Under-19 or Under-10 or any other team at Maccabi.
As far as the staff is concerned there is no difference between players and they will do their utmost to get them back on the pitch if injured. The Club has given the coaches and players a mandate that training sessions must be as close as possible to match conditions as the role of the department is to make sure that injured or ill players return to action as strong and as healthy as possible in order to minimize the risk of future injuries.
Youth Academy Medical Staff:
Snir Konik – Director of the Medical Department
Ben Mor – Physiotherapist at Kiryat Shalom
Tomer Tabib-Rabinowitz – Physiotherapist at the University and Hadar Yosef.
Ze’ev Miller – Sports therapist and medic in Kiryat Shalom.
Nir Neuman – Medic at the University and Hadar Yosef.
Sport Science Department
The Sport Science Department features five fitness trainers and four analysts, who are in essence the operational arm of the department. The staff analyzes everything that happens on the pitch by using a variety of technologies such as GPS and video. They also gather information that is put into a database in order to keep track of the content that has been used in each training session. The ultimate goal is to give the coaches guidelines so they can properly plan training sessions, to analyze what they are doing via the bigger picture, when to do certain sessions during the week and on which day, all the way to analyzing methodology, sets, rest times and conditions.
In addition, there is a staff that helps manage video analysis. The staff films both matches and training sessions in order to build individual or team video clips according to the philosophy of Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen. The goal is to provide the coaches with material and video information for group or individual meetings. The video is also used to test match play according to the predefined specifications which can analyze both quantitatively and qualitatively what occurred during the game itself. This will allow the ability to give both positive and negative feedback in order to make corrections where needed.
Youth Academy Sport Science Department:
Antonio Dello Iacono – Director of the Sport Science Department
Gal Vaknin – Fitness Trainer
Ilan Richardson – Fitness Trainer
Zlil Shushan – Fitness Trainer
Yair Illouz – Fitness Trainer
Asaf Chava – Fitness Trainer
Liran Gindi – Analyst
Shlomi Tubul – Analyst
Nir Sharkuka – Analyst
Dor Hassid – Analyst
Daniel Peretz signs new deal at Maccabi
Daniel Peretz extended his contract at Maccabi Tel Aviv FC after the promising young goalkeeper signed a new three-year-deal with an option to extend by two more seasons.
On the day of his 18th birthday, Peretz, who played a pivotal role in the U19’s championship-winning-side last season, and has been training with the senior squad in pre-season, told the club’s official website: “I am excited to sign a new contract at Maccabi Tel Aviv and secure my future at the club I have been playing and supporting since the age of 6. Signing this contract is fulfilling a dream for me. Now all I am left to do is work really hard to justify the faith in me and to be able to contribute to the club to the best of my ability”. 
Maccabi’s CEO, Ben Mansford, said: “I am delighted that another talented young player has committed his long term future to Maccabi. I was immediately impressed by Daniel during the training camp in Austria at the start of last season. Daniel encapsulates everything we want at Maccabi, not only is he the best goalkeeper of his age group but also a young man of superb character who embraces hard work and possesses a thirst to learn each and every day”.
Maccabi’s Performance Director, Patrick Van Leeuwen, added: “Daniel is a talented goalkeeper who spent a lot of time improving his ability and character to an extent where all the coaching staff at Maccabi’s Academy as well as the Senior side were impressed by his progress. Daniel’s talent is recognized at international level as he is a regular member of Israel’s young national teams and we are delighted that he tied his future to the club”.
Playing with the Big Boys: Daniel Peretz’s Experience with the First Team
Training sessions for the Maccabi Tel Aviv “Avi Cohen” Youth Academy 2018/19 season will get underway this coming Saturday as the Under-19 and Under-17 teams will be the first representatives to get back onto the pitches. The Maccabi “Shachar” keeper, Daniel Peretz began training a few weeks ago when he went with the First Team to their preseason camp in Poland. After returning to Israel, Peretz spoke about the experience from the hard work, to the terrific conditions and the opportunity to train with the First Team as he looks to help the Under-19’s win the League Championship for the second straight season.
Summing up the experience of attending the First Team training camp in Poland:
“From a professional point of view it was a very challenging experience and the level of the training sessions were very high. The professional conditions at the camp were excellent from the schedule, nutrition, workout room, ice baths etc…I felt as if I advanced and improved.”
About being an Under-19 player and the youngest in the camp:
“This was actually my second camp where I was the youngest and last season I was trying to figure out how I would fit in. This year, I came into camp much more confident and from a professional standpoint I improved tremendously from last year. On a social level I also felt much more a part of the team and that was due to the players.”
The advantages of having the opportunity to be a part of the training camp:
“I didn’t take it for granted and personally it was very important for me to train with the First Team as it gives me an indication as to how I am compared to the other players at this level. It gives me a taste as to what it’s like to be a professional with conditions that aren’t available anywhere else, along with a professional staff and facilities at a very high level. Every little thing was an experience in itself at the camp.”
Being more prepared for the upcoming campaign:
“I feel that I am well prepared for the new season. Firstly, I am coming with more experience than last season as we went through a lot last year with the Youth team. I also feel that I have improved physically, mentally and professionally. In my opinion, the fact that I started the season a month ago is an advantage.”
Expectations for the new season:
“As a Club we are part of Maccabi Tel Aviv and that means we strive for every available title. The first expectation is to win the league championship again that we won last season. Also, this year we will begin playing Champions League qualification matches and we want to go as far as we can. We want to take the State Cup this season after we were eliminated early on last year and we are very motivated to bring the trophy back home. On a personal level, I’d like to continue to be a part of the First Team and to also let in fewer goals.”
Youth Academy Coaching Staff for 2018/19
The Maccabi Tel Aviv “Avi Cohen” Youth Academy will get back to business during the month of July as they begin to prepare for the 2018/19 campaign as all of the age groups will begin training for the new season. The coaching staff is complete as veterans and new faces alike will help take the youth teams to new heights this coming season under the direction of Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen.
Youth Academy Training Dates:
July 14 – Under-19 & Under-17
July 23 – Under-16
August 1 – Under-15 & Under-14
August 13 – Under-13 through Under-8
Training Camp in Bulgaria:
Under-19 – July 23-29
Under-17 – July 24-30
After winning the league title last season, the Under-19 side will continue to be led by Head Coach Guy Tzarfati and his assistant Nissim Dvash. The Under-17 squad will again be headed by Eliezer Ben Aharon and Jeffery Yishai who will be in is second season with the club as the team will look to keep the league championship at Kiryat Shalom. Eran Sassi will be the new Head Coach of the Under-16 side in his first season with the club while Ben Kaplan will be his assistant coming from the ranks of the Under-15 teams. Ori David will continue with the Under-15 side while Eliran Mizrachi will join him after spending last season with the younger age groups.
Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen spoke about the upcoming season: “We made a number of coaching changes in the Academy. Not so much changing coaches but changes in which the coaches will have new challenges to cope with. For example, there are some coaches who will now be head coaches for the first time and others will be assistants for older age groups. We will continue to move forward in the Academy and will give the maximum to the kids as there will be two coaches on the pitch at all times. This is how we will work at the Academy including with the younger age groups, both at Kiryat Shalom and at the University. This way we will be able to continue to develop players both on team and individual levels.
Performance Staff:
Raymond Atteveld – Assistant to Patrick van Leeuwen and will also be the Professional Director of the Under-15, Under-14 and Under-13 age groups at Kiryat Shalom.
Robin Verheul – Assistant to Patrick van Leeuwen and will also be the Professional Director of the Academy teams at the University Location (North Tel Aviv)
Youth Academy Coaching Staff at Kiryat Shalom:
Under-19 – Guy Tzarfati and Nissim Dvash
Under-17 – Eliezer Ben Aharon and Jeffrey Yishai
Under-16 – Eran Sasssi and Ben Kaplan
Under-15 – Ori David and Eliran Mizrachi
Under-14 – Dedi Ben Dayan
Under-13 – Elad Ben Aharon
Under-12 – Boaz Bracha
Under-11 – Tamir Tubul
Under-10 – Hamda Mari
Under-9 – Eliel Horovitz
Under-8 – Idan Bitton
*Leon Asraf will be responsible for the activities of the Under-8 – Under-12 teams at Kiryat Shalom
Assistant coaches at Kiryat Shalom:
Yehuda Livni, Tomer Rosenboim, Aviad Mashiach, Ron Partok.
Mor Shaked – Responsible for the Women’s Project at Kiryat Shalom
Youth Academy Goalkeeper Coaches:
Israel Ainy – Head of the Goalkeeper Department
Shura Uvarov
Shay Hess
Eliad Graf
Youth Academy Coaching Staff at the University Tel Aviv:
Under-14 – Asaf Heber
Under-13 – Alon Peleg
Under-12 – Adi Somekh
Under-11 – Asaf Propeta
Under-10 – David Etzioni
Under-9 – Idan Kazinitz
Under-8 – Menashe Zinder
Assistant coaches at the University:
Tal Elisha, Dana Nissenboim is also responsible for the Women’s Project at Football School
Seven Youth Players Open Season with First Team
Seven players from the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Department took part in the First Team’s opening training session for the 2018/19 campaign under new Head Coach Vladan Ivic at Kiryat Shalom including Tomer Altman, Fadi Najar, Prince Thomas, Eylon Almog and Daniel Peretz who won the Under-19 title last season. In addition, Or Dasa and Eden Kartzev who began 2017/18 with the U19’s and were loaned to Hapoel Raanana and Beitar Tel Aviv/Ramle respectively also rejoined Maccabi Tel Aviv.
