The visit of the coach-coordinator of AFFA Licensing and Registration Department, Sarkhan Huseynov, to the regions continues. He visited the academies of the clubs operating in the cities of Shamakhi, Gabala, Imishli and Yevlakh.
During the visit, which took place as part of the Academy Development Needs Analysis and Support process within the Club Licensing, training sessions for all age groups from U-8 to U-19 were monitored, as well as the activities of the girls' teams were observed on site. The training environment, working conditions of the coaching and management staff were assessed directly on site.
Observations have shown that some challenges are common to many clubs. These include a high workload for coaches, lack of time for planning and self-development, and limited access to methodological resources. The specific needs of each academy have been identified. Geographical factors, staffing structure, number of age groups, and infrastructure differences have been documented separately for each club.
The visits to the academies of regional clubs by AFFA constitute the first stage of a new cooperation process on children's and youth football. This approach is based on continuous communication, measurable goals and gradual development mechanisms. Before starting the process, the local football environment and academy models that have shown successful results in children's and youth training in Europe were analyzed. As a result, it was decided to update the approach at the level of the national association and move to a closer, practical format of cooperation with football centers.
One of the main directions of the new process is the redefinition of the role of the coach. In this context, it was emphasized that it is not enough to be satisfied with only undergraduate courses, and it is planned to create additional self-development resources for coaches.
Within the new cooperation model, regular meetings with academy directors and coaches are planned to be held at least once a month via online platforms. In parallel, visits to the regions will be continued more intensively. Short, medium and long-term action plans are being prepared based on the observations currently being made. The goal is to gradually and continuously improve the quality of children's and youth football.
