Every single location of AC Milan Junior Camp is entrusted to the management and coordination of the Sporteventi’s Manager. The Sporteventi’s Manager is in charge of the coordination of all Sporteventi coaches present at the camp (one for every 9 campers including the Sporteventi’s Manager) both on and off the soccer field.
Trainings on the soccer field are directed directly and exclusively by the AC Milan Technical Director and by the Supervisor present on site; the Sporteventi’s Manager, following the guidelines set down by them, coordinates all the Sporteventi coaching staff.
Campers are divided into groups based mainly on age, physical growth and finally technical ability, which is judged the first day upon their arrival at the camp (Sunday afternoon).
Main age groups are:
- 7-8 years
- 9-11 years
- 12-16 years
Following is a brief description of the type of work done by each group:
- 7-8 years: Mainly working with the ball (guiding the ball, dribbling, shots on goal)
- 9-11 year: Working with the ball and technical-tactical work (working 3 against 2 or 2 against 1, zone or man defense, movements without the ball)
- 12-16 years: Mainly technical-tactical work
The morning is usually devoted to technical stations; afternoons are used for squad or individual tournaments (drives, shoot outs, penalty kicks, etc.).
As a general rule physical work is suspended on Wednesday or Thursday afternoons to give campers time to recuperate from their hard work. “Recuperation” often occurs in a pool, whenever the town or hotel offers adequate installations.
The trainings sessions are structured on the basis of the AC Milan Combined Method, that is a set of methodologies and training programs designed by the AC Milan Academy – the AC Milan center of innovation and development – in order to pursue simultaneously a plurality of aims complement each other and belonging to different areas, namely:
- technical-tactical area
- athletic development area
- psychological-relation area
- educational area