2019 Valencia Soccer Cup Tournament
April 15-29, 2019
In 2019, Eagleclaw Football Club will send three teams to the Valencia CF Soccer Cup in Spain:
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M03/4
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M05/6
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M07
In addition, 6 girls from our Advanced Academy and 2 boys from our Primary Academy will be traveling as Immersion Players, meaning they will join Spanish teams in the tournament. This will require them to quickly adapt to playing with Spanish teammates, show their understanding of how to play and overcome language barriers through the common language of football. Joining a Spanish tournament team will test our players' training and skills in a unique way. It is an unparalleled educational and developmental experience.
Prior to and following the tournament, the teams will train at the Valencia Youth Academy with professional academy coaches. All Eagleclaw players are trained according to our "Positional Play" philosophy and style. The training sessions at the Valencia Youth Academy will build on the players' current training and ability levels, deepen their understanding and immerse them in the Spanish style of play. During and after the tournament, the team will have post-game and post-training video and tactical analysis sessions. (Click here to see last year's tournament groups and schedule)
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2019 TRAVEL TEAMS
M03 (11v11)
M05/6 (11v11)
M07 (7v7)
2019 IMMERSION PLAYERS
2018 Valencia Soccer Cup - Groups & Schedule
Youth Player Development In Spain
We believe that youth player development is better and more effective in Europe and particularly in Spain. Many agree with us. That is why Eagleclaw Football Club is built around a Spanish-inspired training curriculum and is in collaboration with Valencia C.F. There are many styles of soccer around the world, but ours is Spanish!
Many players in Washington state and the U.S. aspire to play the game at the highest levels and their parents pursue local "premier" clubs, leagues and showcase tournaments instead of focusing on the kind of soccer education that will prepare players to compete with youth players from around the world. Often, parents and U.S. coaches cite "speed of play", "Division 1", "RCL", "Development Academy" or other pointless criteria as the reason for placing their player in a particular club or pursuing a domestic tournament. For decades, the traditional American youth soccer club system has failed to produce a critical mass of players who can compete on the world stage. (Read more on this subject here and here.)
We think a much better approach is training American players the "Eagleclaw Way", immersing them in a Spanish style of play, preparing them to compete in Europe and creating opportunities for them to train with Spanish coaches and play with and against Spanish players.
One of our key objectives is creating opportunities for our players to be seen by Spanish coaches and youth scouts. It's much better for Spanish clubs and scouts to see our players training and playing alongside the top Spanish youth players rather than the hyper-athletic, low game intelligence environments that permeate much, but not all of American youth soccer.
There is never a guarantee that a player will be scouted, but that is never the sole measure of a successful training and competitive experience in Spain. The key is always higher soccer education and the chance to see how a player measures up against top Spanish players. These experiences will further fuel a player's passion for and understanding of the game, inspiring them to continue working on their development as players.