This week Seaway Valley Soccer Club, through their partnership with Atletico Ottawa, welcomed Spanish coaches Javier Gonzales and Miguel Jurado from Club Atletico de Madrid to Cornwall SVSC fields.
Javier (Javi, as the players referred to him) and Miguel are in Cornwall for a week offering a unique European style development camp with the 60+ soccer players ages 8-16. Javi and Miguel arrived last week from Madrid and will spend a month in the Ottawa region sharing the Atletico methodology with select clubs.
This is the third year the coaches visit Canada and the first time in Cornwall. Both coaches indicated how gracious and receptive everyone has been here and how they are excited to see the sport find more enthusiasts and reach each year.
Along with the help of SVSC coaches they offered a variety of drills, scrimmages and strategies with eager players. Sharing the culture and passion for the sport was the most important factor for them, answering that the biggest difference between soccer here and football there, is structure. “In Canada you play a position you stay in that zone all the time, in Spain it’s more fluid, rebellious and intuitive.”
Both coaches have been playing football since they could walk, noting that football is an integral part of Spanish life. “If you don’t play football you’re a geek” laughed Javier. “We live football, it’s a part of who we are and that’s what we want to show them.”
Advice for budding players? Teamwork. Teamwork. Teamwork.
