In the world of youth football, in my opinion, there is too much emphasis on results and not enough emphasis on true individual development. The environments most young footballers are developing in emphasize the team or club over the individual players. We then instill a mentality that disempowers the players to understand their unique qualities and contribute wholeheartedly towards the teams they play for. Those players may make it pro, however they have never truly understood their unique value, both on the pitch and off of it. They tend to break when the results don’t go their way, and they are arrogant when the results do go their way. Emotionally imbalanced, professionally underdeveloped, lacking maturity, but most importantly they are so far from achieving their full unique potential. I believe the results will follow, from a player and a team culture that emphasizes unity in diversity, addressing and celebrating every individual players’ contribution in relation to the collective identity.

Since I have yet to see this environment exist here in North America, I have created an environment for young footballers to get the opportunity to explore themselves at a deeper level, resulting in improved performance and accomplishing their dreams at playing professional, while receiving the lifelong benefits from a sense of awareness, clarity and value. This goes far beyond the pitch, and is arguably more important than the training on the pitch.

Setting You Up For Long Term Success

Our Young Footballers Empowerment Program™ is designed as an 11 week training camp, built to provide the future pros with the tools they didn’t even know were necessary in order to achieve their dreams:

• Phase 1 – Preparing the Foundation: Staring with your origin story, we look back at where you came from, what made you who you are today, and how you got here. We continue on with setting goals both long term and short, clarifying your beliefs and values that will help guide you towards those goals, and finding your purpose for doing it all in the first place.
• Phase 2 – Building Your Structure: Here, we begin to build your house upon the foundation. This is where we explore themes related to emotional intelligence, habitual behavior, and dealing with adversity. Here you will be provided with the tools needed in critical moments of your development, while you continue to create new habits that prepare you for handling the ups and downs of pursing a professional career.
• Phase 3 – Interacting with Your Surroundings: Now is the time to reflect on the relationship with your internal and external environments. In this stage we learn how to self-assess our weakness and strengths, getting closer to our authentic selves and controlling the narrative. We remind ourselves that we are not meant to do it alone, and that we have a team around us of individuals who support us in various ways. This phase ends with a final check-in and pivot session after a period of time on our own journey.

What You Can Expect

The YFEP offers way more benefits than could be listed out, some will appear early on, others will act as a seed planted only to bear fruits later on in your life. Here’s just a few:

• Self-Awareness: Truly a lifelong journey, however one that needs to begin consciously as early as possible in life. The beauty of football is that it can be used as a vehicle not only for career success, but also for success on a holistic level.
• Self-Control: We’ve all heard of “football IQ”, but what about “football EQ”? Soccer is an emotional game and most players never get the chance to practice their emotional intelligence, or learn tools to help them when dealing with their emotions. In fact most of us aren’t even able to name our emotions. How can we hope to be prepared for playing at the professional level then?
• The Tools For Success: Within the program the players are regularly practicing techniques that will remain with them for as long as they wish. These techniques include breath-work, journaling, the habit of focussing on the positive, the gift of kindness, and effective self-talk among many others.
• Increased Confidence: When we lack clarity, we lack conviction. As we build a clearer vision for your future, identifying what you need to achieve your dreams, and you start to feel the benefits from the increased effort and new skills you are learning, you will begin to notice you are ahead of the curve. This will show up in as self-confidence, both on and off the pitch.
• Standing Out: If we are all just footballers, then how do we plan to stand out? Often society punishes us for being our true authentic selves. Our coach may yell at us for expressing our individuality in ways that don’t conform with the rest of the team. As we build our awareness and confidence, we also learn to care for the opinions of others, while recognizing our human need for self-expression and not letting those opinions get in the way of offering our unique gifts and talents to the world.

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.

— Pablo Picasso

My name’s Stevie. At the age of 4 I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in professional soccer. I played for hours every single day, I watched it when I was not playing, I dreamt of it when I was sleeping. Nothing was going to get in my way. And then I achieved my dream, and I was not prepared for the reality that came along with it. I did not have the personal skills to deal with the pressure, the competition, the decisions, the loneliness, the good and the bad. My career suffered and ended early, and I was left to face a harsh reality of leaving the game behind. If only I had someone earlier on to help me build a better foundation, guide me on a path of development that would support me when I was a professional soccer player, and be there for me when I needed someone other than my parents, or my agent or my coach who really weren’t helpful anyways. This is why I am here today. For you. ⚽️

Let’s Prepare You For Success in Footy ⚽️