Today we have the opportunity to learn more about the operation of INTERSOCCER FOOTBALL ACADEMY and we do so from the hand of its director Tomás Páramo, who has agreed to answer our questions to better understand how this organization works, which has been active for more than 11 years now.
What is the reason for the transfer of Intersoccer F.A. to Asturias? What advantages does the new location offer over the old one?
Within the Intersoccer Group, in addition to being an academy, we are a sports legal consultancy and a soccer player agency -in shared tasks with our expert partners and great professionals ISSPORTS-, for which we maintain relationships with clubs in Spain, Europe and even other continents. This led us, some years ago, to clubs in the Principality of Asturias such as the historic UP Langreo or the E.I. San Martín del Rey Aurelio, clubs in which some of our student players have already participated and played with great success in previous seasons. This closeness with them crystallized, after the experience in relationships, in a greater loyalty given the main “leitmotif” of our organization in the academy: training. In addition to the experience of the relationships already maintained, we analyze the pros and cons that are so simple but also so important to arrive at a decision such as: general fans and passion for soccer in Asturias; history of its most emblematic clubs -among them UP Langreo-; competitive capacity of the ideal categories for training in an initiatory stage but already highly indicative of the possibilities of student players -such as the third national senior or the national league and junior honor division-; weather; culture and way of life in a friendly and welcoming environment; facilities; means of communication to access from other parts of Spain and from other countries … and excited about the return of the U.P. from Langreo to a global academy project, we made the decision to set up our H.P.C. in Asturias. And we did it in a very functional and well-equipped residence in the town of Sotrondio – encouraged and with the fundamental help of the principal rector of the E.I. San Martín, a club that develops its football activity at the Florián stadium, right next door and in the same sports area as the residence.
What is the profile of the academy students?
Most of our students are of international origin – we currently have students from 17 different countries around the world – although we also have some national students. They are kids from 15 to 20 years old who seek to improve their football in its technical, tactical and competitive aspects, while dreaming of finding opportunities that increase them to professional football. Obviously, not everyone succeeds, but after the baggage that we are completing, the fruits of the “INTERSOCCER” project have already appeared … and with satisfaction, we verify that more than a decade of work and commitment to a very determined and clear illusion, we do not is throwing overboard. Quite the contrary, with emotion we verify the current presence of our former students in clubs in “important places” in the world of professional football: the German Bundesliga 1; the Super League in Denmark; the Santander and Smartbank leagues (1st and 2nd) of Spain; Ligue2 de France … etc, plus the already usual presence of many of them in Spanish 2nd B and 3rd national clubs -and of the same level in other countries-, while at those semi-professional levels they complete their training to try to reach clubs of the first national leagues.
What makes Intersoccer different from other academies?
We try to resemble the “reality” of a professional soccer team as much as possible, both from the point of view of the technical, tactical and competitive methods applied, as well as the rigor that we show and monitor to form a suitable coaching staff or faculty for it. in everyday life: coaches, sports psychologist, physical trainer, physiotherapist, nutrition consultant, interpreter, etc. We place special emphasis on the mental section of the “football game” both as a concept of a professional dream that can be pursued by all of them and because of their way of understanding it before, after and always as a game that is played “as a team” with a collective spirit and mutual solidarity on and off the field of play; something for us absolutely a priority in its very different facets and circumstances. We influence a lot with the students in the group aspect and harmonious coexistence … in football and in life we believe that “together we can and achieve more”. We have seen many players with excellent technical and physical aptitudes who, however, fail to decide and know how to see what is necessary and what is accessory or expendable in their integral training phase as people and as footballers. We believe in this integral formation of the person, we do not stop at football, we consider that the correct academic training, languages and human values are necessary to face any type of possible coexistence throughout their unpredictable lives – we never forget this! , no one knows where each person’s life will finally pass! – they add an extra dimension to the person. Dimension that will always appear later in your personal baggage; in their education and “fitness” for life. To become a good professional footballer, you first have to be a good person and with a “well furnished head”, as we say in Spain.
What is the daily routine of the students?
The students divide the day between their morning training sessions for group and individual technification with the academy that, under the control of a director of the entire body of multidisciplinary “teachers”, referred to above, they carry out in the magnificent facilities of the U.P. Langreo (Ganzabal Stadium) and evening training sessions with local and regional teams. Priority of the club agreed with our project, the UP Langreo, in its professional team -of 2a B national- and in its youth team of the national league and in other senior teams of the Asturian third national -the EI San Martín as has been said, the Caudal de Mieres, El Siero, El Colunga … -. Teams where all of our student players have reached, either due to the training phase in which they are still -the youth- or due to natural selection after the demand that arises for them in the semi-professional Asturian football market. Of course, in addition, each student is enrolled in their corresponding academic year – ESO, Bachllerato, TAFAD – for which they have a few hours a day of online assistance, in sessions assisted by a face-to-face teacher who coordinates, advises and monitors their work daily as students. They also have language classes –Spanish and / or English- in the residence itself three days a week.
