The weekends are usually rest days in a European Academy Programme, as they mimic the football competition schedules with matches on a Saturday or Sunday. The players go to breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same times daily, except on Saturday due to inclusion of a gym and pool session.
New Head Coach, David, and Technical Director, Simac, both arrived on Saturday night and were introduced to the team after dinner. The previous Spanish Coach, Stephan, departed after a week on Friday night.
Team Building Exercises
Sunday afternoon consisted of a team bonding exercise initiated for all 17 players by the coaches. 4 groups were separated and tasked to make the highest structure from the floor comprising of noodles, string, cut up marshmallows, scissors, and creativity within an 18-minute window. Needless to say it was challenging, chaotic and funny but everyone had fun trying. The group of the “smartest ones” made their structure stand above others, and won a prize for the working well together. Many meetings followed through the night.
New Coaches & Classes
Morning breakfast moved into the first day of training with the new coaches; it went well. Lunch was quickly transferred to the first Spanish class, held at least 3 times weekly, where everyone is taught the national language. The boys applied themselves proudly in a genuine effort to grasp the concept of another language.
HVFC Manager Clyde Jureidini even participated to learn, refresh and educate himself, along with Manager Adrian who already speaks Polish, English and is learning Chinese. Most Lank FC staff members speak up to 3 languages naturally.