Mauricio Illesca is remembered as a scoring forward who emerged at the University of Chile and also played for Colo Colo, among other clubs inside and outside the country. Today, the former attacker has already completed more than five years leading the Juventus Academy Chile and, in conversation with AS, he revealed details of the football project based in Santiago.
“In the world of sports, I have always been linked to delivering a quality product to people and my goal arose several years ago. Along the way, I realized that something was missing that would satisfy the parents and also the child in his football growth. I went to Europe to evaluate different academies, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City. And between price and quality, the Juventus Academy today has the most robust development worldwide,” said Illesca.
– Do you have a presence all over the planet?
– The program is being developed in more than 100 countries. Then the possibility arose of bringing it to Chile. I started with camps, where people come and last a week. Since 2019 I started with an academy. The goal is to help the child’s individual improvement. We have a development methodology that also aims to achieve insertion in training football here. We have a large number of players at that level. Now we are participating in the ANFP tournament up to Sub 12. We are an academy to develop players with a style, who also have the desire to go to a second level, no longer so recreational.
– Do you hope that any athlete who emerges from the academy will soon be able to reach professional football?
– Yes, we have children who are in the Sub 14, in the Sub 15 and in the Sub 16 of some clubs. They are talented and have been well evaluated. Some have also accessed the Under 15 National Teams. We are happy, it is still incipient, but we are satisfied. A good job has been done.
– Where are the training places located?
– We are in Vitacura, in the Croatian stadium, in the Syrian stadium, in Talinay in La Reina and in San Carlos de Apoquindo. But more than by places, we differentiate ourselves by programs. We have initiation, development and advanced or elite programs. We carry out tests and, in some way, we select the children in the different programs. Some can get into the elite program and some can’t. We want to satisfy everyone, but we also want to deliver a clear, concrete product with results.
– Is everything in line with Juventus guidelines from Italy?
– Sure, and there is also training for teachers. There is a manual for the coach, there is a type of coach. We also look for a way to deliver the content, each one has their own identity, but… You know that the Italian is loud and active, and that is a bit of the great motto beyond the methodological issue, which is also important. There is a head coach for each zone, for South America, for North America. They come to the country and meetings are also held monthly to deliver methodologies or to face different situations that may arise in each country.
– What do you seek to develop in the players?
– We have a game philosophy. Like Juventus Academy Chile, it consists of playing with energy, being aggressive in recovering the ball and quick in attack. Based on this, then come all the necessary football patterns, systems and concepts.
– Every year a delegation from the academy visits Italy. How important are these trips?
– We believe that this is also very important for Chilean football, even leaving our academy a little. Traveling to play is very good for children. We see with great sadness that the clubs do not invest in that, in getting the children out to play. It could be near here, in Argentina, in Brazil. We have the world champions here next to us. It is very important that children have the experience to face life as well, not only in sports. We traveled to Italy to the academy world cup held by Juventus in Turin, in the sports center, in the stadium. It’s fantastic, players from the Juve squad arrive, the club’s ambassadors are also there.
– Is the project consolidated and what would be the next stage?
– Look, there are several situations that we want to enhance. We are well positioned in Chile, we have a good image and respect among the clubs. There are good relations with them too, because we have delivered players to the teams. We are solid and we must now look at the growth of the franchise in the country, ideally, with one in each region. It would allow us to get closer to the good players throughout Chile, it would be a dream. The second step would be to consolidate ourselves with our own sports center and that is where we are.
