Juventus Academy Comes to St Louis

Exclusive Interview by Michael Cross with Nicholas Karidis, President of Juventus Academy Saint Louis 

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Soccer, or calcio in Italian, is by far the most popular sport in Italy. The spirit of soccer remains strong and passionate and has contributed to the nation's collective memory and sense of identity. The Italian style of soccer is marked by its unique tactical and defensive approach. Up and down the peninsula, there are great teams with great fans. One team in particular, however, stands out: Juventus. Unlike most Italian teams, whose fans are concentrated around their particular city or region, the fan base of i Bianconeri is widespread throughout Italy and the Italian diaspora making the team a symbol of italianità. Today, I have the privilege of speaking with Nicholas Karidis, who quite literally brought Juventus to St Louis.

Nicholas, it is very exciting to have such a famous Italian team being represented in St Louis. What inspired you to open an academy here? 
 
It is truly an honor to have been chosen by Juventus Football Club to represent their prestigious and global powerhouse organization. Through a long and vigorous application process, the Karidis Group International's youth soccer club was selected to represent the Midwest as an official youth academy of Juventus Football Club. KGI’s Juventus Academy Saint Louis (JASTL) became the 9th Juventus Academy in the United States, and the only academy in the Midwest.

The club’s initial history in St Louis, dating back to 2007, has always shown a strong foundation rooted in European football training platforms, so we are excited to see our club take it to an even higher level guided by Juventus Football Club. Joining the Juventus family has opened up vast resources and support from one of the most successful and decorated football clubs in the world. The philosophy at the heart of Juventus Football Club’s work with young players is parallel to how we have always run our club - helping to develop our players as people first, and second, as smart, creative and dynamic critical thinking footballers.
 
What programs and tournaments do you have in St Louis and where are they located? What age groups do you target? 
 
Juventus Academy Saint Louis offers programs for all youth ages 3-19. Our programs include the following three levels:
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• Juventini - our introductory level program that is offered at no charge to boys and girls ages 3-7 years old of all skill levels with a focus on development and fun. Each program is adapted to the age group to further develop skills while having fun. 
• Juniors Academy - a year-round advanced training environment where ages 3-7 will attend both club training and team training once a week. They play in the SCCYSA recreational league and are focused on learning both technical and tactical elements of the game.
• Pro Academy - a year-round program for all competitive age groups including 4v4, 7v7, 9v9, and 11v11 age groups. All Pro Academy teams can attend club training at least two nights per week, with an additional 1-2 team training sessions per week. During this phase of development, players will be educated on all five elements of the Juventus Academy Soccer Method: Style of Play, Technical Ability, Tactical Ability, Mental Factor, and Emotional/Social Factor. All teams in our Pro Academy receive the benefits from match film review, match tactical analysis and player classroom sessions. To ensure continuous year-round development our teams also participate in winter club training, futsal and indoor leagues, and 3v3 tournaments.

We also host multiple leagues and tournaments throughout the year. Our main events are our tournaments. The Americas Cup is hosted by Juventus Academy Saint Louis in the Fall while the Juventus Academy Champions Cup is hosted in the Spring. These tournaments take place locally in St Charles. We are also famous for hosting multiple 3v3 indoor tournaments at our indoor facility, Olympia, located in St Charles. Our Winter Indoor League is also popular with the local clubs where we play 6v6 on our indoor turf space.

Tell us about the "Juventus Way". What does it mean and how do you implement it? 
 
Building upon our philosophy, we aim to develop footballers through a vision which combines technical aspects with mental, emotional and interpersonal ones. The “Juventus Way” of training aims to develop players through the following five points: Style of Play, Technical, Tactical, Mental and Emotional/Social. The Juventus training platforms and vast player resources and opportunities, as well as coaching support and education directly from Juventus Football Club in Italy, will help propel our footballers to the next level. 

• Style of play: We encourage the will to command and lead the game: the pleasure of maintaining possession of the ball, the ability to manage the game and its times with confidence, the development of a team mentality devoted to resourcefulness and common sacrifice are fundamental.
• Technical Ability: Through special exercises in moving techniques, we aim to perfect the movement of football: from transmission to control, from the search for space to the fast management to mastering the ball.
• Tactical Ability: When we talk about tactical skills, we mean both individual and team skills. These skills are trained with exercises that, alternately during the week, research the game principles. And by game principles; we mean building, managing and maintaining possession, finishing and finalizing, the defensive phase. The methodology uses situational, simple and complex training methods, positional games, possession exercises and themed games.
• Mental Factor: The goal is to train an athlete ready to make effective decisions, even in difficult and changing contexts. In other words, the development of a "Quick Thought", the basis for adapting to the best of all situations and changes that a game presents.
• Emotional and Social Factor: Instilling sacrifice, courage, collaboration: these are the values that our athletes must share, all while developing the concept of belonging to a team. These are the values underlying not only the work of the players, but also those who follow them constantly and accompany them in their growth, on and off the pitch.

 
What are you doing to increase diversity among your participants in St Louis? 
 
We firmly believe that there is a strong link between diversity and high level organization performance. In order to increase diversity among our participants in St. Louis, we encourage all to come and experience our unique and tight knit family.  Our coaches and volunteers are from around the globe and around the United States. They bring new insights and passions for the game that they share with our members. We support local businesses and communities through outreach programs, volunteering, and using their products or services. The diversity is growing in St. Louis and we always invite all to join and volunteer. We run our foundation on family and making the love for football available to all.
 
There are quite a few young Italian soccer players in St Louis who travel here to play college soccer. Are there any coaching or volunteer opportunities for these young men and women?
 
100% yes! We are always looking for volunteers and coaches. As we continue to sustainably grow our academy, we want passionate and qualified individuals to join our coaching staff. If anyone is interested in being a part of Juventus Academy Saint Louis, please reach out to our Academy Director, Corey Adamson at [email protected].