Life At Slavia Prague's Academy: Alex Wesolowsky

So, the showdown with Bayern Munich is now in the books, with a surprising result to boot. The boys bussed down to Bavaria on Saturday afternoon, after playing a league game against crosstown rivals Dukla Prague. After a convincing 16-4 win, the boys showered, ate pizza in the lockerroom and boarded the bus to Munich along with Slavia's U15s who were also scheduled to play Bayern's U15s the next day. The game was scheduled for one in the afternoon, so we arrived early to check out Bayern's new "Campus" in a northern district of Munich not too far from Allianz Arena. Not that I've been to many training centers, but Bayern's new academy site is impressive. Eight fields, both grass and turf, plus a state-of-the-art 2,500 mini-stadium, I guess for the U19s. We joked that most Czech first-division teams would be proud to play there. The center was opened not even a year ago, and construction is still ongoing at the site. Besides the fields, there's also a beach soccer court, a climbing wall, basketball center, and a track with an incline stretch to build up strength and speed. Reportedly, Bayern sunk some 70 million euros into the project and it looks like money well spent. Anyway to the game, first up was the battle between the U15s, which was a closer game than I think Bayern expected. Munich won 3-2, but two of their goals came from penalties, both of which were a bit dubious. The U12s played on a smaller turf field with smaller goals moved about ten meters in from the endline. It was 8+1 and they played three 25-minute periods. Bayern had 15 players or so, and more or less split them in half, with one team starting the first period and a different team coming on in the second. In the third, they may have mixed them up a bit. Slavia had the jump at the start, and my son should have scored after getting free in front of goal, but he just shot wide to the upper left of the goal. Both teams had their chances, but Bayern got on the board first late in the first period, scoring off a corner, with one of their players knocking it in from close. The second period was scoreless, although both teams had a few chances. In the third, Slavia scored on a nice shot from distance that hit the crossbar and went in. The ref appeared to add a few minutes at the end as Bayern really pressed to get a winner, but didn't so it ended 1-1, a pretty fair result. Slavia's youth director was there and looked pretty pleased afterwards. Another Czech team, Sigma Olomouc had lost to Bayern 8-0 just a month earlier. Overall, a great experience. It was a hard, fast game against very skillful players. The boys at Slavia don't get a lot of games like this.Too bad they can't do this more often....

 

The looks of contempt and fear are what I remember most from the faces of the parents when my son took to the practice field for the first time at Slavia Prague more than five years again at the ripe old age of six. We had decided he had what it takes to give it a go at Slavia, arguably one of two top teams in the Czech Republic along with Sparta Prague.



None of the parents welcomed us, which made complete sense. If my son “succeeded” and was added to the roster, someone’s son would be cut. That’s the reality of soccer in much of Europe, especially at the bigger clubs where it’s dog eat dog even at the earliest ages.



When I look back at the team photo from that 2012-2013 season, only three or four players are still on the team. Few if any of the kids who start at age four at clubs like Slavia or Sparta will last for more than a few seasons. As they get older, the teams cast their nets wider to snatch up talent from further and further away. Gradually, the teams are filled with better athletes, better players.



Here, there’s almost a revolving door on bringing in new players to “trial” for a practice or two. In the early days, when the roster was weaker, the shakeups to the team could be more dramatic. Or at least that’s what I thought at first. But the older they get, the more the players seem less from Prague but from elsewhere. Right now, one boy has moved with his mother to Prague from their home in southern Bohemia, some 100 miles away. Another travels about sixty miles at least once a weak to train at Slavia. At some point, his mom or dad will probably make the move to the Czech capital with him, or so they say. There’s already talk that a 'big talent' in Olomouc in Moravia in the east will be ‘transferring’ soon as well.



For the club it makes complete sense. They’re always on the lookout for talent wherever it may be, driven by a desire to strengthen the team with the small hope one or two of them may help the “A” squad at some time in the future or make the club a bundle selling him off to a team in the “West.” At the age of 16 or so, it seems Slavia sets its sites beyond the country’s borders. Players from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, and even Austria (I say even because the path normally seems east to west, although the Czechs point out Prague is further west than Vienna).



For parents, it means constant uncertainty, even for those whose kids may seem to be top dogs today. When my son joined in 2012, there was another player on the team who was considered a top talent in the Czech Republic. Last year, he was dropped from the team, ending up at Bohemians, a path for many players. (After he suffered an ankle injury at practice at the feet of an especially unsavory teammate, he never got his running gait back to where it was.)



A few years back at a pretty big tourney in Holland, I asked a few parents of the players from Chelsea whether it was the same there. They told me that they had ‘contracts’ for the season, meaning relative peace for a year at least. At the end of the year, I was told, Chelsea assesses each player (Darren Fletcher’s kid was on that 2006 birth year team) and informs each whether he will be coming back next season or not.



At Slavia, there’s no such system. They can drop the hammer at any time. So, given that, you try to look for any sign to gauge how your kid is doing. What tourney is he going to and who’s on the team, the stronger kids or the kids on the “cusp?” Many try to suck it up to the coach or other subterfuge to gain any advantage. Some of those tactics aren’t fit for print…..

 

Well, now that you ask.... multiple sources have informed me and others that some of the mothers have been willing to do certain....favors, to get their sons on the pitch. These are uncorroborated reports, so don't sue me for libel anyone out there....

 

Yeah, I guess I was feeling inspired when I wrote that... it rolls of the tongue nicely.

 

In other soccer-related news, Crewe Alexandra of all teams are in Prague for a series of 'friendlies' against Czech sides. Yesterday, they played our U12s and Slavia beat them 6-1. It was a strange game, full field, 10+1, something our guys are just not used to. The Crewe players were robust and played long balls down the wings, but their technical skills were lacking....

 

Thanks for the two comments above. If you have anything you'd like to ask about the youth academy, soccer here, fire away!

 

For anyone interested, here's a bit of the game against Bayern. Quality not the greatest, since I had to stand quite a bit away from the field, and behind the goal, due to the sun. https://photos.app.goo.gl/UPyKwojewihVOK3L2

 

So, the season is starting to wind down. By mid-June they will be done with about a five-week break before they start all over again. In the meantime, the two biggest tourneys are upon us. This weekend in Holland, http://www.seesingtournament.nl/. Next weekend, Andorra. My son has been 'nominated' to play in both. Travel will be a bit grueling. For Holland, they leave by bus tonight at 11 pm, driving thru the night to get there sometime in the morning. They will also take a bus to Andorra, which is some 1,700 kilometers from Prague. That odyssey should take about 24 hours! The team's already run this gauntlet two years ago. It is grueling, but at their age, I guess, somewhat bearable. Anyway, everyone is looking to next year, and more precisely who will, and who won't, be around. Two boys just got cut. It's a bit awkward since they go to the school with the other boys and need to finish out the school year, which ends at the end of June. Rumor has it, a few more could still face the ax. Also a new coach will take over the group as they move into the U13 group, playing more games at eleven a side on a full field with a size 5 ball. Anxious times at Slavia Prague....

 

Yeah, it's a pretty strong field, especially with Anderlecht, which probably has the strongest team in Europe at this age U12, and a very very exceptional player in Rayane Bounida. Plus, Eindhoven, Feyenoord, FC Twente, Ajax... Ten teams in total, which is a good number. Would love my son to play there someday...Love going to Holland!

 

Great weekend for Slavia Prague's U12 team. Finished third at this Dutch tourney. My son scores in this video starting around the 15:30 mark. More to come on results, standings later...

 

Good question. He says he feels more American than Czech although how is hard for me to believe. He§s growing up here. Definitely considering the U.S. if the opportunity arose....

 

I wrote more.... anyway. Yeah, our team is a bit tiny. It's incredible. My son's a decent size for 12. He's 162 cm, which is on the bigger side in general. Some of our guys are smaller than my daughter, and she's two years younger than them!

 

Yeah, the thing is he really doesn't have any American friends, just a couple of cousins in the U.S. whom he sees every other year for a few days. I asked him again yesterday if he'd rather play for the U.S. or Czech Republic, and without hesitating he said U.S. That's still a bridge we're still far away from crossing, if ever. Having said that, he has gotten a soccer experience that I would say is unrivaled in the U.S.