The second edition of the course for Technical Directors of Academies, organized by the Albanian Football Association in our country, began on June 2. The guest of honor in the initial sessions of this course was Roberto Samaden, Head of the Youth Sector at Atalanta, as well as coordinator for youth football development in the Technical Department of the Italian Football Association.
Samaden presented to the participants the strategies and methodologies used by major European clubs, also sharing his over 30 years of experience in the field of football.
In an interview with fshf.org, he expressed his honor at being invited to participate as a lecturer in this course and emphasized that he is following with great interest the project for the development of youth football in Albania. Samaden stated that this project requires time to show initial results, but in the medium and long term it will bring significant improvement to youth football in the country.
“I am Roberto Samaden, Head of the Youth Sector at Atalanta, as well as coordinator for youth football development at the Technical Department of the Italian Football Federation. I am honored to be here as a guest of AFA and I thank President Duka, who also involved me last year in the Association’s activities.
I have great admiration for what the Albanian Association is doing and I am following with interest the development project, especially regarding the youth. I believe that the investment the Association has started to make over the years, and is now increasing, will produce results, because the players exist. The fact that AFA has now decided to also invest in training the heads of youth sectors, just as the Italian Federation has done for some years, is a very important step.
This will not bring immediate results, but surely in the medium and long term it will improve the youth football system in Albania. And I believe all the conditions exist to make this happen, especially with a President like President Duka, who believes and invests in this direction,” said Roberto Samaden in the interview with fshf.org.
The role of the Technical Director of the Academy is essential, as it serves as a bridge linking the Federation with academies and clubs throughout the country.
