GRANADA, SPAIN — DEC 12-17, 2022

In-Person Football Coaching Course

Become a part of the IJaS community of like-minded coaches on our in person course, and learn about Juego de Posicion from the place where it all began.

 

WHAT?

The course is comprised of five days of coaching education. Mornings are dedicated to theory classes with a mixture of UEFA PRO licensed course professors (the highest coaching qualification in Europe) and myself working through a different topic every day.

The course material presented will be in line with It’s Just a Sport and the RFEF (Spanish Football Federation) game model. This includes the theory behind the positional play game model in place at all levels within the Spanish system, as well as the practical side of designing training exercises to develop players using this framework. All of the material will be delivered in English.

In the evening, course participants would observe a different Spanish club’s training session every day.

Needless to say, afternoons are filled with informal discussions about all things football over Spanish tapas.

 

Testimonials

“Next level compared to what I have experienced in past courses”

    — E.B.


“It’s hard to get an experience like this anywhere else. You have access to first class minds in football.”

    — E.W.


“The coaches took the time to talk to us about what they were going to do before, and then explained a few things after the session. It was a brilliant course.”

    — V.L.

 

Where and When ?

The course will take place on December 12th-17th in Granada, Spain with some team visits to Malaga and/or Sevilla. And of course, we won’t forget to watch the World Cup semi-finals and final.

 

Why?

As you know, I was fortunate enough to have had an incredible of experience of leaving my home country in search of greener coaching education pastures. Eight years ago, I began my UEFA licensing in Granada, Spain and in that time I had the pleasure of learning from some of the best minds in Spanish football. Over the past couple of months, I have been communicating with some of my past professors to see if we could give other coaches from around the world a similar experience and put together a five day coaching course which would replicate the life-changing experience I had.

My goal with the It’s Just a Sport was always to bring back snippets of the coaching journey I took when I moved to Spain. With this course, I want to give coaches the opportunity to experience it for themselves. We did it in 2019 with a wonderful group of coaches and we want to make it even better this year.

 

CONTENT

The IJaS In-Person Course will aim to deliver content that will cover and provide valuable tools for the day-to-day expectations of a coach at any level.

Our goal is simple: EVERYTHING IS APPLICABLE AND USEFUL No matter where you coach, what level, who you coach, etc, we all play football. By using football as a starting point, we maintain the applicability of the content. We want you to go home and use it right away.

  • This is what brings us all together, so it's only apt that we start here. We'll discuss the LOGIC OF THE GAME as this sets the 'rules' for how we should coach. Then we'll dive into GAME MODELS and how we build and use them to inform our coaching.

  • The truest form of the game is played at the weekend against an opponent in a match, whether you're 5 or 35. We'll discuss STRATEGY (Reflecting For), GAME MANAGEMENT (Reflecting In-action), and ANALYSIS (Reflecting On). No matter the level, the match is critical.

  • This is where the craftsmen truly shine. We must prepare players to be able to play at their very best in a match, in the short-term or long-term. We'll cover ACTIVITY DESIGN (Reflecting for), TRAINING EXECUTION (Reflecting In), and TRAINING ANALYSIS (Reflecting on).

  • Here we'll hear from our expert on how to create a system in a club that promotes development using a consistent curriculum based on age and stage (Reflecting for). We'll see some best practices in implementation (Reflecting In), and tracking (Reflecting on).

 
 

Anything else?

Course participants would need to find their own transportation to and from Spain as well as their own accommodation in Granada, Spain. We can provide insight as to the best areas of the city. We can book accommodations for you for an additional fee.

 

How much?

The price of the course is $1500.

The price includes:

  • 15 hours of theoretical classes delivered by UEFA Pro Licensed instructors and myself

  • 15 hours of practical observations during visits to Spanish youth clubs to observe training sessions and matches

  • Spanish tapas lunch every day of the course

  • Transportation to and from club visits

I can’t begin to describe how excited I am to be able to offer this course again. I have always wanted to provide the same experience I had of learning a new football culture, exploring new methodologies, connecting with like-minded coaches and diving deeper into the beautiful sport we all love with the help of some of the most brilliant minds in Spanish football.

Reserve your place on the 2022 course

To maintain course quality, spots are limited. Sign up now to reserve your place.

 
 

Questions?

If you have any questions about the course, please contact us via the form below:

 
 
 
 

Course Instructors

headshot of david garcia

David Garcia

David Garcia founded It's Just a Sport back in 2016, with the aim of sharing the knowledge of football he has garnered through an 11-year (and counting) coaching journey, in which he has had the privilege of working with and learning from some of the best minds in the sport.

He is a UEFA A qualified coach, with experience of coaching in the US collegiate system, as well as club coaching in both the USA and Spain.

When he's not coaching or running It's Just a Sport, he also works as a player and team tactical analyst.

Full CV

headshot of Antonio Barea

Antonio Barea

Antonio Barea is a UEFA Pro Licensed coach with more than 20 years of coaching experience. Additionally, he is a world renowned analyst, who most recently has worked as the Spanish National Team’s opposition analyst.

Alongside working with teams, he has spent nearly 15 years educating coaches within the Spanish Federation as one of Andalucia’s UEFA license instructors, as well as speaking at conferences every year regarding his work.

Full CV

headshot of Oscar Felipe Larralde

Óscar Felipe Larralde

Óscar Felipe Larralde is a UEFA Pro Licensed coach with more than 20 years of coaching experience. He is from Granada and has worked at levels within the Andalusian region of Spain. Currently, he is the Director of Methodology at Granada CF.

Additionally to his role at Granada CF, he has been educating coaches for seven years for a private coaching academy.

Full CV

image of David Tenorio coaching

David Tenorio Aguilera

David Tenorio is a UEFA Pro Licensed coach with more than 20 years of coaching experience. He is also a Granada native and proudly managing Recreativo Granada (Granada CF’s second team playing in Spain’s Segunda B division).

He has worked at all levels of Spanish football ranging from grassroots to professional. He also holds a Master’s degree in Sports Psychology and Physical Training. He has been a UEFA Course instructor since 2010 in the Andalusia.

Full CV