How to turn foreign students into Girona footballers

GironaRomario Lawrence was born in New Delhi (India), but lives, studies and plays football in Girona. He shares a residence, classes and a locker room with Andrew Nobleza, from Ontario (Canada). Also with Cole Quattro, from New York (United States) or Leon Amwayi, from Uasin Gishu (Kenya). In the Girona parish these names do not ring a bell, but they are full-fledged Girona footballers, because they compete with the third team, Girona C, in the fifth group of the Fourth Catalan Division. This Saturday, when the first team begins its match at Montilivi against Celta Fortuna (18:30, LaLigaTV Hypermotion), they will be in the final stretch of their match against Llagostera B.

“Making ourselves known is the reason for our department’s existence. There are many people from all over the planet delighted with our methodology and way of working. We asked ourselves what we could offer them, and from that, a team full of players who want to play for Girona and learn from us has been born,” explains Lucas Gafarot, the director of Football Experiences at Girona, a branch of the club that allows external players to live like a red-and-white player from the inside.

Girona C is an international football development project resulting from an agreement with the International Soccer Academy, an entity specializing in high-performance programs for young North American footballers aged at least 18 who have the opportunity to live an immersive experience in European football, combining their sports development with language studies and integration into the sporting, cultural, and human environment of Girona. “This program allows us to open Girona to the world and extend our values beyond the territory,” remarks the club’s CEO, Ignasi Mas-Bagà.

So far, the response has been very positive. “The players are delighted with La Liga, the club, and the city. It is a success,” says Gafarot. In total, the squad consists of 12 foreign footballers – two more are awaiting their visas – and eight Catalans, who study at the University of Girona and EUSES and have accessed the program through a volunteer initiative promoted by Girona and the UdG Sports Service to foster the academic, social, and sporting integration of the participants. In exchange, they are given the possibility of validating an ECTS credit for the degree they are studying.

The team has already played two matchdays and is moving in the middle zone of the standings, the result of a victory in the debut in Monells (0-2) and a defeat in Vilobí (3-0). “Minutes are not given away here, whoever deserves it plays. There are no influences. The coaching staff is professional and wants to win the League,” replies the Catalan. The coach is Joel Vila, who works under the white-and-red's own methodology, which makes the experience even more realistic because they do the same as the other footballers of the entity: they share facilities, coaches, and work dynamics with the club's formative structure.

Routine and behavior

The players live at the StepHouse residence and have a very strict routine: they train five days a week, always in the morning, where the coaching staff puts the emphasis on technical, tactical, physical, and mental aspects. The sessions are complemented by video analysis, physical preparation, recovery and mobility sessions, and they receive individualized monitoring. In the afternoons, they take Spanish classes at the UdG. Some complete their educational training with a degree or a distance learning course. "They are Girona players and we place great importance on behaving as such. They are supervised and controlled. We have a person who lives with them and oversees them. They have little free time, but if they want to do any activity or go out for a walk, they must communicate it. If they go for a walk through the Old Town, we need to know and we do know," assures the director.

The immersion of the foreign students in the red-and-white club is completed with international experiences: last week they traveled to Belgium to train and play against a mix of the youth and reserve teams of Lommel, another of the clubs in the orbit of the City Football Group, and they will visit England to train at the Manchester City Sports City, as the first team now led by Quique Álvarez has done so many times. "The relegation to the Second Division has not modified the club's commitment to continue promoting the Girona brand. We have done a lot of work in recent years, and this is reflected every time we interact with people from other places. We have gone to hold camps in the United States and there are people there with our shirt who feel like they are from Girona. But one can always grow more, and that is what we intend," concludes Gafarot.