Development tournaments prove their worth

UEFA's spring season of development tournaments is drawing to a close, with glowing references from national association officials and technical experts reflecting the success of a programme designed to give young footballers an early taste of international match action.

The tournaments have been taking place in recent months as part of the European governing body's campaign to advance football across the continent, and in response to feedback received from UEFA's member national associations. UEFA has chosen the U16 category as it is felt to be a crucial point of a player's development pathway to the elite level.

Participants at the tournament at the Global Football Park in Telki, Hungary praised UEFA for its policy of giving youngsters invaluable experience. The tournament featured boys' and girls' U16 teams from Armenia (boys only), Bulgaria (girls only), Hungary, Slovenia and Switzerland.

"This type of tournament is interesting and enriching for young players," said Switzerland U16 coach Yves Débonnaire. "To meet three teams in the same place and live together with them adds a very positive element. To be able to come with 20 players provides a chance to look at the squad, and to give each player sufficient playing time with individual progression the objective in mind.

"UEFA's influence with regard to organisation provides the benefit of excellent conditions … the perfect pitches, accommodation which is totally adapted to U16 players, and centralisation of activities in the Hungarian Football Federation's national centre have all contributed to a completely successful week."

Dušan Tittel, UEFA technical observer for the boys' tournament and a member of the UEFA Development and Technical Assistance Committee, agreed with Débonnaire. "The tournament was organised in a very successful way, and the sports facilities in the Telki Sports Centre are excellent," he said. "All coaches made good use of the opportunity to offer a maximum playing time for all players registered on the match sheet. It was really good for these young players to gain experience at international level."

The Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) were proud and attentive tournament hosts, and gained experience themselves for a forthcoming event. "The idea of these UEFA development tournaments is an excellent one, because they give everyone a chance to learn," explained MLSZ general secretary Márton Vagi.

"The young players can practise preparing to perform in competitive matches in a stadium with fans, as well as retaining their composure when it comes to penalty shoot-outs. For the coaches, these tournaments are an opportunity to implement what they have planned in theory.

"The organising committee, meanwhile, can learn in practice how to handle certain operational issues, while the best aspect of all is that everybody involved in these tournaments gains a better understanding of different cultures and different people. Hungary has plenty of experience in organising large events, and we're ready to host the UEFA European Under-19 Championship next year; but I am also sure that we have profited a lot from hosting these short competitions."

The women's U16 event in Hungary went equally well, witnessed by technical observer and UEFA women's football technical instructor Béatrice von Siebenthal: "The coaches can prepare for the first qualifying round of the WU17 championship in a way that is similar to the qualifying matches themselves," she said, "but without the pressure of results.

"The players also profit from their first international experiences. Here, we have seen progress from one day to the next. The delegations here are all unanimous that this type of programme is only possible thanks to UEFA's support, without which the associations would not be capable of financing it themselves."

Two tournaments remain in the latest UEFA programme – in Albania (boys) between 15 and 22 June, and Poland (girls) from 20 to 24 August. The 2014 tournaments are already being prepared, with national associations keen to use the opportunity that the European governing body is giving them.

The last word goes to Ioan Lupescu, UEFA's chief technical officer. "After the successful pilot phase in spring 2012, it was a very good decision to open the development tournaments to all our member associations." he said. "The feedback received from the 2013 season has been tremendous. To be honest, we weren't expecting such enthusiasm from the national associations.

"This gives us a huge motivation to continue and develop the development tournaments even more in the future, for the overall wellbeing of our young promising national players, boys and girls."