Image Credit: Auckland FC
New Zealand A-League club Auckland FC has hosted its first Development Centre training camp as the club continues to elevate the standards of New Zealand football and foster young talent.
Through Auckland FC’s Youth Development Club Partnership programme, the training camp ran welcomed 26 players aged 14-16 from 12 partner clubs to participate in a three-day programme.
Auckland’s Youth Development Club Partnership aims to guide young players and build relationships with communities across New Zealand’s Northern and WAIBOP regions. Via this, clubs affiliated with the club’s Talent Devlopment Programme (TDP) from Auckland and areas such as Hamilton and Tauranga were represented at the training camp.
During the training camp, players had the opportunity to experience a professional sporting environment as they competed. Additionally, players were involved in educational workshops which relayed key information about fitness, mental resilience and Auckland’s Black Night Football philosophy.
Furthermore, players also met and learnt from senior coaches and players.
Head of player recruitment Doug Kors explained how important the training camp was for both the young players and the club.
“It was great for us to get at a look at the young players coming through. We’re a club dominated by local talent, it’s part of who we are and what we set out to do in terms of providing pathways into the game. I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” he said in a press release.
“For players it provides them a chance to understand what it takes to make it professionally.
“Yes, it requires skill and talent, but also eating right, a tactical understanding of the game, as well as level of mental resilience. We try a provide all the players who come through with a basic understanding of that.”
Auckland FC CEO Nick Becker highlighted how valuable the Youth Development Club Partnership was for the club.
“There is a huge amount of untapped talent in New Zealand,” he said via press release.
“Thanks to the relationships we have with partner clubs, Auckland FC can become a vehicle that helps talented young boys and girls realise their potential and make it at a professional level, right here in Auckland. That’s huge for the development of the game.
“Beyond that, our ownership structure means the connections exist to for the most talented of professionals to try to make it in Europe.”
The first of Auckland’s development camps represents an impressive series of development for the A-League’s youngest team.
Last month the club celebrated its first birthday and currently leads the A-League Men’s ladder with a solid four-point lead.
Key to the club’s success has been its ability to extract the best out of local talents, reinforced by the callup of six players to the All-Whites in the most recent international window, double that of cross-country rivals Wellington Phoenix.
If Auckland is to continue to rely on home stars, then continued investment in local football is necessary.
Auckland FC first launched the Youth Development Club Partnership in October 2024, creating the first step for athletes to become professional footballers via a defined pathway of the Rebel Sport Development Centre, reserves and then the first team.
Now, the programme unites 18 TDP clubs in fostering emerging talents. In creating partnerships with clubs across the country, Auckland FC is building a network of valuable win-win relationships that allow each organisation to develop and play the best talent available.
