Artem Kravets, Advisor to the President of Dynamo Kyiv on the development of children's and youth football, visited the UK a few weeks ago as part of his training programme. In Manchester, Artem visited the Academy of the outstanding Manchester City club and saw how children's coaches work there. Earlier, the Dynamo specialist travelled to Amsterdam to study how the academy of the Dutch club Ajax works.
Artem Kravets- Where exactly are you studying?
- The training is organised by the European Club Association. All clubs that are members of it receive many training offers. The course I'm taking is generally organised for directors of football schools, but a wide variety of issues were discussed there - from club development strategy to the development of their community. The training takes place both in the format of online meetings and offline. There will be not so many of the latter - three in total. Two have already taken place - in Amsterdam and Manchester, and the third will be the final one in Bruges. This will be the end of the programme, which lasts about nine months in total.
Based on the topics we cover (some in 3-4 lessons, some in 6-8 lessons), we receive homework assignments. For example, we listened to a lecture on club strategy - we have to develop a strategy for our club or create a strategic plan for another team. Today, for example, there was a practical lesson on community development based on the example of an Irish club, which showed and told us how everything happened, what problems they faced, etc. All the information is stored on the website for all course participants, so they can go there and watch it again.
So the training is very interesting, communication is mostly online in Zoom, and there is a lot of useful information. Of course, we have a difficult situation in our country now, with the war going on, but it's never too late to learn, as they say. You can never have too much knowledge.
- What are your impressions of the learning process?
- I like it very much. I am very grateful to FC Dynamo Kyiv for organising this training for me. Initially, when I applied, I was not accepted due to a misunderstanding. But then we spoke directly with the organisers, and the problem was resolved. And I'm actually very pleased, because from the very beginning, as soon as I got to Dynamo, I knew that I needed to study a lot. And I was lucky with this programme, where you get a wide range of knowledge in various areas. And this applies not only to the academies of Ajax and Manchester City, where we visited, but also to other clubs whose activities we learn about online.
- Is it possible to integrate the experience of foreign top clubs with young footballers into the Dynamo Children's and Youth Sports School?
- In principle, everything can be integrated - both at school and at the club itself. As they say, everything ingenious is simple. There's nothing out of the ordinary there. But there must be a desire and opportunities to implement all ideas.
- In what ways are Ukrainian football schools lagging behind and in what ways are they on a par with the top academies?
- In Amsterdam and Manchester, we were a group that included representatives of London Arsenal, Manchester United, Sporting, Roma, Borussia Dortmund and many other European clubs, and I want to note that everyone, without exception, speaks very positively about Dynamo's school. They note that many talented players are growing up. And it is true. We have a lot of talented players across the country, not just at Dynamo, and we need to help them develop and move in the right direction. We are not inferior to anyone else in terms of talent, but we need to create the right conditions for them, organise training for coaches, because a lot depends on the mentors.
- How difficult is it now to develop the Dynamo Academy in the context of the war?
- Of course, there are problems, which are greatly affected by the war. First of all, you need to understand that many children have gone abroad. We also all understand that the situation in the country itself is difficult, so it is wrong to demand that we invest heavily in the development of children's and youth football now. Of course, we need to invest and develop, but we need to approach everything with a cool head. After all, we all understand that the main goal for all of us is to win the war.
- Have many of our children gone abroad?
- I started working at the club after the start of the full-scale war, and I can judge from the words of the coaches. Even now, looking at the statistics, it is clear that some age groups have lost nine to ten players from the main team. That is, the best players left and almost no one returned. And it is almost impossible to bring them back, as they have either signed contracts with foreign clubs or settled abroad with their families. It's very difficult, but nothing can be done, because you also understand people who are worried about their safety.
- You have joined the UAF Committee for the Development of Children's and Youth Football, tell us in more detail what responsibilities you have in this regard?
- I joined the renewed composition. I can't even say exactly how many people are there - more than 20 for sure. The first meeting was held at the Football House, with Oleksandr Shevchenko as the chairman of our committee. We discussed priority issues, the direction we should move in, what needs to be developed in children's and youth football. In total, the meeting lasted more than two hours, there was a concrete dialogue, without all these bureaucratic votes on pieces of paper. There was also an online meeting. In general, there are no specific tasks for which individuals are responsible - at any time you can bring up a particular issue, there is a chat on social media, and everyone can express their vision of solving a particular problem.
Still, the UAF has the final say, where a specialised committee is responsible for our direction, but its representatives communicate with us and want to hear about any problems first-hand to help us solve them. So far, I have quite optimistic impressions of the committee's work, which tries to cover a wide range of issues related to children's and youth football. Let's see how it goes in the future.
- What are the main ways of developing children's and youth football in Ukraine?
- The first task for the children's and youth football committee is training for coaches. And this is a very big problem, as we practically do not have it. With all due respect to the coaching licences they receive, there is practically no relevant knowledge. This problem needs to be solved, programmes and institutes need to be organised to provide the necessary knowledge to children's coaches. Our committee has raised this issue as a priority, and the UAF is already dealing with it. There are many such issues, but we need to move step by step.
