VfL Wolfsburg has entered into a partnership with Mannheim-based startup company Advance.Football. The Wolves’ new partner offers a learning platform on which professionally prepared video material with training methods and knowledge is shared. These are mainly modern training videos which include fascinating insights into the areas of competition, training and coaching. As well as the learning platform, the company’s technical infrastructure can be used to broadcast VfL’s WOBinar series on children’s football. With Advance.Football’s help, VfL Wolfsburg is the first Bundesliga club to provide key, up-to-date children’s football content on a regular basis on the first of every month. As well as the WOBinar advanced training series, more than 30 videos on VfL’s children’s football philosophy are already available and can be viewed by subscribers at any time. This allows VfL to share important knowledge with coaches and make a valuable contribution to the development of children’s and grassroots football at its partner and cooperation clubs.
Improving training of youth coaches
The content on the learning platform is primarily aimed at coaches of VfL’s partner and affiliate clubs. In a similar way to Netflix, it allows football coaches to consume learning and training videos as well as participate in advanced education and training sessions, irrespective of time and location.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, leisure activities for children and young people have been severely limited. The biggest challenge for grassroots sport and amateur clubs is recruiting qualified youth coaches. The new partnership helps provide children’s and grassroots football with elaborative content through appealing, digital means. The content also targets domestic and international youth teams from the U6s through to the U19s so that, for example, VfL’s partner club Chattanooga FC and the local youth and grassroots community have access to an English offering.
VfL managing director Michael Meeske on the partnership with Advance.Football:
“Sport is of enormous importance for the development of children and young people, and for that it requires well-trained coaches. The pandemic has presented us with major challenges in this area, too. We’re happy to have found a partner in Advance.Football that drives the digitisation of sports offerings and helps us share our content with trainee coaches through their platform, despite access restrictions.”
