One of Lithuania’s largest football academies – the Baltic Football Academy – announced new partnership with Polish Ekstraklasa side Motor Lublin. The cooperation includes scouting players, organizing joint tournaments, training sessions and friendlies, as well as exchanging knowledge under the “Motor Coaching” project.
Baltic Football Academy (BFA) Vilnius announced new strategic cooperation agreement with the Polish Ekstraklasa club Motor Lublin today. To be formalised on the 16th of February during a joint event, the agreement will see BFA and Motor Lublin academies pull together to scout players, co-organise tournaments, training sessions and inter-club friendlies, as well as for BFA to participate in Lublin’s ‘Motor Coaching’ programme.
Ivanas Švabovičius, sports director of the BFA, acknowledged that this cooperation agreement is a significant step in the history of the academy:
It is a great honor for us to receive such an invitation. This is a well-known, traditional Polish club that successfully develops local talent. We will sign a cooperation agreement that provides for player evaluations, coaching internships, children’s and youth tournaments in Lithuania and in Poland; and our first team, which competes in the Pirma Lyga, will also have the opportunity to play friendly matches against such a capable opponent. We hope that this partnership will open even more doors for our academy youngsters.
Grzegorz Koprukowiak, Director of the Motor Lublin academy highlighted the benefits of this new cooperation for the Polish club as well:
International cooperation at the level of the Football Academy is something new for us. So far, we have conducted our activities primarily locally, wanting to raise the level of player training and coach development in the Lublin region. The initiative of such cooperation, know-how and high level of competence of the BFA environment are a great added value for us, thanks to which we will be able to actually recruit foreign players. Already today, the Motor Academy has a large group of children and youth from Ireland and Ukraine, the numbers of which will increase in the next 6 months. Motor Lublin and the dynamic development of the Academy will attract more and more quality young players who are going to have opportunities to develop here. Our coaches will also benefit from this, because the cooperation agreement also includes the exchange of knowledge.
In addition to playing a friendly game against Motor Lublin on the 16th of February, BFA will host the Estonian second division side Tartu JK Welco on the 22nd of February and the Latvian top tier side FK Tukums 2000/TELMS on 1st of March.
Sources: https://www.motorlublin.eu/akademia/bfa-wilno-klubem-partnerskim-akademii-motoru, https://www.sportas.lt/naujiena/514862/vilniaus-bfa-pradeda-bendradarbiavima-su-lenkijos-auksciausios-lygos-klubu-motor-lublin