The world’s longest pre-season could be a fairytale this winter
The world’s longest pre-season could be a fairytale this winter
NF Academy has rolled out the international programs for 2025. One of the highlights of the year is NF Elite Camp in February.
From a sporting point of view, you can see an improvement between the first and last session. There is no player, coach or parent, who is not satisfied with the result on the last day or can’t see the progress, says NF Academy coach Pedro Cebola.
The winter up north can be demanding to combine with quality in everyday training. The world’s longest pre-season, as the foreigners call it.
Thus, an alternative may be to train with like-minded people in beautiful Portugal.
Under NF Academy’s professional coaching team in close collaboration with the renowned academy of the European top club Sporting CP.
It is NF Elite Training Camp in weeks 8 and 9 that coach Cebola talks about.
A perfect pre-season for anyone looking for development and international references. While snow, ice, darkness and freezing temperatures characterize scandinavian artificial turf pitches.
Read more about all the 2025 International Programs or Elite Training Winter
The world’s longest pre-season could be a fairytale this winter
NF Academy has rolled out the international programs for 2025. One of the highlights of the year is NF Elite Camp in February.
From a sporting point of view, you can see an improvement between the first and last session. There is no player, coach or parent, who is not satisfied with the result on the last day or can’t see the progress, says NF Academy coach Pedro Cebola.
The winter up north can be demanding to combine with quality in everyday training. The world’s longest pre-season, as the foreigners call it.
Thus, an alternative may be to train with like-minded people in beautiful Portugal.
Under NF Academy’s professional coaching team in close collaboration with the renowned academy of the European top club Sporting CP.
It is NF Elite Training Camp in weeks 8 and 9 that coach Cebola talks about.
A perfect pre-season for anyone looking for development and international references. While snow, ice, darkness and freezing temperatures characterize scandinavian artificial turf pitches.
Read more about all the 2025 International Programs or Elite Training Winter
The road to Sporting
NF Academy and Sporting have since 2019 had a collaboration to find and develop young talents in Scandinavia.
NF Elite Training Camp is an international program, where players, family, and coaching staff are based in the beautiful beach landscape of Estoril-Cascais. This gives the whole group many opportunities to combine city breaks with beach life and of course the trip’s main destination: Training with international quality, which can prepare the players for zone, circuit and national team selection.
NF Academy also selects players for their Elite Selection teams. These participate in elite tournaments against some of the best clubs in Europe. The best players will also have the opportunity to be seen by Sporting Lisbon, who can give invitations to new training stays with the Portuguese big club.
Part of the training week in Lisbon takes place at Sporting’s world-famous “Cristiano Ronaldo “ Academy. With the club’s fantastic stadium Estádio José Alvalade lying like a figurehead in the background, where world players like Ronaldo and Figo once took their next steps as talented players.
NF Elite Training Camp in the winter months is my favorite program. We are talking about six sessions with the NF Academy coaches, plus the incredible experience of spending a day at Sporting CP Academy.
With two more sessions with the Sporting CP coaches and a match against Sporting CP’s youth team. There is a lot of football on the pitch, plus team and individual meetings to help the players absorb all the learning, Cebola continues.
The experienced coach believes NF Elite Training Camp provides an optimal experience for both players, coaches and parents.
I feel that it is the program where everything is connected in the best way. It has a very strong social aspect, where many of the players want to be close to their parents on the first night. After a few hours together, and after breakfast together, the players already seem like friends, and by the end of the week it seems like they have been friends for years, Cebola continues.
Interaction leads to development
NF Academy is concerned that parents also understand their mindset in order to develop both the player and the person
Sportingly, it takes place through a parent sports program. Where a free coaching course is part of the program. You do not need extensive prior knowledge of the coaching profession. Only curiosity for the game and football interest.
As part of player development, NF Academy also sees the value of educating parents and therefore offers the opportunity to go through a program to more easily understand how they can help the children in everyday training at home, says NF Academy’s sports director Gonçalo Moura.
But the development also takes place outside the training field.
This is a program that is more open to interaction between coaches and parents, because we all stay in the same hotel.
It also creates a very healthy relationship in which they understand better what we do and the values it adds to their children. We manage to create a perfect balance between the players’ freedom, Pedro Cebola adds
NF Academy’s program challenges the players inside and outside their comfort zone. Both sportingly and socially. It provides development, and is one of the success factors, as Cebola sees it.
UPCOMING NF ACADEMY EVENTS
NF International Tranining Camps
| Date | Program | Country | Place | Age Group | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 - 22 Feb 2025 | NF Elite Training Camp Week 8 |
Portugal | Lisbon / Estoril | 2010-2016 | |||
| 23 Feb - 01 Mar 2025 | NF Elite Training Camp Week 9 |
Portugal | Lisbon / Estoril | 2010-2016 | |||
NF International Tournaments
| Date | Program | Country | Place | Age Group | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08 - 12 Jan 2025 | NF Selection Riga Cup | Latvia | Riga | 2010 | |||
| 16 - 19 Jan 2025 | NF Selection Riga Cup | Latvia | Riga | 2011 | |||
| 22 - 26 Jan 2025 | NF Selection Riga Cup | Latvia | Riga | 2008-2009 | |||
| 30 Jan - 02 Feb 2025 | NF Selection Riga Cup | Latvia | Riga | 2012 | |||
| 05 - 09 Feb 2025 | NF Selection Riga Cup | Latvia | Riga | 2013 | |||
| 12 - 17 Apr 2025 | NF Selection Costa Daurada (BOYS) | Spain | Salou | 2009-2014 | |||
| 12 - 17 Apr 2025 | NF Selection Costa Daurada (GIRLS) | Spain | Salou | 2007-2010 | |||
| 17 - 21 Apr 2025 | NF Selection Future Cup | Sweden | Gothenburg | 2008-2015 | |||
Check the complete Event Calendar here.
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