Interview with the CEO

The idea actually came a long time ago: when we opened the International Union of Youth, I was still a student at the Higher School of Economics in Prague, and on the basis of this university we opened MSM together with the students with whom we studied together. The idea of ​​opening the MSM Football Academy came a little later when we realized that there is a demand not only from children who want to study in the Czech Republic at higher educational institutions but also to play football, especially professional football. In addition, the average school graduate at the age of 17-18 has many opportunities for admission. But the child who played football from early childhood has not so many. He believed that he would become a professional football player, but the number of teams and places in them is limited. Every year, out of 25 students of any football academy only 2-3 football players get into the main team. For the rest, the question arises: what to do next? This is especially relevant for children from small towns, where are not so many teams. For such cases, the MSM Football Academy was created. You can continue your career in the Czech Republic without stopping to play football at a professional level. This will give you a chance to realize yourself and get into one of the European teams or become a good coach.

The first students arrived in 2010. We wanted to see how the football camp would work out. In the first year, about 20 people came. And this number grew every year. Since 2013, we have opened not only a summer camp but also started training children in the One-Year and Half-Year Football Academy.

When the Academy opened in 2010, no one in Czech Republic’s football industry took us seriously. But every year more and more clubs and teams found out about us, and eventually our fame spread throughout the Czech Republic. We now have a complete football club, which is officially registered in the Czech Republic.

We accept children from 14 years old to the summer camp, and from 17 years old to the Football Academy. At this age, they graduate from high school in their countries.

Of course, we welcome any teams. You can come with or without a coach. Our coaches are ready to train you and share their knowledge with your coach.

We started only with the countries of the former CIS. Now 60-65% come from CIS, others come from all over the world: Asia, North America and Western Europe.

When children come for the summer or for a one-year program, in addition to the football camp, they receive an extensive cultural and entertainment program. Also, they have interesting language courses. On weekends, they travel to different cities in Europe. Apart from training, studying, and discovering Europe they also will have tournaments. All participants receive a special football uniform.

For 7 years our main sponsor is Nike.

We recently started issuing football grants. Sometimes we give a child a chance in his life. Often it happens that a player has a difficult economic situation in the family but he is very talented. Every year our coaches choose among all teams 3-4 children who are physically and mentally motivated to play professional football. For winners, we issue a grant for a free one-year football program, which they can use after graduating from high school.

Summer football our most extensive education program. From 10 to 12 our students have football training, then lunch, then entertainment and study programs, then dinner and sleep. The students who came for a year have training only from Monday to Friday. They have a lot of tournaments. We tried to create conditions for our players same as in Major League clubs. In addition to football, our players are studying Czech or English courses. On average, courses take 5 hours per day. The entertainment program usually takes place on the weekends.

During summer and one-year programs, children live in residences of Czech state universities. We also have our own residence. We try to accommodate the players so that they practice their language with the local and international students. All state residences are at the level of 3-4 star hotel level. Usually, there are 3-4 students in one room. There is all the necessary infrastructure around residences for long-term and short-term stays.

The workouts are very intense, 5 times a week. Our players train in conditions that are even better than those in professional Czech teams. Particular attention is paid to physical, technical training, and tactics. The training includes both theory and practice. From 10 to 12, students warm-up, go through the theoretical part, and then practice.

At the moment, there are two teams: A and B. The team A may in the near future enter the Premier League of Prague and enter the state championships. The team B is now in the Third League, but we plan to go to the Second league, and later to the First. Also the third team is planned for the next year.

There are about 40 official matches, plus about 20 friendly games. And 10-15 tournaments. Team A has 60-70 games per year.

Registration of players in the Czech Republic starts from the age of 18 and is available only for children who have a long-term visa. If the child is younger, he trains the same as others and is registered later, as soon as he turns 18. The registration consideration takes a maximum of 30 days. The registration costs 3 thousand crowns. This amount is paid by the player himself.

To obtain a visa you will need the reason for stay. We take responsibility for all the visa processing when we invite students to study at the Academy. Parents do not have to worry about his child not getting a visa. Since the football players comes to study at a Czech university for language courses, the reason of stay is set. Plus with our help with all documents the visa process will be easier.

Yes, but there are a number of complications that makes it difficult to communicate directly with the club. It is preferable to communicate in Czech to come and fully demonstrate the skills of a football player. Rarely football clubs provide accommodation. Plus there will be no help with visa from the football club.

Our trainers are very professional and experienced coach from Czech Republic. They also train serious Czech teams. And at the same time, they are our scouts, they recommend the players to the other teams.

Yes. The scouts themselves want to work with us since our player are ready for the big games. Its comfortable to scouts to take our players since they have resolved visa and very good level of football. They often pursue our players from Team A, however we cannot give such good players away.

The main teams are Sparta Prague, Bohemians Prague, Mlada Boleslav, Slovan Liberec. These were the Major League. From the First League, there is Viktoria Zizkov, there are a lot of Second and Third League teams that our guys can be taken to. We regularly play friendly matches with them.

Of course, in Czech leagues, players receive less than in Germany. But the average salary is still very good. It is about 500-600 euros per month. If this is a player of the First League, then he receives 700-800 euros and more. In the Major League salary starts from 1.5 thousand. Players also receive game-winning bonuses.

There are 5 full intensive workouts per week. Tournaments and matches usually take place on weekends.

Problems arise throughout the year. Most often there are those who are focused on football, and there are those who after arrival and after breaking away from their parents begin to live a more independent lifestyle. We try to keep an eye on them and control their discipline. Because there are guys with great football potential but without self-discipline. Our coordinators and trainers are very strict. They will help our students to solve any problems related to study, accommodation, medical services if they arise.

If they do not get to the team, we will still provide the players with the chance of entering the Czech state university of their choice. Our program is unique because we consider each student not only from a football perspective. If by some reason they have to finish sports, they will have the opportunity to study in the Czech Republic, get higher education and then find a good job in the chosen specialty in Europe.

Yes. They can study in English or Czech in the Czech state university.

If they enter a Czech state university, the education is free. For the next three years, they are not required to pay anything for education. As for the price for studying in English it is pretty symbolic, compared to other countries.

The plans are promising. The Academy has been developing with great growth over the past two years. We plan to ensure that teams move up one league each year. We want all our players who come for a one-year program to sign contracts with professional clubs. And we plan to grow every year, to approach the First and Second leagues of the Czech Republic.

For parents who plan to send their children abroad, I advise you not to send your children without supervision. At such young age, even if they play football like a pro and have study abilities, they still need control and support. Let’s say parents used to give your child pocket money. And after moving to the Czech Republic, they stopped helping financially. In this case, the child may not have enough money for basic needs: food and accommodation, not to mention entertainment. It is possible to combine part-time work and study in the Czech Republic, but it is quite difficult, besides, football is added here. Sooner or later, this will affect either academic performance or sports. Therefore, 400-500 euros per month is the kind of help that children will need in the first couple of years.

For the young players, I want to wish children not to give up. If it didn’t work out in a football club at home, it can work out in the Czech Republic. All you need is the desire to become a professional football player. And MSM will help to make your dream come true!