Every year, important results at every level and dozens of young people supplying the national teams: if it is the first team of the Italian team that attracts attention at the moment, it is theAtalantawhich is playing in the Champions League for the first time in its history this year and continues to achieve incredible results in Serie A, the real flagship of the society of Bergamo is and remains its own Youth Sectorwhich, thanks to continuous investment and an organisation on the level of the best clubs in Europe, is increasingly gaining a reputation as best nursery in Italy. Inside the Bortolotti' Sports Centre in ZingoniaIn fact, the Nerazzurri youngsters can count on infrastructure and equipment that few can boast, and the results arrive with a regularity that testifies to the excellent work done.
Strengths of the Atalanta Youth Sector
"There are no real secrets to the successes achieved by this Youth Sector - explained Alberto Pasini, athletic trainer of the Atalanta Primavera team and head of the Youth Sector trainers - Simply, the main weapons of this society are those of the work, of theorganisation and the strongly believe in what we do. Moreover, it seems obvious to me just by entering Zingonia the quality of infrastructure and equipment made available to us, the result of the foresight of those who are investing and continue to invest in this nursery. This is because at Atalanta, although the first team is doing incredible things, the Youth Sector is still seen as the main part of one's own business, and this is something that, as far as I have been able to see since I have been working here, continues to increase over time".
A very strong signal of how much Atalanta relies on its young people has come in recent months, with the construction of a new building within the Zingonia Sports Centre intended entirely for the Youth Sector and designed to enhance not only the athletes, but also all the managers, technical and medical staff who work every day for the Nerazzurri youth academy. Inside the new building, which will be named after the former head of the Youth Sector Mino Favini, has also been equipped a gym dedicated entirely to the Nerazzurri youth teams, equipped with a Rackstation Sidea and of weight-lifting platforms customised in the colours of the Bergamo company.
A project that combines with the new organisation given to the technical staff of the Atalanta youth teams: they were 12 specific areas related to technical-tactical and athletic preparation of the Nerazzurri's youngsters, but also to the recovery and injury prevention phases, each headed by a manager who deals with it transversally, dictating specific guidelines to all teams, from grassroots activities to the Primavera.
From the players' point of view: the experience of Rodrigo Guth
It is precisely to the Atalanta Under-19 team that belongs Rodrigo Guth, a 19-year-old defender who is one of the most promising in the Nerazzurri's rearguard department and the Primavera Championship, and who, having arrived in Bergamo from Brazil three years ago, has had the opportunity to appreciate the quality of Atalanta's youth sector: 'It is not only about the quality of infrastructurefrom the fields to the gymnasium, but also and above all the people. Here at Zingonia I immediately found a real family to welcome me. This has helped me so much to adapt to Italian football, which is completely different from what is played in Brazil. There is also a big difference in terms of preparation: training in Italy is much shorter but also much more intense. Everything is faster, it's never done. We go to the gym every day, both for activation and strengthening sessions, and this over the course of a season allows us to have more stamina and to hold on physically and athletically until the end".
A combination, that of youth football and purely physical and athletic training in the gymwhich is not always easy to combine, especially in the lower age categories: "When you are a child, and you don't think about the benefits that certain types of training can bring you, you just want to play with the ball, do little matches and things like that - continues Rodrigo -. In modern football, however, the physical part is increasingly important and when you realise that it is good for you, you realise that you have to do it even if it means making an effort or if you don't like it".
From youth to professional football
The successes of Atalanta's youth sector can therefore certainly find their roots in the work culture passed on to their youngsters, who also seem to find it less difficult than others to make the leap to professional football (according to a CIES study the Nerazzurri are among the top clubs for players supplied to Europe's top five leagues): "The reasons behind this trend can be many - explains Pasini - One thing for sure is that Atalanta is very good at finding and choosing players with great quality and talent: we should not think that we have a magic wand to make players good. The scouting area is a real feather in the cap of this company and gives us a big hand by bringing us excellent players, like Rodrigo. Another element that certainly contributes is the objective we set ourselves as a Youth Sector, which is to training players before winningThe results are in fact nothing more than a consequence of the work that is done towards the individual improvement of the players and this I believe can be considered an important element in leading them to be more ready for professional football.".
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