Organisational structure of youth set-up established for another season

The SD Eibar academy, which was presented today in a press conference held in the media room at Ipurua, comprises a total of 14 boys' and girls' teams and features 255 players.

The presentation ceremony was attended by Fran Garagarza, SD Eibar's director of football; Raúl del Pozo, head of youth football; and Ion Zabaleta, the coordinator of the women's teams.

The aforementioned figures don't include the club's Football School, to which 178 boys and girls from Eibar are currently enrolled. Youngsters don't have to pay any signing-on fee and the project has clearly defined social outreach targets.

Garagarza spoke of the "growth and improvement" that Eibar's youth set-up is undergoing year after year.

For the new season, the heads of the various academy departments, in addition to those mentioned above, are as follows:

- Internal teams and methodology: Jon Díaz de Cerio.

- Scouting and relationships with other clubs: Asier Gisasola.

- Goalkeeping: Jon Zabala.

- Football School: Mikel Egaña.

- Physiotheraphy and rehabilitation: Pablo Taberner.

- Sports psychology and coaching: Noelia San Emeterio.

There is also a specific working group which is dedicated to improving the players' fitness levels.

Del Pozo highlighted that 53% of the players that belong to the youth set-up were born in Eibar and 71% within Gipuzkoa.

Amongst the areas being worked on, he mentioned the training provision for the club's coaches, the staging of continuous professional development sessions and the Denok Bat project, which enables academy coaches to get a first-hand feel for the work beingdone with the first team.

During the ceremony, it was made clear that there are "some non-negotiable elements that are dictated by the inherent values of this club" and which revolve around three areas: football, training and the family.

All members of SD Eibar's youth set-up will come together tomorrow at Ipurua for their respective team photos.