30 students and alumni of the Master in Coaching visited the Borussia Dortmund’s youth academy, the so-called BVB Academy, to boost their own coaching techniques

A total of 25 trainers and coaches from the Borussia Dortmund youth academy, the so-called BVB Academy, and 30 students and alumni of the Master in Coaching of the Johan Cruyff Institute participate in a unique experience thanks to the collaboration agreement reached by both entities. They enjoy two days working together to develop, strengthen and inspire each other in the field of coaching.

At the end of April, 30 students and alumni of the Master in Coaching visited the German Ruhr area. The day was organized at the training complex of the Borussia Dortmund Academy, where the professionals of the club told them all the ins and outs of how the youth academy is managed and their vision on talent development. The day existed out of several presentations, an active program on the pitch and a tour over the youth academy, the football school and the stadium.

A month earlier, the coaches of the BVB Academy traveled to Amsterdam to immerse themselves in Johan Cruyff’s ideas about team dynamics and leadership. Two professors of the Master in Coaching, Henk Groener, who is currently the head coach of the German women’s handball team, and Henk Verschuur, the manager of the Johan Cruyff Institute in Amsterdam, teached the coaches ‘Cruyffian’ techniques in these two subjects.

“I learned that I am in the middle of everything and that each player also has his own centre. It was very interesting to learn more about this. Especially how to communicate about it and how to define goals for a team”, says Dennis Horschig, one of the coaches. “The most important thing I want to remember is that you have to reflect yourself as a coach, all the time. I will definitely implement this into my career as a trainer”.

Coaches Christian Diercks and Markus Pasdzior agree with their colleague. “We had very high expectations of this day. The content of the workshops raised our awareness of our behaviour as a coach as well as a person in regards to team structure and working as a team. We look back to a very inspiring day”.

Johan Cruyff’s vision on coaching, namely that you can only coach others if you can coach yourself, is implemented in the Master’s program on a daily basis. An important part of this is taking your own responsibility. The German top club sees common ground in this vision and the potential to learn from it. At the same time, the expertise and success of the football club is very educational for our students and alumni in their own development as coaches.