New home – bigger comfort and higher expectations

On November 8th, the new home of Lech Poznań Academy was officially opened and within the next 24 hours or so, the facilities were already filled with youth players, coaches, staff, and teachers. The strategic innovation on the club's 100^th anniversary was meant to reinforce Lech’s position as the leader in terms of youth player training and improve daily operations. Everybody already knows that Lech is the first Polish club to own such innovative skills.lab simulator. But what it’s like to use the facilities on a daily basis?

“When it comes to our working environment, we – coaches - appreciate even the smallest things. For instance, a comfortable office with all the necessary devices makes our job much easier. We can invite a player and analyze their performance with them using a projector – it’s time efficient and takes just a few clicks. We have access to all the key equipment without leaving our office, there is plenty of space, and the special layout itself benefits the communication between our staff members,” explained Artur Węska, Lech’s B team coach.

The coach also highlighted those technological innovations are crucial and enable the staff to save time, but at the same time, it’s important to gradually increase awareness and knowledge of all the possibilities at hand, not only related to the simulator, but also to the equipment designated for player recovery. “At the moment, the boys are exposed to a lot of new stimuli and need time to process it all. It also applies to us – I have only recently learned about the capabilities offered by the equipment in the physiotherapy office and the gym. As coaches, it’s our job to make the most of it, especially in the upcoming transition period during which, when the training sessions intensify and the players compete on artificial turf,” explained the coach who has been working at Lech’s Academy for two years now.

Previously, the coaches didn’t have all the equipment at their disposal and had to rely on different sources, which made it hard to manage training schedules. Now that the facilities are fully equipped, the reality is different. “The training plan of each and every player is fully dependent on us, and we don’t have to rely on, for instance, the hotel whose services we have been using for a while. Of course, it’s an increased comfort because we can use the time we have more efficiently. You can see that for the players themselves moving to a new facility has also been a big experience,” said Jędrzej Łągiewka, Younger Juniors’ coach.

“We are constantly in the process of learning and exploring the possibilities of the Research and Development Centre. The fact that everything is in one place, of the highest possible standard and fully functional is, of course, thrilling. On the other hand, we all tell ourselves that none of us will have any more excuses. The changes are therefore a huge step forward for the entire academy, but they also entail increased requirements and expectations that we will set for ourselves,” emphasizes Rafał Ulatowski, Head of Individual Player Development.