"This is my second time in Valencia and it is always a pleasure to come and enjoy these facilities, meet the first team players and experience the day to day life of a professional footballer". These words from Mattias Marin sum up the feelings of the VCF Academy Canada players who in recent weeks have had a Training Experience at the Ciutat Esportiva del Valencia CF. 

Over the course of a week, some 40 players from Montreal, the second most important city in Canada, have shared a great soccer experience in Valencia of which they will keep a great memory and a multitude of photos and videos with the first team players with whom they had a pleasant meeting at the Antonio Puchades.

There the players from Team Gayà, Team Mosquera and Team Javi Guerra were able to meet the players who give their teams their names as well as the rest of the squad members and coach Rubén Baraja whom they were able to cheer on at Mestalla in the match against Getafe CF.

"It has been a nice experience to be with the teammates and see how what we ignite in training is seen in matches and how we try to get there" explains Jessica Avonyo, VCF Academy Canada player, who along with her teammates also enjoyed a cultural experience living the Fallas and a mascletá from the Valencia CF Megastore in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.

"It's been an incredible experience for the kids," says Magalie Seabrook, VCF Academy Canada coach. "It's all very different from what we have in Canada. The intensity of the training sessions has gone up and the way they play together is much better" highlights Magalie who also participated in the I VCF Academy Coaches Convention that took place last March with the presence of 40 coaches from the different international projects of the VCF Academy.

"We have seen how the Valencia CF Academy teams train and play which is a great experience for the kids and for us. It was very worthwhile coming here," concludes Magalie who, like her players, returned to Canada having learned and enjoyed herself and with many good memories in her mind.  

All the knowledge will now be shared with their colleagues at the VCF Academy in Canada , an academy that was inaugurated in 2020 together with College Bourget. 

There, every day, more than 70 boys and girls train in the company of local coaches and VCF Academy coaches Ismael Fayos and Paco Juarros in a country where soccer is gaining followers every day and which will be one of the venues for the 2026 World Cup.

The VCF Academy Canada is one of the 5 VCF Academies that Valencia CF has in North America where it also has offices in Chicago, Houston, Seattle and New York in the USA, in addition to having held the I VCF Camp Mexico this past March.

The VCF Academy that Valencia CF has in strategic markets in America, Asia and Europe are part of the VCF Academy Programs, which help to expand the Valencia CF brand and what its colors symbolize worldwide. This Internationalization Strategy has been a finalist in the World Football Summit Awards 2023.

The goal at the VCF Academy Programs is to promote the image of Valencia CF and the methodology of the academy, the fourth best academy in Europe according to the latest CIES Football Observatory report. 

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