International opportunity in Riga Cup
International opportunity in Riga Cup
NF Academy and several of Europe’s major clubs are sending their academy teams to Riga Cup as part of their development program. Now you can secure your place in the squad.
NF Academy participated for the first time in 2019 in the capital of Latvia. That year, Riga Cup hosted a competitive tournament with strong European teams like Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Birmingham, PSV and Zenit. NF Academy then teamed with teams in U13, U14 and U15 classes.
“It was good to see how our two teams progressed through the tournament. Both as a team and as individuals, the players evolved from match to match. It is important fort the players’ development to face competition of such a high level. As a team, we faced strong teams that were well organised, from a different culture, and with different approaches to the game. It is a solid structure with a focus on developing top players. This is a good experience to take with you”, says sports director of NF Academy Gonçalo Nunes.
READ ABOUT LAST YEAR’S EDITION: Lessons learned from Riga Cup
Selection through NF Team Training
Riga Cup is one of NF Academy’s selection programs. There will be two teams from NF Academy on most age classes in this tournament, where NF Academy West will bring its own top players. In addition, NF Academy International will also select its own team.
Both from Bergen and Oslo there will be two ways to be part of the team traveling to the Riga cup. The first and the most secure is to be part of the NF Team Training program, which starts this fall. Here you will train regularly with high quality players who also want to be selected to Riga Cup’s teams.
“The idea and intention behind the Team Training program is to get more continuity and regular training sessions with the same player group over time. We believe it will have a positive impact in the player development work that we want to offer Norwegian dedicated young players”, says head coach Ricardo Damas.
Even if you are not selected for Riga cup, you will still have great benefits from Team Training. First as a place for the player’s development, but also as an entrance to further selection programs in Norway and internationally beyond spring 2020.
The second way to be picked for Riga Cup is by contacting NF Academy through the website. If you have participated in a previous program, NF Academy will take that in consideration for the selection process. If you are new to the NF Academy system, please specify your background and why you want to participate.
Many possibilities
The next edition of the Riga cup will be played in January and February, where NF Academy will make teams in the year classes from 2003 – 2007. The tournament is held over a weekend, and is played indoors on great courses in central Riga. Each year class has its weekend and is played as follows:
DATE | PROGRAM | COUNTRY | LOCAL | AGE GROUP | ||
16 – 19 Jan 2020 |
NF SELECTION RIGA CUP |
Latvia | Riga | U13 (2007) | ||
23 – 26 Jan 2020 |
NF SELECTION RIGA CUP |
Latvia | Riga | U14 (2006) | ||
30 Jan – 02 Feb 2020 |
NF SELECTION RIGA CUP |
Latvia | Riga | U15 (2005) | ||
06 – 09 Feb 2020 |
NF SELECTION RIGA CUP |
Latvia | Riga | U16 (2004) | ||
13 – 16 Feb 2020 |
NF SELECTION RIGA CUP |
Latvia | Riga | U17 (2003) |
I want to play for NF Academy
Send us a short request with the player’s background and the type of activities you want to participate in. We follow up with advice on which local and international programs can suit you.
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