About Us

Train like the Pros

Four-pillared training concept at the heart of our offer.

The basic skills involved in playing football are conveyed via modules on coordination, technique, shooting and game set-up. Goalkeepers meanwhile learn and strengthen their knowledge on the main components of their aspects of the game in smaller groups. The degree of difficulty of the exercises is adapted to the performance levels of the participants and gradually increases.

Coordination

Coordination involves the sequencing of individual movements to make complex movement processes. Every step, every shot, every reception of the ball is the result of a whole host of coordination efforts within our body. The better the interplay of our muscles and nerve paths, the quicker and more effectively we can implement decisive actions out on the pitch. As such, effective coordination training forms the basis of technique and athleticism.

Aims of our coordination training:

• Improvement in motor skills
• Economy of movement processes
• Improvement in reaction times
• Improvement in orientation
• Improvement in sense of balance
• Improvement in sense of rhythm
• Improvement in anticipation (of match situations)

Technique in football covers the ability to carry out a string of actions relevant to the game in an accurate way. These include most notably receiving the ball, dribbling, passing and shooting. A good technique requires coordination skills which are often referred to as “having a feel for the ball”. Eintracht Frankfurt Football Academy’s technique training uses a variety of sophisticated exercises based on the latest in scientific understanding, to increase kids’ technical abilities step-by-step and in an age-appropriate way.

Aims of our technique training:

• Improvement in trapping and moving with the ball
• Improvement in dribbling
• Improvement in passing
• Basics of feinting
• Heading techniques

Goals are the highlight of every football match. Scoring them requires not only the right positioning, the ability to assert yourself and the proverbial “eye for goal”, but most importantly an efficient technique when shooting. Body posture and the positioning of the foot play decisive roles here. At the Eintracht Frankfurt Football Academy, kids go through a variety of shooting exercises to learn the correct run-up and alternative postures based on the situation.

Aims of our shooting training:

• Learning the right run-up
• Learning the right leg posture (standing leg and shooting leg)
• Learning various shooting methods (inside of the foot, instep, outside of the foot)
• Learning the right posture (shooting low and high)

Game set-ups cover a variety of exercises which are based on actual playing scenarios. The various components of the overall training (coordination, technique and shooting) are put to use, based on how play is evolving. When a player intuitively manages to make the right decisions and occupy the right spaces out on the pitch, and to “read the game”, this is known as “footballing intelligence”. To develop this, the Eintracht Frankfurt Football Academy goes through a whole host of game set-ups in training with various different focuses.

Aims of our game set-ups:

• Developing footballing intelligence
• Learning the basics of individual and team tactics

Goalkeepers occupy a very special role in any team. While modern goalkeeping increasingly encompasses much of what sweepers used to do, with goalies having greater involvement in build-up play and breaking down counter-attacks, the main role of the ‘keeper is still to prevent goals from being scored. Goalkeepers need to learn a number of specific skills, which are specifically taught to our participants in smaller groups. Correct posture and positioning, the right way to dive and narrowing the angle of the attacker are all part of our goalkeeper training, where the right focus is found for every skill level.

The aims of our goalkeeper training are learning and strengthening the basic techniques, namely:

• Catching, diving, punching
• Penalty box and positioning
• Agility and movement
• Speed of reactions
• Narrowing the angle
• Correct stance

One of the main highlights for participants at our holiday camps in Frankfurt and “On Tour” is working towards the Eintracht badge. This can be carried out by every participant during one day of the football academy week, covers various key elements of football (having a feel for the ball, passing, dribbling, shooting and coordination) and is a way of comparing the levels of the various participants when it comes to basic footballing techniques.

The participants execute one exercise for each of the focus points and are scored based on their level of performance. The best in the U11 and U14 camps then receive an invitation to the football academy annual final event, where the best football academy members in the U11 and U14 age groups get to measure up against one another. The football academy students of the year are then selected as part of the event, which is held ahead of an Eintracht home game.

The Eintracht Frankfurt Football Academy was founded in 2001 by the man who holds the record for Bundesliga appearances, Karl-Heinz (Charly) Körbel.

The concept is an incredibly simple one: thousands of football-crazy kids in the Rhine-Main area can think of nothing they would want more than one day to make it into the Bundesliga and play for Eintracht. The Eintracht Frankfurt Football Academy allows them to truly live this dream. Kitted out with full football kit and taken on their journey by former Eintracht stars at the stadium itself, the kids will never get a greater sense of what it feels like to be a pro. And it is not aimed solely at dyed-in-the-wool Eagles fans: all kids, regardless of their performance levels and ambitions are welcome to “live and learn football and have some fun”, which is the academy’s motto.

What began little by little as an activity for children during the school holidays over 20 years ago is now a well-established Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG institution. The football academy is booming, with the framework offering the aforementioned holiday camps held at Deutsche Bank Park and other venues, but most notably matchday camps ahead of Eintracht home games and the “On Tour” events , where the football academy gets to travel to various other clubs. Based on the aim of “training like the pros”, the kids at these camps are taught modules in coordination, technique, shooting, game set-up and goalkeeping.

What is most important for Körbel, however, is for the football academy not just to encourage children in the short term, but rather to develop their footballing abilities over the long term. As such, participants who want to make the step up to more competitive football are given the opportunity to prove their worth at the camps and hopefully be selected for talent training at the football academy. Once there, they can work on their strengths and weaknesses alongside their regular training sessions with their respective clubs, and be given a platform to apply for the youth academy at the Riederwald.

Philosophy

The Eintracht Frankfurt Football Academy concept is based on three pillars: promoting values through sport, developing talents and creating a sense of community.

The main aim of the Eintracht Frankfurt Football Academy is to foster an interest in sport and exercise in general, and football in particular, among children aged between seven and 15. We create the framework for kids to have fun, be active and learn a whole host of the important values inherent in sport:

• Honesty and fair play
• Discipline
• Respect
• Openness
• Passion
   

We also offer girls and boys with a talent for football the opportunity to get targeted further development alongside their regular training with their respective clubs. In this way, we have already been able to help 56 former youth academy participants make it into the world of professional football. An integral part of our philosophy is to use the institution that is Eintracht Frankfurt to offer kids a model they can identify with which fosters a sense of community. We have a wide range of measures to underpin our commitment to integration and inclusion for all, regardless of race, gender or physical or mental ability.