Soccer Experience History

In its first edition, in 2013, the Soccer Experience had the presence of Professor Dr. Júlio Garganta who, at the time, was the performance analyst of the Portugal National Team for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, as well as the coordinator of the Soccer Office at the Faculty of Sport of the University of Porto – UP, Portugal. He taught a course on the tactical component and talent development in soccer. All places were filled for this edition and people from 15 states of Brazil and 14 Serie A clubs participated in the event.

The second edition of the Soccer Experience was also held in 2013, with the presence of Professor Dr. António Figueiredo, former president and current chair of the Associação Académica de Coimbra, that plays in the first division of the Portuguese Soccer League, as well as dean of the Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education of the University of Coimbra – FCDEF, Portugal. On the occasion, Professor António taught a course particularly focused on players’ development in the academies, in which he addressed the importance of maturation to the sports performance of young soccer players. This edition was attended by participants from 18 Brazilian states, as well as representatives of Brazilian soccer clubs.

In 2014, in its third edition, the Soccer Experience had the presence of Professor Dr. José Guilherme Granja Oliveira, a member of the technical staff of the Portugal National Team in the 2010 World Cup, and also the head coach of FC Porto B and lecturer at the Faculty of Sport of the University of Porto – UP, Portugal. He taught the course about Tactical Periodization in Soccer. All places were filled in this edition as well, as people from 15 Brazilian states, Canada and Brazilian soccer clubs attended the event.

In 2016, the 4th and 5th editions of the Soccer Experience displayed new formats, due to the suggestions from participants of previous editions. In this year, the 4th edition had the presence of several national and international guest speakers, including the presence of professionals from Brazilian and Qatari clubs, as well as the Professor Dr. Tomás García Calvo, from the University of Extremadura – Spain. The 5th edition had the presence of Prof. Dr. Isabel Mesquita, who addressed the lecture “Coaching and Development Models of European Coaches”. Also, both events were open to poster and oral presentations, in which all speakers could share their experiences with participants, in addition to presenting some of the work they were developing at the time.

In the edition held in October, 2017, the Soccer Experience had the presence of Professor Dr. Andrew Mark Williams, from the University of Utah – USA, Prof Dr. Júlio Garganta and Prof. Dr. José Guilherme, both from the FADEUP – Portugal, besides other important national researchers, such as Prof. Dr. Varley Costa and Prof. Dr. Eduardo Pimenta, both from UFMG, Prof. Dr. Alcides Scaglia, from Unicamp, and Prof. Dr. Fabrício Vasconcellos, from UERJ, and Prof. Dr. José Cícero de Moraes, from UFRGS. This edition was focused on the education and development of intelligent and creative players for the soccer game.

In its last edition (7th Soccer Experience) held in July, 2018, the Soccer Experience had the presence of Professor Dr. Tom Patrick, director of the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI); Prof. Dr. José Afonso, Prof. Dr. Daniel Barreira and Prof. Dr. José Guilherme, from the FADEUP – Portugal, and Prof. Dr. Tomás Calvo from the University of Extremadura – Spain, besides other important national researchers and professionals, such as Prof. Dr. Diogo Netto, from CBF; Prof. Dr. Próspero Paoli, from CR Vasco da Gama; Ademir Calovi, from SC Internacional; Altamiro Bottino, from São Paulo FC, Cícero Souza, from SE Palmeiras; Rodrigo Morandi, from Cruzeiro EC and René Simões, former manager of several clubs and national teams; as well as  Professors Dr. João Carlos Bouzas and Dr. Israel Teoldo da Costa, from the Universidade Federal de Viçosa. In this edition, by meeting the demand of participants from previous editions, the Soccer Experience expanded its activities by enabling further contact between speakers and participants, thus allowing a greater depth of content through Workshops, Mini-Workshops and field training. Therefore, the event lasted more than 100 hours, with theoretical and practical activities developed by the guest speakers.

In 2020, due to the pandemic of the new Coronavirus – COVID – 19, the UFV suspended the activities in person. UFV did it following the recommendations of the state and the determination of the local executive power. Therefore, NUPEF had difficulties organizing a face-to-face event, and an alternative adopted as a support strategy was the realization of online activities. Thus, in June 2020, NUPEF held the 8th edition of the Soccer Experience (online). The Soccer Experience Premium Talks was an event directed to the students of the specialization course in soccer; with more than 150 subscribers, the event had national and international guests who work in clubs and national and international teams.

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