How to choose the best soccer school - High performance for athletes 2025

Any high level or elite soccer player who wants to continue to level up their skills should consider signing up for a High Performance Soccer School.

These schools aim to expose players to a highly competitive environment in which to test themselves, while also learning more advanced skills for their repertoire.

However, the content, teachings and level of each school can vary greatly from one to another. It depends on many factors such as the training methodology, the experience of the coaches and also the level of play that the kids attending have.

Because of all these variables, choosing the best high performance soccer school for athletes can be a real headache for parents.

But don’t worry, in this post we will talk about all the criteria you should follow to know how to choose the best soccer school for your child.

We will go over all those important factors that should be taken into account before choosing the ideal school and how these variables can positively or negatively affect the player’s development.

In addition, at the end we will leave you with a list of High Performance Schools recommended for the optimal growth and training of children, located in different countries around the world and linked to major clubs and institutions.

Training methodology of the school

The training methodology is an aspect that defines the level of soccer schools. The effectiveness with which the children receive this new knowledge and internalize it in order to improve their performance on the field depends on the training method.

In addition, the training methodology also includes the school’s playing philosophy. As in professional soccer, the philosophy and idea of the game is fundamental for the development of the players and the competitiveness of the teams in each category of the club or school.

The training methodology is the program that schools use to train their players, from the purely soccer aspect, through physical conditioning, mentality and game idea.

There are several training methods such as tactical periodization, the global method, analytical method or the mixed method, which mixes concepts from all of these to create its own training idea.

These elements are also combined with the guidelines of physical conditioning, sports psychology and nutrition to form the school’s training methodology.

All of this information can usually be requested prior to enrolling or reserving a place for your child in a school camp.

Make sure that the school’s training methodology is ideal to bring out your child’s full potential and allow him or her to reach an even higher level on the playing field.

• The training method is key to player development.
• It is the philosophy of the game, the intensity of the training sessions and the dynamics used to learn new skills.
• Each school can use a predefined one or have its own.
• The idea is that the method is aligned with the skills and interests of the player to make a perfect synergy.

Quality and experience of the coaches

The school’s coaches are practically as important as its methodology, since they are responsible for projecting the information correctly to the children in each training session.

It is useless to have a super effective game ideology if there are no coaches who know how to apply it in training so that the kids can get the best out of it and shine on the field.

That is why, before choosing a high performance school, you should always check the institution’s coaching staff.

School coaches may have UEFA Pro certification that accredits them as qualified personnel for the training of players in Europe.

It is also advisable to review the certifications and track record of the school’s directors and their most prominent leaders.

In the lower categories, coaches are not only limited to giving tactical instructions and ordering the team, as at the professional level, in youth soccer they have a much greater responsibility training after training.

Coaches must fulfill the objective of getting the maximum potential out of every player in their squad. However, they must also focus on cultivating their mental side, giving them the confidence to continually learn and improve.

Much of a school’s success is built on its coaches. Always learn about the minds behind the school before making a choice.

• Coaches are very important in the lower divisions. They are in charge of developing the kids in all aspects, from soccer to mental development.
• It is always advisable to choose a school with certified coaches with vast experience.
• Certifications can be granted by UEFA (UEFA Pro) and also by national entities.

School facilities and infrastructure

Technology plays a fundamental role in elite sport and is an important plus in the training of young players. Therefore, choosing a school that is committed to modernity can be a wise decision.

• The school’s facilities should provide everything the kids need to train at the highest level.
• Some schools have gymnasiums, swimming pools and playing fields with artificial or natural grass. It is always a good idea to find out about these advantages.
• Video analysis and more technological resources are highly recommended to have a more individualized attention for each player.

Track record and third party recommendations

The track record of schools is an irrefutable indicator to understand how successful they have been in training players.

In this market there are schools linked to top professional clubs, such as the schools of PSG, Chelsea, Barcelona, Valencia or Real Madrid, to name a few examples.

In addition, there are also private institutions with decades of experience that have proven their own training methods and have become an important core of talent acquisition for scouts and scouts of professional clubs.

Therefore, we recommend you read the history, vision and mission of the schools that catch your eye to enroll your child.

Prestige and reputation are things that take a lot of effort to build and can be destroyed in the blink of an eye, so if the institution has managed to maintain a positive momentum for so long, it is because they are doing their job well.

Along the same lines, another obvious sign of a school’s reliability is the opinions and recommendations of third parties.

Normally, each school has a section with the recommendations of children and parents who have already left the school or who are currently in one of its categories.

In addition, some of them include the opinions of important soccer personalities such as former players or coaches, which gives even more validity to the school’s training method and its entire staff.

• Try to read the history, mission and vision of each school you are interested in.
• Track record is an infallible indicator of a school’s quality.
• Check the opinions of third parties about the institution’s services.

Competitive level of training and tournaments

This type of initiative encourages maximum competitiveness and makes players more interested and motivated to improve day after day.

• The competitive level of the training sessions has a huge influence on the development of a player.
• It depends on the level of the kids in the school and how demanding the coaches are in training.
• Check if the school competes in regional, national or international tournaments that test the progress of the children.

Visibility and connections with professional clubs

The biggest goal of any young player is to become a professional soccer player. For this, in addition to having a lot of talent and discipline, it is also necessary to be in the right place at the right time.

For this reason, it is absolutely necessary to analyze the visibility that the player can have when entering a certain school and the connection that this school can have with one or more professional clubs.

Logically, there are high performance schools that belong to professional level clubs. Enrolling in a school of this type is favorable because, upon entering, the player is already part of the club’s training structure.

Therefore, if he proves to be talented enough throughout all the categories, it is possible that he can make his debut in the first team, becoming one of the club’s ‘canteranos’.

However, this is not the only route to professional soccer. There are also private schools that train players and then use their connections to place them in different clubs around the world.

The idea of these schools is to maximize the skills of the boys and invite scouts from interested clubs to transfer them.

Each option has its pros and cons. You should analyze this issue very closely, taking into account the variety of schools available in your city and that are within your real reach.

• Every player needs the visibility and opportunities necessary to reach the professional level.
• Club schools offer admission to their training structure.
• Private institutions train players and offer them to professional clubs.
• Both methods are effective, although they have their advantages and disadvantages.

Prices and location

Finally, the last aspect to take into account is the prices and location of the schools.

This section covers a much more personal need, since everyone has the duty to analyze their financial situation and see how much budget they have available for this activity.

The prices of the schools may vary. Some of them even offer lodging, food program, language classes and many other services.

The price range can vary from 20,000€ to 80,000€ per program. Of course, the price range also varies according to the quality of the facilities, prestige of the school offering the campus and the experience of its coaches.

On the other hand, the location of the school must also be considered. The closer the school is, the more convenient and cheaper the transfers will be.

Quality and excellence is paid for, that is clear, but it must be adjusted to the needs and possibilities of each person or family nucleus.

• Choose a school that meets your budget.
• Analyze the schools that are close to your location.
• Make a balance on the advantages and disadvantages in relation to the price and location of their facilities.
• Choose a school that has prestige and trajectory to avoid bad practices and harm to the player.

Participate in a tryout before opting for a long-term program

A mistake that some parents make is to enroll their children in long-term programs or soccer schools without having first tried out their operation and methodology.

While it is advisable for the development of the children to be enrolled in long programs that help them develop soccer, it is useless if the school you chose does not meet their needs or simply has a bad environment that does not motivate them to continue training.

For this reason, it is recommended that all parents and soccer players try out a one or two-week camp at a school that has caught their attention.

In this way, they will be able to observe from the inside all the mechanisms that make the school work. They will also be able to see how the coaches perform in practice, the drills used, the fitness routine and all the ins and outs of that school.

Unfortunately, in the world of soccer there are schools that do not meet the standards required for the training of players and resort to bad practices that can truncate their physical or technical development.

This can lead to injuries that can keep your child off the field or stagnate in their development because they do not receive the correct knowledge to continue advancing.

Therefore, it is important that, before committing to a school for a long period of time, you first take your child for a short-term trial. This will help you to see if the soccer school really meets your expectations and is the right one to entrust with your child’s sports career.

• With a one-week test you can detail the performance of the entire school.
• It helps you detect the presence of bad practices and inexperience.
• You analyze the expertise of the coaches and the effectiveness of their work methodology.
• You save money and bad times in your child’s soccer career.

Ertheo helps you to choose the best soccer school for your child

From Ertheo we make an arduous selection process for each program and school we offer in our catalog. We make sure that they meet our high standards and present a high level experience and satisfaction to our users.

Our goal is to help parents find that school that will help the soccer player build that dream of reaching the professional level, all within a healthy, competitive and motivating environment.

In addition, we also focus on offering affordable programs that are accessible to all our clients, with packages that include lodging, meals and transportation to save costs.

Choosing that ideal soccer school for your child can be confusing, especially if it’s your first time making this kind of decision. That is why in Ertheo we have a team of advisors that will help you in an impartial and disinterested way to find a school that fits your economy, comfort and conditions of the player.

On the internet there are schools that manipulate the information on their websites, inflating their number of students, years of experience and even invent recommendations of people who do not exist.

There are also others that deceive with the extent of their facilities or with the licenses of their coaches. Therefore, we must be very careful when analyzing the information we read on the Internet.

But you don’t have to worry, by opting for our service you will be sure to send your child to a school with a long trajectory, that fulfills everything it offers and that will represent an unforgettable adventure from day 1, without cheating or deception.

• Ertheo offers campuses of schools with a long trajectory and experience in the formative development of soccer players.
• The user receives impartial and disinterested advice from our team.
• We have plans that adapt to the economy of each person or family.
• It helps you avoid schools with fraudulent practices and scams.

Recommendations of the Best High Performance Soccer Schools

Now, with all this information we have provided you with, you are much more prepared to choose the best high performance soccer school for your child.

However, we have taken the liberty to go ahead and recommend 6 high performance schools with very good ratings and results.

1. High Performance School in Barcelona, Spain

This High Performance Soccer School in Barcelona is dictated by a recognized sports institution with a vast trajectory of decades.

Its training method is based on effort and obtaining talent as a series of intelligent learning and not something innate of being. Therefore, it motivates all the kids to develop themselves training after training.

The coaches are UEFA Pro certified or have been trained by the same institution, all under the same philosophy.

This school has produced players of the stature of David Soria, Oliver Torres and Konrad de la Fuente, to name a few.

• High-intensity training and competitive level.
• For boys and girls from 8 to 21 years old.
• Training method endorsed by figures such as Vicente del Bosque and Sven Goran Eriksson.
• First class facilities in Barcelona.
• Includes accommodation in university residence with meal plan.
• Optional language classes.
• 30 hours of training per week.

2. High Performance School in Valencia, Spain

This soccer school in Valencia has a high prestige and years of experience, thanks to its methodology of tactical periodization and a very marked ideology of the game.

With influences from Portuguese soccer, more specifically from F.C Porto, this school has a very complete program taught by coaches trained in the aforementioned Portuguese club.

It has 5 or 10 month plans and specialization programs for goalkeepers. In addition, it also offers mixed modalities that accept girls and boys.

• Tactical periodization training method.
• Coaches trained at F.C Porto.
• Long trajectory in the training field.
• First class facilities.
• Accommodation and meal plan included.
• Optional language classes.

3. High Performance School in England

This school was founded in 2007 and was recognized as the first official High Performance School in English soccer.

It has a very effective training program that has allowed it to become the perfect link between players and professional clubs.

Every year they organize trials in which they invite scouts from clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle or West Ham United to see their great talents.

In fact, center-back Chris Smalling managed to close his contract with Manchester United for £10 million after being spotted at one of these tryouts.

• Comprehensive training that focuses on soccer but does not neglect other areas of education.
• Offers programs with and without accommodation.
• High visibility with English club scouts.
• High intensity training and high competitive level.
• Emphasis on mental health and sports psychology.
• Coaches and staff with Premier League experience.

4. F.C Barcelona High Performance School in Arizona, USA

We cross the globe to recommend the F.C Barcelona High Performance School, located in Arizona, USA.

This school follows exactly the same guidelines of the soccer ideology of La Masia, one of the most prolific youth academies in Spanish and world soccer.

Players such as Lionel Messi, Gerard Piqué and more recently Gavi or Lamine Yamal grew up under this philosophy. The methodology is a guarantee of success and nourishes all of Europe with great talents.

The school also has first class facilities and very complete plans with accommodation and meals included.

• The only school certified by FC Barcelona in the USA.
• Training with a very high competitive level and physical demand.
• 20 hours of training per week.
• Focus on possession play, passing and creating opportunities.
• Comprehensive training with emphasis on mental health.
• Optional language classes.
• Plural and multicultural environment.

5. High Performance School in Perugia, Italy

This school offers a high performance soccer experience in Italy for players and goalkeepers, with the objective of developing players and reaching their elite level.

Its blended training method incorporates innovative teaching techniques that focus on the technical, tactical and mental development of the player; improving his performance in pressure situations and his personality to overcome stressful moments.

The training sessions include exercises that recreate different game situations to improve strength, speed and endurance.

• Short and long duration programs.
• First class facilities with 11 artificial turf fields.
• Focus on technical, tactical and mental development.
• Mixed training method.
• Italian classes.
• Includes accommodation and food plan for elite athletes.

6. High Performance School in France

We close the list of recommendations with this High Performance School in France, offered by a high-profile private entity.

The objective of the school is to train players to the necessary level to enable them to make the leap to professional or semi-professional soccer.

The coaches provide individualized technical and tactical advice so that each player can constantly improve his performance on the field.

In addition, the school participates in national and international competitions to increase the competitiveness of its categories.

• Short and long-term programs.
• Mixed and individualized training methodology.
• Certified coaches who have trained players from BvB Dortmund and other clubs in Europe.
• National and international competitions.
• High level facilities with multiple natural grass fields.
• Includes board and lodging.
• Optional language classes.

The best high performance soccer school is at your fingertips.

Once you have finished our recommendations, it’s up to you. Use all this useful information to find the ideal school for your son or daughter.

Remember to review the following topics before making your choice:

• Training methodology.
• Quality and experience of the coaches.
• Facilities and infrastructure of the school.
• History and recommendations of the institution.
• Competitive level of training and tournaments.
• Visibility and connections with professional clubs.
• Prices and location.

With all these variables at hand, you will have everything you need to make the best possible decision and see your future soccer player’s career take off to the top.