Puma Welcome Academy 2022 held at Ciudad Deportiva | OneFootball

The Puma Welcome Academy 2022 brought together more than 200 boys and girls from the 15 VCF Academy 8-a-side football teams this Thursday.

Together with their parents and guardians, they were joined by the president of Valencia CF, Lay Hoon Chan, and members of the Valencia CF and VCF Femenino first teams, as well as players from VCF Inclusivo.

Fellowship matches

Games were held in in which some of the fathers, mothers and relatives were also encouraged to participate, with coaches such as club ambassadors Ricardo Arias, Miguel Tendillo and Miguel Ángel Bossio and with the collaboration of the VCF Mestalla players Rubén Iranzo, Fran Pérez and Hugo González, and VCF Feminine B's Elena Gil, Olga San Nicolás and Saray López.

The Puma Welcome Academy was back to being an in-person event, after the last two editions were held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was sponsored by Puma and featured the collaboration of Sailun Tyre, Skoda, Coca-Cola and Lamburguesa.

First team craze

Valencia CF players Jesús Vázquez and Thierry Correia, as well as Enith Salón, Asun Martínez and Fiamma Benítez from VCF Femenino, met the children, who also sent a video message of support to injured first team goalkeeper Jaume Domènech.

“We are one of the best Academies in Europe in training players for the elite, and in recent weeks we have received several awards for the internationalisation work we do and the methodology of the VCF Academy, and for our integration of women's youth football,” stated Luis Martínez, Director of the VCF Academy.

"But for us the real reward is when parents come to thank us for how we train and educate their children."