Juventus Residency Academy: the official unveiling in Cantalupa | OneFootball

Today, Wednesday 13 November, at the Centro Comunale Polivalente ‘Silvia Coassolo’ in Cantalupa (province of Turin), a press conference was held to present the new Juventus Residency Academy, a project in collaboration with the municipality of Cantalupa that allows players from abroad to study and train with direct access to Juventus’ way of thinking and operating.

Here (link to the article at the end of August) we told you about the official start of the project, below, we take a look at what was said at the press conference this morning. Specifically we hear what the new mayor of Cantalupa - Francesco Brizio Falletti di Castellazzo the lawyer Vincenzo Ziccardi - CEO of Soccer Cage Italia, who oversees the institutional relations with the Municipality of Cantalupa, Davide Fornaca - Juventus Academy Development Manager - and then Gianluca Pessotto - Football Teams Staff Coordination Manager had to say.

FRANCESCO BRIZIO FALLETTI DI CASTELLAZZO (Mayor of Cantalupa)

"All I have to say is welcome to Cantalupa. Our town is synonymous with sport and the Juventus' presence here is a source of pride for us. Lots of football organisations, yes, but also other sports have chosen Cantalupa as their base. Cantalupa's sporting world is broad, and goes beyond the local scene, and now includes the Pinerolo area and, more broadly, Turin. In conclusion, I cannot fail to emphasise the importance of these young boys from the Residency Academy. Guys who come from very far away, mainly from the Americas, but not only from there. Another confirmation of Cantalupa's international presence."

LAWYER VINCENZO ZICCARDI (CEO of Soccer Cage Italia)

“This project comes from afar and is cultural and educational in nature, as well as sporting, and goes beyond football. In other words, the boys who are part of this project have come to Italy not only for purely sporting reasons, but also to learn about the Italian language and culture. Besides being focused on studying, the guys are involved in extracurricular activities. Clearly, the sports component is important because they play football on a daily basis. Our goal will be to continue developing this project. The hope is that these boys can grow a lot as humans, which is fundamental for boys between the ages of 14 and 19."

DAVIDE FORNACA (Juventus Academy Development Manager)

"I’d like to begin by saying that I am not new to the Municipality of Cantalupa. We have been collaborating since 2017 and there has been an increase in projects over the years and the Residency is just the latest project to take place here.

The village of Cantalupa was identified as an ideal municipality for many factors: security, logistics, sports facilities and hospitality. Last August saw the start of the Juventus Residency Academy, a unique project in that there are no other professional clubs that can boast a project of this kind, at least in Italy. It is a project with many youngsters, but also many professionals whose job it is to help them on and off the pitch. For Juventus, it is fundamental that before sporting growth there is human growth. To date there are 34 boys present, coming from Canada, North America and South America. The goal is to grow whilst maintaining the high quality of the project. We are already working for summer 2025 because the Residency starts in August and ends in May, but in the summer the goal is to create a situation similar to this, but in the form of a summer camp. In the coming weeks we will also take these guys to Turin to train and see the Juventus facilities up close, it will certainly be an exciting time.”

GIANLUCA PESSOTTO (Football Teams Staff Coordination Manager)

"The Juventus Residency Academy in Cantalupa is an excellent project. These boys want to play football. We will give them all the tools to become athletes, but at the same time we will do everything to help them mature as men first. The values we want to convey with this project, which are the values of Juventus, are primarily human values. You can't think of growing as footballers if you don't grow as men. These are two paths that must be pursued hand in hand, in parallel. I'd also like to stress that this is not a scouting project, so we don't want to train players for our youth sector or our first team. The goal is to give these boys, all 34 of them at the moment, all the tools that we believe are important for their growth, especially at a fundamental age like theirs. Culture of work, of oneself and respect for the rules are the basis for starting on this path. These are young people who have had great courage in taking on an experience so far from their home, even on another continent, away from their families. Our wish is that the Juventus Way can help them in their growth and that more and more boys will be hosted on our campus here in Cantalupa.”