Interview with U-15 Coach, Malachy Portelli

by Ayrton Galea - 31st August 2018

Birkirkara FC Youth Academy has appointed Malachy Portelli as the Coach of the Under-15's Team for the upcoming season. This will be his second spell with our Academy, after he was the Assistant Coach of the Under-17's Team in Season 2016-2017.

The Under-15's Team will start their season on Sunday evening, when they will take on Valletta FC in the first match of the preliminary group-phase. Mr. Portelli shared his views on his return with the Birkirkara FC Youth Academy.

A return with the Birkirkara FC Youth Academy. This is your second spell in three seasons. What has convinced you to return with Birkirkara FC?

Whilst respecting the clubs that I had the opportunity to work at as you learn and grow at every club you're involved with, Birkirkara FC has been the club I felt at home the most so far in my 8 years coaching, now starting my 9th season.

What really convinced me though is that the head coach and his assistant are two people who demand a lot in the sense that they want things to be done in the most professional way for the good of the boys at the academy and that makes every session, every game a challenge for me as a coach.

It's like every session, game you have to prove yourself to be at the best level you can be for the players to learn and get better and challenges in life are the things that keep you going, that make you look forward to another day.

In which ways, if there are any, do you think that Birkirkara FC Youth Academy is different from other academies / nurseries?

I think every academy/nursery has common principles, mainly to try and give the best that the academy/nursery can give to its players. Of course, every academy/nursery tries to do so in its own way, in what the people leading the academy/nursery believe is the best in doing so.

When it comes to the competitive teams, one of the things that I like is that the academy provides a professional set up to its players so for example, the U15s players, as they get older and move up to U17s, U19s and then seniors they would be used to that set up and makes their development easier and better. By set up I mean in investing in very skilled staff such as physical trainer(s), goalkeepers' coach etc. Some academies/nurseries also provide this set up.

Unfortunately, not everyone can in this country and when you consider that here it has been like this for quite a number of years, it's very satisfying to see this set up get better season after season.

Another positive factor in this academy is that boys coming up from the academy are given their chances with the senior team and we all know that in the Premier competition this is not an easy thing to do yet the club show it's faith in the academy players.

You have been appointed the Under-15's Team Coach. How are you looking forward for this challenge and what are your objectives?

It's a great pleasure for me to be appointed the U-15s team coach of such a well-established academy. It's a challenge that I am up for and I look forward to working closely with an excellent group of hard working players.

My objective is clear and that is development. Working with young boys/girls, our aim is developing each individual so that by the end of the season they will become a better player than when they started.

Added to development, as a coach I aim to guide the players to play nice football, to play with confidence and belief along the way which will also help them to develop and grow as players even more.

Do you have any final message?

My last message goes to young players. I strongly encourage them to take every training session and game seriously. Most parents, coaches etc dream of having their kids / players go and play abroad but we have to make our players aware that such dreams are only possible with plenty of hard work.

Most of the time, the difference between us and foreign players who make it to the top isn't the type of training, etc, but the attitude which we apply to take on every day of our lives. That's what separates the good and the great and my advice is for players to take sport very seriously and with the right attitude as that can help them get far in their career. Without self-discipline, one can achieve nothing in life, that is what I believe in.

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