Milan Coaches Come to Mass.

Local Youths Learn From Italian Club's Academy

By Mark Goodman

July 23, 2009

ARLINGTON, Mass. -- Red and black were the colors of choice for nearly 100 youth soccer players from New England recently, as two coaches from the youth academy of AC Milan conducted a week-long clinic in Arlington, Mass. from July 6-10.

AC Milan

Arlington, Mass. resident Mary Pieroni holds a Milan jersey signed by Kaka. With her are AC Milan youth coaches Gabriele Boccuzzi (far left) and Claudio Ranzani (far right), and Fusion FC coach Youssef Saleh. (Photo by Mark Goodman)

The athletes, ages 10-17, wore the famous Rossoneri jerseys of one of the world’s foremost soccer powers while learning from Milan academy coaches Gabriele Boccuzzi and Claudio Ranzani.

The clinic was held in conjunction with Arlington Recreation and Fusion FC, an Arlington-based youth soccer club. Six coaches from Fusion FC – Youssef Saleh, Mark Sutton, Omar Afifi, Betsy Preval, Balash Salamatbakhsh and Briana Flynn – also helped run the event.

Most of the clinic focused on basic soccer skills, such as juggling, dribbling and shooting, while the older players were introduced to tactical aspects of the game. Each participant received a certificate signed by Milan’s legendary defender, Paolo Maldini, during the July 10 closing ceremony.

Saleh said he was impressed with the Milan coaches’ organization with such a large group of players.

“From a technical perspective, the ability to organize the activity, to make the kids follow the purpose of it, they just make it very simple,” he said. “You could see a lot of coaches trying to do that and it’s hard to set the activity.”

Saleh also praised the coaches’ aptitude in incorporating boys and girls into the same activities.

“Some of the girls, they get excited and want to mix in with the boys. So they set up the activities to…give the girls as much chance as possible as the boys would have, even though the skill level may be different,” he said.

During the closing festivities, Arlington’s Mary Pieroni won a Milan jersey signed by Kaka, the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year (who earlier this summer left Milan for Real Madrid).

Ranzani and Boccuzzi also invited two 10-year-olds – Owen Miller of Medford, Mass. and Jan Sokolowski of Shrewsbury, Mass. – to a three-day session with the academy in Milan.

“It’s an opportunity for the young guys to learn something different, because (the kids) all come from different parts of the world,” Boccuzzi said.

As part of the cost for the clinic, participants get to attend Milan’s training session Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. They also receive a ticket to the following night’s game as Milan take on inter-city rival Inter.

Mark Goodman can be reached at newsdesk@soccernewengland.com.