In 2001 Tony Pensato founded Excel Soccer. A former professional soccer player Tony was curious how the top soccer countries in the world developed young players. It was evident that Canadian soccer was improving but not at the same rate as other third world soccer countries.

Canadian soccer players are known for their tenacity and high work rate. It is rare to hear of a Canadian soccer player with ‘great’ technical skills. Even though Canadian athletes are just as gifted as athletes from other countries they don’t match up on the soccer field.

Tony was convinced that ‘youth development’ was the difference. He contacted professional soccer clubs in Italy and arranged to have their professional youth development coaches come to B.C. to run soccer camps. Since then coaches from A.C. Parma, A.C. Perugia and Inter Milan have run Excel Soccer camps.

A.C. Parma coaches ran the initial soccer camp in 2001. Forty-eight youth players were introduced to numerous drills intended to improve their technical skills and designed to keep them entertained. In four years since their initial camp Excel Soccer’s numbers have grown to nearly 800 participants annually.

The Italian coaches bring to B.C. the concept that learning technical fundamentals of the game should not be tedious. These coaches have a knack of keeping players focused on drills with the right combination of competition and variety.

Tony felt this was a better way than the typical North American coaching method of ‘repeat, repeat, repeat’ the drill until the player has done it correctly.

Excel Soccer’s local coaches believe in the European coaching methodology and benefit from assisting the Italian coaches at each summer and spring break camp.

Do you believe players benefit from more productive and enjoyable training sessions?

Try Excel Soccer! It's for all ages.