Youth development
Accepted at a DFB talent centre – what comes next?
Your child has passed the trial and now trains on Mondays at a DFB talent centre. What does that mean, which stages come next and what should parents look out for? An overview from five perspectives.
When a child impresses at a trial and is accepted into training at a DFB talent centre (DFB-Stützpunkt), the excitement is great – quickly followed by the question: what happens now? I have looked at the topic from five perspectives, as if consulting an advisory board, and drawn up a clear recommendation at the end.
In brief
Talent-centre training is additional, individual training once a week, usually on Mondays. Your child stays at their home club – admission is independent of club membership. The centre is above all a showcase: from here, the typical pathway leads through local and district representative teams to the regional association’s team, to a professional club’s youth performance centre (NLZ) or – in Bavaria – a BFV-NLZ, and from U15 potentially to training camps for DFB junior national teams.
The facts
- The programme is aimed at children aged roughly 9 to 13. The focus is on technique, ball skills and small-sided games.
- Talent development takes place in several settings: at the home club, at the DFB talent centre, at elite football schools, in the regional association’s representative team and at performance centres.
- There are around 360 DFB talent centres across Germany.
- In Bavaria, BFV youth performance centres are linked to the DFB talent development programme through the talent centres and form an intermediate stage between grassroots and elite football.
The risks
A place at a talent centre offers support, but is not yet a career. Trials are held again every year, and children can also lose their place. Typical pitfalls include too much strain from club training, the Monday session and matches, too much pressure from outside expectations, and moving to an NLZ too early, only to get very little playing time.
The opportunities
The biggest lever is visibility. Talent-centre coaches recommend players for representative-team activities, and scouts from performance centres visit the talent centres. In the best case, local and district teams follow, then the association’s team and later talent-identification camps at DFB level.
An outside perspective
Do not focus only on the label “professional”. The talent centre offers very good training, honest feedback and greater independence. Even if a child does not reach the very top, this is a real gain for their development – both in sport and personally. For goalkeepers, it is worth asking whether the centre offers specialist goalkeeper training.
Three practical steps for parents
- Speak to the talent-centre coach or the responsible coordinator: how are players nominated for local and district teams, and when are the next dates?
- Coordinate the weekly schedule with the club coach to keep the workload appropriate.
- Note down trial dates for the association’s team and trial-training windows at performance centres in your region.
My recommendation
Use the talent centre as a year of development, not as a springboard that must be exploited immediately. The logical next step is the local or district team – through the talent-centre coach’s recommendation. A move to a performance centre is worthwhile only when there is a concrete offer with real playing time. A good relationship with the talent-centre coach is the most important channel.
Age groups and procedures may vary by regional association and talent centre. The responsible DFB talent-centre coordinator provides authoritative information. GoalConnect Sandra has no cooperation with the DFB or the BFV; this article is an independent guide for parents.