Hello folks!
A new football season is almost here, and we are looking forward to welcoming everyone back to ICFA on Sunday 6 September.
This season brings a few changes to the programme as we continue to develop the way our sessions are organised.
Our groups for 2026/27 are:
Minis
Junior Academy
Academy
Academy Plus
As players progress through the programme, sessions gradually become longer and place increasing emphasis on technical development, decision-making and understanding the game.
For us, good youth football is not simply about producing the strongest team on a Sunday morning.
Children develop at different speeds, and our aim is to give each player the opportunity to improve, become more confident on the ball and, importantly, enjoy playing football.
A new season, and more from ICFA
Over the years we have also realised how difficult it can be for parents, particularly international families, to understand how youth football works in Amsterdam and in the Netherlands more generally.
There are football clubs, academies, KNVB age groups, different formats of the game, selection teams, trials and development pathways, and much of this is not particularly obvious if you have not grown up within Dutch football.
So this season we will also be adding more articles to the ICFA website.
We will be writing about youth football development, coaching, Dutch football structures, choosing clubs and academies, and some of the questions parents regularly ask us. We will also be adding personal anecdotes and memories as we reflect on the journey we have taken with ICFA since 2010.
The idea is simply to create a useful resource for families who want to understand the game a little better, and a memory bank for ourselves of all the information we have gathered, so that we can pass it on and hopefully build up a picture of how an academy like this works.
For now, though, we are looking forward to getting started again.
The first sessions of the 2026/27 season take place on Sunday 6 September at Powerleague Olympiaplein in Amsterdam.
We look forward to seeing returning players again and welcoming the many new children joining us this season.
Here's to another season of football.
Team ICFA