Run The Ball
2025
When you run an academy, no one sees the hours spent coordinating training schedules, organizing weekends so teams can compete, managing parents asking for more for their children, or handling constant comparisons with other local academies.
Your academy may be running smoothly, and with a lot of effort, you manage the day-to-day operations (which is no small feat) but sometimes it feels like everything moves along the same path: training sessions, league matches, local tournaments… And even though you work to offer the best, you sense that you need a spark. Something that helps you stand out, grow, and strengthen your academy.
But what can an academy offer today that truly makes a difference? What adds real value for players, coaches, and families? These questions often remain on hold while you handle the daily fires, and before you know it, the seasons pass by.
Without noticing, even if your academy seems to function well day to day, you start spotting challenges: players losing motivation mid-season, families seeking more comprehensive programs, or ambitious coaches wanting to continue their professional development outside the project.
When these issues arise, you begin looking for solutions. That’s when the idea appears: an international experience, a trip that connects your academy with other clubs, cities, and football cultures. An activity that enhances the value of your project and demonstrates, both inside and outside, that your academy provides real growth opportunities.
Yet even though the idea is exciting, another feeling arises: “Where do I start?”
You decide to spend a few hours researching: destinations, training fields, hotels, opponents, friendly matches, cultural activities, insurance, transportation, payments, dates… And twenty minutes in, you feel overwhelmed by the planning.
Organizing an international football tour for academies involves solving many unknowns: from choosing a truly safe destination to connecting with professional clubs or tournaments that add quality. It also requires understanding how to navigate an unfamiliar country, ensuring the sporting experience matches the group’s expectations and abilities, and calculating every cost with no room for surprises. It’s a process that demands judgment, planning, and prior experience.
What once seemed inspiring starts to feel like a project too big to handle alongside the daily operations of your academy. And that’s when the dilemma emerges: do I do it alone, or do I need support?
Many academy directors go through the same stage. They don’t want to improvise, risk their academy’s reputation, or take on responsibilities they don’t have time for.
Because there’s a reality that isn’t always spoken aloud: an international experience can be a success or a monumental problem if it isn’t properly planned. You’ve worked too hard to let a poorly organized trip put what you’ve built at risk.
That’s when a logical conclusion emerges: I need someone who has mastered this, who has done it before, and who can guide the process step by step, safely.
You start looking for agencies, but not a conventional travel agency. You need someone who understands your academy, your players, and football culture. Someone who speaks your language: the language of the locker room, the coaches and the families.
At this stage, most academy directors reach the same conclusion. The idea of an international experience is powerful, but turning it into reality requires more time, contacts, and certainty than the day to day allows. That is exactly where we add value.
We help academies take that step with confidence. We provide structure, clarity, and guidance so the experience becomes what it should be: an opportunity to grow, connect, and elevate your project. And when an academy decides to take the leap, it shows in every detail: in the atmosphere during training, in the energy of the group, and in how families talk about the project. An international football experience ceases to be just a trip and becomes a tool that drives growth, differentiates the academy, and opens an entirely new path.
In other words, you focus on your academy and we take care of everything else.
If you’ve been thinking your academy can offer more, if your players and coaches need a boost, or if you want to stand out from the competition, this is the moment to take that step and transform your academy from within.
At Run The Ball, we’d be delighted to help you create your first (or next) international experience and above all, to show you it can be far easier, more organized, and more impactful than you imagine. When your academy grows outward, it grows inward as well. And that journey can start today.
