The project involves meetings at nurseries in the area where the Soccer School operates, teaching Italian culture and motor skills. Both activities are age appropriate for the participants.

During a meeting in each nursery, the Milan Academy coach, supported by local AC Milan Soccer School staff, explains to the children how their Italian peers live in Italy and lists the main differences, from language and money to housing, food and even the noises animals make. The children are also taught a few words of Italian during the presentation (the colours of the Italian flag, numbers and the sounds made by a few animals which differ between the two languages). This is all done along with motor skills games using a football.

The project was launched in March 2014 and, thanks to its success, it is now sponsored by Komaki city council. Over the course of the academic year, it will work with 29 nurseries in the city of Komaki and some institutions from nearby Nagoya. 56 meetings have been held thus far, involving more than 2,000 children in their final year of nursery. The project will also be expanded to the other AC Milan Soccer Schools in Japan.  

The project aims to actively involve girls and young women aged 7-17 in a country where they have traditionally found it hard to play sport.

Launched in 2014 at the AC Milan Soccer School in Kuwait, the specially designed courses for girls now involve more than 40 participants across various age groups. Besides the technical and methodological aspects on the pitch, a strong focus is placed on the role of women. The girls are able to train in dedicated facilities and the teams are coached by the Milan Academy coach, who is always supported by a female colleague in order to create the best possible learning environment with suitable role models.

The AC Milan Soccer School is the country’s first women’s football school and has been praised by local institutions and the media. The teams also take part in international tournaments in Italy, where they secured some excellent results on the pitch, while the trips have proved to be great life experiences for the girls involved.

Inclusion is one of the objectives that AC Milan work towards with their activities for youngsters. It’s not only about inclusion on the pitch (giving greater access to sport for those who, for various reasons, can’t play it) but also social inclusion (fostering development and sharing).

That’s why AC Milan took part in the Special Adventure Camp, a tournament aimed at disabled and non-disabled teenagers aged 14-18. Eight teams took part in the camp held in the Swiss canton of Schwyz – four international sides (AC Milan, Manchester City, Chelsea FC and ZHO Abu Dhabi) and four local clubs

AC Milan’s involvement was made possible thanks to a partnership with the Lombardy Special Olympics team. The Rossoneri players were selected from football clubs that are signed up to this international movement, which promotes inclusion and a key role in society for people with intellectual disabilities via sport and motor skills activities.

The players came up against each other on the pitch, not only during matches, but also in training sessions which were run on rotation by opposition coaches with mixed groups from different teams. Setting up the activities in this way helped to foster socialising and inclusion among the kids who came into contact with different cultures and were able to try out new training methods. The players were therefore able to improve tactically and in terms of their motor skills, whilst developing their people skills and a positive attitude towards themselves and others. In particular, thanks to mixed activities it was easy to reinforce sporting values such as teamwork, respecting the rules and one’s team-mates, and self-confidence.

Training seminars were run for the coaches in attendance in order for them to share and learn new methods for coaching disabled youngsters. The camp programme was further bolstered by open meetings with the local community to raise awareness of the role sport plays in creating genuine opportunities for integration. Once again football has proven to be an excellent means of integration and inclusion for all.

The camp was organised by the Football is More Foundation, which is committed to promoting projects that use the power of football to meet the needs of young people living in particularly precarious situations, not only in terms of physical well-being but also for economic and social reasons.