An Italian touch in Glendale

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Short of hopping a plane to Europe, the opportunity for local youth players to get a first-hand education in Italian soccer is a hard one to find.

Unless, of course, they were on hand for the week-long Milan Junior Camp, which concluded Friday at the Glendale Sports Complex.

One of over 15 U.S. expansions of the training camp program developed in Milan by the professional soccer organization AC Milan, the annual event made its second consecutive appearance in Glendale to train players ages 8-16 in soccer in the Italian tradition and philosophy.

“The emphasis of the training is on an Italian style of soccer,” said Giuseppe Luna, 45, the coordinator of the Glendale camp, which drew approximately 160 attendants this year. “Within the [global] soccer community, you have styles of play that have evolved nationally and are different within each other.

“Italian soccer is very physical, strong technically and tactic-oriented, and that type of mentality is brought into the training.”

The camp, which consisted of a daily six-hour session divided between technical instruction and exercises in the morning and scrimmage-like games in the afternoon, was moderated by three Italian coaches hand-picked by AC Milan.

“The important thing about the program is the coaches must come from Italy,” Luna said of his trio of head coaches, Nunzio Zavettieri, Giorgio Zannier and Cristiano Scapolo, who were assisted by several local coaches. “They are responsible for making sure we are coaching the kids the right way in the [AC Milan] program.”

The expertise and credentials of the Milan coaches, all of whom have varying degrees of experience playing professional soccer in Italy, is a big part of the camp’s draw for young players.

The brand recognition associated with AC Milan, the seven-time winner and current champion of the UEFA Champions’ League (formerly known as the European Champions’ Cup), has its appeal as well.

“I like the coaches because they played professionally and they know what they are doing out here,” said Lauren Cech, 14, of Santa Clarita.

The program also made an impression on younger campers such as Matteo Debole.

“We learned ways to get out of when people are blocking you — you can go between their legs,” the 7-year old said. “They teach you how to kick right, so it’ll go in, and how to kick farther.”

About 80 of the kids on hand were able to attend via scholarships donated by two of the camp’s major sponsors, Warner Bros. and the Kor Group.

The Milan Junior Camps, which Luna said will happily return to the Sports Complex for future events, figure to be just the beginning of AC Milan’s presence in Southern California.

The Milan USA Academy, offering 70 hours of training yearly in bi-weekly sessions, recently began operating at Hart High School in Newhall.

“We would like for this young talent to grow up with our philosophy,” said Scapolo, 37, the Director of Coaching for the Academy, “[which is] to learn the basic technical skills, and, as they get older, start to work on the physical and mental [aspects of the game]. We want them to be ready, when they turn 16 or 17, to play for college scholarships — this is the goal.

“There is great potential here and the soccer has grown so much in the last 10 years.”