TESTIMONIALS FROM OUR PLAYERS AND PARENTS

I would like to offer an enthusiastic endorsement of the Michel Hidalgo Football Academy. As a young Canadian player passionate about football our son Rupert was wanting to find somewhere where he could further his training goals and immerse himself in an academy experience. The staff at the Academy have developed a wonderful program providing for daily training guided by experienced coaches and in a warm and supportive environment. Living and training with a group of young footballers from many countries is a special experience with rewards going far beyond just improvements in football skills. We've enjoyed tremendously listening to Rupert recount his weekly stories of adventures on and off the pitch with the friends he's made. He is especially proud of being accepted at a local club; training three nights per week, pushing himself to make the starting 11 every weekend, and celebrating successes with his French teammates. I would like to offer our appreciation for Laurence, Zino, John, Jeremy, Mickael, and the supporting staff who work very hard to make this academy such a special place. I recommend the Michel Hidalgo Football Academy for any parent considering an international academy experience for their young footballer.

Thank you to the entire Michel Hidalgo Academy team for the warm welcome, guidance, professionalism, and kindness. The young players are in an exceptional environment and can enjoy this beautiful region while doing what they love: football! Our son is happy and thriving in this structure, which feels like a little family. Thank you all for your attentiveness and everything you do.

Great conditions for showing and getting Football skills of young Football players

My son has been at the Academy since last August and I am pretty satisfied with the results. Thanks for the work you do.

I am very happy to provide an endorsement for the Michel Hidalgo Academy on behalf of my son, Nicholas, and our family. Nicholas traveled to Cannes, France from Vancouver, Canada with the hopes of experiencing a unique opportunity to live, train and learn like a professional Football player would experience. Coming from Canada, Football is not the most popular sport and unfortunately, that also means opportunity for excellent training, excellent coaching and playing against other players at the highest level is minimal. The ability to therefore develop your skills, mindset and maturity needed to advance to the highest level of one’s potential is missing. Distractions among teenage friends to play other sports or not focus on Football is common, and coupled with so little opportunity to advance (especially during Covid restrictions) led to continued discouragement for us as a family and our son in particular. We knew to truly maximize Nicholas’ potential, we had to look elsewhere and so we researched many academies across Europe. In the end we chose Michel Hidalgo because it claimed to present a unique experience that looked to be very different from the other options. Nicholas did not want to travel to Europe simply to attend a boarding school and play Football for the “school team”… he wanted to be immersed in the complete Football experience and live and train with other players from around the world that wanted the same. Michel Hidalgo claimed to deliver this experience and we decided to take a chance. The result after the first four months is that we could not be happier! This program is everything we hoped for and more. From my son’s perspective, it has given him the full-time training with exceptional coaching talent that he desired. It has opened his eyes to his own potential and allowed him to see he can achieve so much more. It has allowed him to meet like-minded players from around the world and create friendships that will surely last his lifetime. He is experiencing different cultures and perfecting his French language skills in an immersive way. Most importantly, he is being challenged every day to push himself beyond what he believed his limits were, to develop to a level higher than he thought possible, and he is seeing the success of his efforts! He is now playing at a level he never even saw at home, nor did he think he could play at. With the support of the Academy and their coaching staff, he is achieving all of this From our perspective as parents, it was a big decision to send our 16 year old son halfway across the world. But we took the chance and it has addressed three major areas we knew our son needed for success, not only in Football but also for his life in general: 1) Freedom - too often in our privileged western culture it’s difficult for kids to truly experience freedom - the freedom to really make their own choices, to succeed with those choices as well as the freedom to experience the risk of failure. We believe risk is essential in developing our character as a person and our ability to find our own successes.This freedom was a big change in our son’s life and it has proven to be extremely positive. 2) Responsibility - our son is 100% responsible for his success because of this opportunity. He must act accordingly to his new environment and his academy teammates and coaches, and the team he plays for. He must apply himself 110% to his goals and there are no longer excuses for not achieving those goals. He has only to look at himself for his success and failure and the effort he puts in to achieve those goals. He is entirely responsible for his schooling and must work hard to complete his assignments remotely from his high school here in Vancouver and achieve the top level grades necessary for his college admissions. 3) Maturity - after our son returned home for Christmas break, we could not believe the improvement in his maturity in just 4 months. It was a completely different young man! More mature, but also more humble and more respectful of the fact that there are differences in cultures around the world. His experience has had a profound impact on his development as a fine young man. This endorsement should not be misunderstood. This experience is not easy for many players, including our son. In his own words: “This has been a very, very challenging four months of my life. The most challenging by far! I have had to learn to be uncomfortable most of the time: the language is different; living in a dorm and sharing bathroom facilities is uncomfortable; doing my own laundry and adhering to a rigid schedule is tough; the food is different; the daily social situations are different and can be uncomfortable since the languages are different; the city, surroundings and culture is different and while existing, I have to learn to adapt to different ways of thinking; and I often feel homesick and question if you can train and compete at this level so many times per week. I train hard at every session just for the opportunity to get selected to play on the weekend. At home I always played every game so this is different - a constant challenge. but I LOVE it!” And the ability to succeed in these situations is what has made the experience so rewarding and life changing for him. It is, however, a decision one should consider very carefully. In our opinion, it has only been possible because of the amazing team at Michel Hidalgo Academy. Our experience has been completely positive for us as a family. Our son continues to improve in his French language skills, his outlook on life, and his focus towards, and refinement of, his Football goals and life goals, both short term and long term. The staff at Michel Hidalgo academy have been so excellent and we are extremely happy with the overall experience! Bravo!

Michel Hidalgo International Football Academy has been a great place for my son to experience high level Football training. The academy provides the players with the proper environment to improve and perform at a high level. The academy also support and follow the education of each player, which has been very helpful especially when the players are away from home — thanks to Isabelle, the pedagogical director of the academy. Furthermore , the coaches: Jeremy, Alex, and Zino follows the progress of each players and provides them with constructive feedback. My son is back home for Christmas break, but already missing his friends at the academy; this shows how the academy makes each player feel homely by helping them to develop a brotherhood relationship. I will recommend Michel Hidalgo Football Academy to any passionate players inspiring to become a professional Football player.

Being a professional footballer has been Nicholas Situmorang’s dream who loves Football since he was 2 years old. Following his parents assignment to Paris in 2018 from Jakarta, Indonesia, made him enthusiastic because Neymar, one of his favourite Football players, was there. Knowing our son’s passion, we enrolled him in PSG Academy in 2019 and 2021. From 2018 up to July 2021, Nico was active following Football matches in Paris, Normandy, and other cities in France either with his school team or with other clubs. We found Michel Hidalgo International Football Academy in April 2021, and we believe that it will help Nico fulfil his dream, so we enrolled him there for the 2021-2022 program. Nico is happy living in the beautiful city of Cannes, together with other 23 students from different countries, who share the same passion and dream, under Michel Hidalgo International Football Academy. He knew that the Academy would improve his Football knowledge and professional skill. He was also happy to use his English and French for communication there, as well as to have opportunity to do online study about how to become a Football coach. From Hidalgo video information, we got the impression that the overall training is made to help improve our son’s Football skill. The coaches are very professional, the matches with other clubs are frequent, the training facilities as well as the therapist are very good. We really appreciate that the Academy takes care of our son and update the activities and progress of the students regularly in two ways communication. Overall, we think that Nicholas is in good hands to bring him closer to his dream. Thank you, Michel Hidalgo International Football Academy.

Luke has always been motivated by the sport of football, has desired to be immersed in Football, and wanted to become the best player, at the highest level of playing possible. He was fortunate to have Stéphane Auvray as his coach and Stéphane served a significant role in his development. The Michel Hidalgo International Football Academy was recommended by Stéphane and it has in every way pushed Luke further along his path as both a player and a person! By having the perspective, expertise and multiple player advocates in both a Hidalgo coach, coupled with the RC Grasse coaching staff - Luke has been able to improve his game technically, tactically and mentally. The competition has helped him increase his speed and athleticism. Any feedback received is taken to heart and he works very diligently to correct or work on improvement based on the feedback. The schedules are rigorous but translate to the growth he is looking for. He has hours on a bus a day but has mentioned it also supports learning the language. So while there are challenges there are always positive results! He knows this is the best place for him at this moment and will continue to work hard in partnership with top notch coaching and peers that elevate his game. While Luke’s growth on the field is measured and holistically evaluated in great detail (ongoing Hidalgo academy and club coach feedback), the personal development of him we’ve seen - as someone becoming an adult - is completely immeasurable and priceless. The mentoring in the classroom has helped him learn a new language and become more fluent. The gift of knowing how to speak French will be forever with him! As will all the friendships and genuine relationships that will certainly last a lifetime. We appreciate this experience, the learning opportunities and all that the staff and coaches have provided for Luke at the Michel Hidalgo International Football Academy!

We have great pleasure to share with you about our impressions of the Michel Hidalgo Academy, about your professionalism and the professionalism of the entire staff of the Academy. We hope and believe that the acquired skills and knowledge will help Dastan fulfill his dream, the dream of millions of boys around the world, become a professional footballer. Many thanks to you and your Academy for the fact that you train children both physically and mentally, sharing your professional skills with them and this brings them closer to their cherished goal. Throughout the training at the Academy, we were secured for our minor son, since he was in the reliable hands of the coaches and staff of the Academy, he is taken care of around the clock. We are sincerely glad that Dastan entered precisely your Academy, since you have created all the conditions for studying, playing sports and relaxing. I wish your graduates to become famous football players, professionals in their field, and of course glorify your Academy and the name of the legendary Michel Hidalgo to the whole world, as he once glorified France !

Honestly, I would have given anything to be with you at the Academy. It’s clear that the young players are very well taken care of. By the way, I will never stop thanking you for your dedication to Greg. Congratulations to the entire team for all the work, and long live the HIDALGO Academy! Hats off to the team!