The academy

A cantera for Yuma.

Yuma United grows its own players, from a four-year-old’s first touch to a ten-year-old who reads the game.

cantera /kan·TEH·rah/ noun literally, a quarry. In Spanish football, a club’s own youth academy.

How we play

Four habits, from her first practice.

01
The ball first.
Practice starts with a ball at her feet: both feet, from the first minute, until the ball feels like part of her.
02
Rondos, not laps.
A rondo is keep-away in a circle: a few players keep the ball from one or two in the middle. It teaches her to keep the ball, find the free teammate and win it back.
03
Head up.
Before the ball arrives, she has already looked. Reading the game is a skill, and we train it like one.
04
Every position.
She plays everywhere, in goal too, so she understands the whole game and the teammates around her.

Que corra el balón.

Spanish for “let the ball do the running.” A pass beats a chase, at every age.

Two short steps, about a minute. Someone from the club calls you back, in English or Spanish.