What Independiente del Valle has done in recent years has deservedly allowed it to win the title of model club on the continent. In 2022, the Ecuadorians won the Copa Sudamericana, and then in the Recopa final they defeated Flamengo, the ruler of the Libertadores. All successes under a clear institutional policy, with an emphasis on player training and without high recruitment costs, are published daily AS.

“Independiente del Valle, the South American soccer sensation, is now also buying other clubs,” emphasizes the Argentine press

The Ecuadorian staff is taking the first steps in the internationalization of its management, and Chile is one of the selected countries. Independiente has launched an ambitious football school project in Santiago. The initiative is led by Juan Halty, a Chilean goalkeeper coach with several years of experience throughout the city of Sangolquí.

Independiente del Valle is the winner of the first stage, the finalist of the Pro League and the first Ecuadorian club to qualify for the 2024 Copa Libertadores.

“The project was born because I was going to talk to Santiago Morales, who is the general manager here, and I gave him the idea of ​​opening schools in Chile. Until now, there were no schools outside of Ecuador. He liked the project as well as the possibility to expand a bit what Independiente del Valle is. We talked, made a franchise agreement to take it to Chile and today we opened two Independiente del Valle schools. One is in Macul, it was an ‘Ubuntu’ school that already existed, and we are opening another in Pirque, in the ‘Los Vascos’ sports complex,” Halty revealed.

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Will these projects have the stamp of how the club in Ecuador works with children?

Yes, exactly. I recently had my first meeting with the coaches, because we all know what Independiente del Valle proclaims as a different club. The first thing I talked to them about is that we have to be different, we can’t do the same thing as football schools. We will work according to the club methodology, and the idea is to finish this year with four schools in the Metropolitan region.

Already…

Also towards next year open other schools in the regions to create a championship especially for Independiente del Valle. So with the best of those kids, we want to form an elite school, like Independiente del Valle is doing here in Ecuador. With this group of children, we want to compete in the Sat 8, 9 and 10 categories at the ANFP school championship.

What age range do they cover?

We start from the age of five to 16. We know that this is quite a long age, and at the same time we try to prepare coaches for each category. We want to specialize a little more in what football is. The idea is that a five-year-old boy will not only play and have fun, but also learn.

How do they teach in the club?

Here we have a few things about learning through play. We want the boys to develop and also be able to inject the methodology of Independiente del Valle. For example, doing a lot of duels with the little ones so that the children have creativity in attack and defense, they have some concepts that are processed here in the club. Like, for example, pressure time, body orientation to later move to a slightly bigger category and deal with some concepts of starts, superiority, advantages. And why would Independiente not dare to investigate in (ownership of) a club.

Is the idea to internationalize the club and its way of working?

Look, today the club bought Atlético Huila from Colombia. The club is complicated by relegation, but the general manager explained that Independiente’s initial aim was to fundamentally change Ecuadorian football, and that is also what Colombia is aiming for. Michel Deller, who owns the club, has a big dream that Ecuador can one day be a world champion. Today, with its expansion to Colombia, South America can do important things at the World Cups.

Could another goal of the project be to bring young Chileans to Ecuador?

Look, Yerald Pinilla was here recently and he already made his debut in San Luis de Quillota. He left a very good impression here at the club. Of course, they didn’t let him go at the moment, but as he came, so did the Colombian guys and other countries. The club is already opening up to create strategic alliances, bringing in people from other countries. Today we have two Brazilians and one Colombian in the under-19 category. The club is constantly looking for talents so that they can continue to develop and continue training.

He said that the club does different things compared to the others. Can you explain that?

We have a common good, which is to help each of the boys. I arrived here for a reservation and was in first place three or four times. Now I’m in the under-17 and under-19 categories, I had to train the club kites, the club substitute. All of us have no problem doing all these things. That environment doesn’t exist everywhere, sometimes because of ego problems, that ‘I was the idol of the club and I’m not here to do these things’. The motivation comes from the teachers themselves and then we instill all that in the boys.

How do they take all that to the field day in and day out with the children?

Here they have a biotype that for me is very hard to find, even in the world, and there is a working part. As for what we do on the field, there are different manuals in the club and we as coaches prepare to be able to pass them on to the boys. Questions of responsibility and co-responsibility among boys so that everyone can develop. These are things that are transversal from the smallest, from Sub 12 to the largest first class.

He has been working in a club in Ecuador for several years. Do you think that at some point something more or less similar could be started in Chile?

Yes, and I said that at some point. The person who wanted to do all that in Chile was Carlos Heller when he was at the University. I feel that it is crucial to attract the right people for these projects. At that moment, Edorta Munua arrived, who is now at Aspire Academy in Qatar. When he came, many trainers did not want to stay full time, saying ‘I don’t like this method, who is this to come and teach me about method’. In Chile we tend to criticize others rather than being humble and thinking ‘you know what, with this guy I can improve and I can learn’. These are the things that make the club different here.

Will you lead a soccer school project in Chile from Ecuador?

Yes, I became a partner with Daniel Jerez, the coach who had the ‘Ubuntu’ school of football. Today we generate so that he sees all the coordination and logistics part, and I work with the coaches from here on the methodological part. (D)