In 2020, the world came to a sudden halt as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted modern civilisation. This public health emergency, which lasted from March 11, 2020, to May 5, 2023, caused a severe economic recession. Businesses faced immense challenges, with many adapting to survive, while others sought to improve and future-proof their offerings. Among these forward-thinking organisations were ASD Olympic Salerno, a 7th-tier Italian amateur football club, and Casa Olympic, a multi-functional facility blending football, wellness, and business.
THE VISION
Matteo Pisapia, club president of Olympic Salerno and owner of Casa Olympic, played a pivotal role in the clubs' evolution. During the pandemic, Matteo discovered Elite Skills Arena (ESA) technology while seeking tools to enhance training. In December 2020, he purchased the ICON Fast Feet. This initial investment has since grown into a fleet of cutting-edge training products, including additional ICON Fast Feets, Wireless Circuits, and a bespoke ICON Spectrum, all integrated into the club’s training set-up.
The products are used in training every week by Olympic Salerno’s Academy, with sessions lasting around 40-minutes. Matteo highlights the transformational impact of the products on player performance and how they offer unique benefits over more traditional training methods.
“The main advantage is being able to get the kids to train with intensity, whilst having fun. The products have helped the players improve their decision-making speed, body positioning and peripheral vision, improving their overall performance whilst in games.
Thanks to the gamification element of the products, our players challenge each other at every session. Raising the level of intensity is something which is not always easy when working with younger players but the ESA products do so in a seamless way.”
THE RESULTS
The results? An amateur football club being seen to punch well above its weight, performing well in the Prima Categoria (7th tier), as well as achieving impressive results at youth level against well-established professional clubs like Udinese Calcio (Serie A) and Juve Stabia (Serie B).
“As club president, I firmly believe in ESA and we have invested heavily to create a space dedicated to the use of the training tools. I hope that in the coming years our kids continue their current trajectory and increasingly perform at youth level to be able to compete with professional clubs.”
The success Olympic Salerno have enjoyed has however had an impact on the club’s competitive rivals and the forward-thinking and modern approach on training isn’t shared by everyone in the region and as a result, the club has faced some backlash from their divisional rivals.
“Unfortunately, there is a lack of entrepreneurial capacity in our territory and therefore a certain level of envy against our approach. We are the most technological amateur club in Italy and as a result, anyone we play wants to beat us because of this.
We take this as a compliment and the feedback we have had from parents of our academy players has been really positive and there is a lot of admiration for our incredible sessions, facilities and technology.”
THE FUTURE
Looking towards the future, Matteo has big plans to continue to develop training at the club, which includes further purchases of the Elite Skills Arena equipment. He also wants his coaches to extract more from the existing set-up, using the tech to monitor and assess player progression. The long-term goals are to keep the Casa Olympic facility at the forefront of the local sports infrastructure to ensure Olympic Salerno continue to grow from grassroots to glory and perhaps with success, someday become a professional club.
“We have already spoken with ESA about developing the next steps of our training. We believe integrating the ICON Cube will be great in our academy set-up, allowing the players to work on lateral movements and their ball manipulation in tight spaces. Over time the personalisation of our sessions will be a step we will arrive to, but for now we are focusing on our overall protocol.
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